As part of the Africa Agribusiness and Science Week 2023 (AASW8), the Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD) in partnership with the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and the Global Forum for Agricultural Research and Innovation (GFAR) is organizing The AgriYouth Africa Hackathon under the theme, “Digital Technologies (ICT4Ag): The Pathway to Engaging the African Youth in African Agricultural Research and Development (AR4D)”.
The main objective of this hackathon is to provide a platform to enable and empower young agricultural professionals in Africa to shape sustainable food systems through the proposal of ICT-based solutions for Africa’s agriculture. The hackathon will further serve as a platform for young professionals to be mentored on ways of improving their ideas and proposals for the provision of sustainable and scalable ICT-based solutions. This will serve as a skills enhancement mechanism to increase the youth’s access to capacity development opportunities.
Following a call for entries from across Africa, 86 youth-led projects made submissions in line with the sub-themes of the 8th AASW:
- Science-business Nexus to Boost Intra-African Trade
- Nutrition-Sensitive and Gender-Responsive Food Systems
- Climate Resilience, Natural Resources Management and Farming Systems Transition
- Knowledge Management, Digitalization, and Youth Entrepreneurship
After a thorough competitive evaluation process by youth engagement and innovation experts, the following projects (in no particular order) have been shortlisted:
- The Greater Green Project, Zimbabwe
- EssyMart – MyFarm, Uganda
- Tilapia Cage Pilot Project, Democratic Republic of Congo
- Crop2Cash, Nigeria
- Onion Doctor, Kenya
- ChampiTech, Uganda
- Agri-Business Activities- ABA, Gabon
Three winners and three honorable mentions will be announced during the AASW8. Stay tuned for the results and to learn more about the projects.
Thank you to all who sent in their amazing youth-led projects. We look forward to engaging with you in upcoming initiatives.
Hearty congratulation to the shortlisted teams.