The top 25 innovators from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania will represent their countries in the coming East Africa Postharvest Technologies Fair in May this year. The 25 are part of the 38 successful competitors at the East Africa Postharvest Technologies Competition 2017 aged 18 and above drawn from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi in the competition’s Storage, Drying, ICT, Logistics and Labour Enhancing categories. The innovators were drawn from a pool of over 200 applicants who competed for the best technological solutions to address post-harvest losses.

The 38 successfully participated in the East Africa Postharvest Technologies Competition 2017 Accelerator Training held at the Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge Hotel in Arusha Tanzania on April 4-5. The training aimed at helping the innovators to expand their opportunities for scaling up and disseminating their technologies to a wider market. They made a seven minute video and verbal presentation to judges who were drawn from the business community and organizations that play a key role in the agricultural value chains.

The 25 (10 Uganda, 9 Kenyan and 6 Tanzania) innovators will proceed to the East Africa Postharvest Technologies Fair on May 10, 2017, where they will showcase and pitch their innovations to development partners, donors, governments, farmer and trader associations, and investors. The top three contestants will split a seed fund of $30,000 USD through a generous contribution of agribusiness corporation Syngenta and other partners.

The Inter Region Economic Network (IREN) is conducting the inaugural East Africa Postharvest Technologies Competition 2017 through a grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) East Africa Trade and Investment Hub. The objective is to spur the development of innovative technologies that reduce food loss and waste in Africa.