At the final pro pitch of the Kic Agritech challenge held at Greater Accra- Hill View Guest Centre on the 17th and 18th of May 2024, Agritechies who have undergone eight months of intensive training and coaching, showcased their talents by presenting viable solutions about the agriculture value chain. Twenty-three (23) teams received seed funding to expedite their ideas to impact agriculture.
Three teams from the University of Energy and Natural Resources under the supervision of Prof. Richard Kwasi Bannor, the faculty advisor for UENR, Dr. Thomas Atta Darkwah and Dr. Kwadwo Gyasi Santo as the technical officers and Ms. Victoria Adutwumwaa as the programme officer made it to the final pro pitch.
They were YARP Foods, which is an agri-processing startup that is into processing cassava into cost-effective all-purpose cassava flour for individuals and user industries; FEEB-FIBRETECH also presented solutions to reduce environmental factors while providing durable and cost-effective and sustainable delivery mats for pregnant women using plantain fibre; and Harvest Ease Innovators who also presented on developing a maize harvesting and dehusking machine to support small scale maize farmers.
YARP Foods emerged winners for this national challenge and secured seed funding of US$ 35,000 to carry out their mission. FEEBFIBRETECH and Harvest Ease Innovators received seed funding of US $20,000 each.
In his address, the Executive Director-KIC, Mr. Benjamin Gyan-Kesse, indicated that the agribusiness startup funded would support actors within specific value chains and impact smallholder farmers’ livelihoods, youth employment and food security. Professor R.K. Bannor congratulated the teams for their remarkable performance and grand achievement throughout all levels of the competition, acknowledging that their ideas would have a lasting impact on healthcare and the agribusiness landscape with the Bono and Ahafo Regions and Ghana in general.
Students, Staff and all community members in the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo regions below 35 years who have innovative ideas of making an impact in agriculture but need support in terms of skills development and financial support to scale up the ideas are encouraged to partake in this years AgriTech Challenge 2024 and Young Farmers Business Academy for community members and students who want to do business out of farming (https://bit.ly/2024KIC-YFBA-Application).
