It was tears of joy at Sheraton Hotel on Thursday evening as the Uganda AYuTe African Challenge, crowned the former street kid Monday Shaduracka as the overall winner, bagging Shs50m.
Shaduracka invented an electric tractor, which helps farmers improve their farming experience as well as protect the environment as his electric tractors emit less carbon into the atmosphere while completing the same level of work as the fuel-powered tractors.
Shaduracka, a former street boy reacted to the announcement by saying,
“I am very excited and honored to be awarded as the winner of the AYuTe Africa Challenge in Uganda by Heifer International. Together with my team, our participation in the challenge was driven by the opportunity to contribute to improving the productivity and livelihoods of smallholder farmers across Uganda,”
Heifer International on Thursday awarded 3 winners of the AYuTe Africa Challenge from Uganda.
The overall winner was, Shaduracka with the Electric Tractor Innovation, who received Shs50 million, the 1st runner-up, John Charles Nuwagaba of the Solar Water Pump, who received Shs30 million, and the 2nd runner-up who received Shs15 million, was Mike Ssali Ssegawa with the Grafting Tomato Technology.
Other winners, were Brian Byaruhanga and Brian Natwijuka with the Digitized Herd Monitoring System and Silage production & E-Commerce for Beef respectively, each receiving Shs2,500,000.
The winners received their prize money from the Guest of Honor, the Minister of State for Agriculture, Hon. Fred Bwino Kyakulaga.
The AYuTe Africa Challenge was a national competition offering young entrepreneurs in Uganda the opportunity to pitch for investment in their agritech solutions to boost the income and productivity of Africa’s smallholder farmers. There was overwhelming participation in this inaugural competition by
Heifer International is evidenced by the over 200 startup companies and individuals who applied to compete in this year’s competition.
All participants who auditioned were taken through a total of three elimination rounds; out of which 6 companies/individuals were ultimately selected to compete in a final round held at Sheraton Hotel Kampala.
The candidates were evaluated on the basis of their business model, tech solutions, and approach toward problem-solving, Ugandan market fit, innovation, market validation, and potential revenue.
In his speech, Bwino Fred Kyakulaga, the State Minister of Agriculture said that government strongly believes that the youth have the power to drive change with digital innovations that can promote sustainable development and build a better future for Uganda.
“Today, I’m delighted to see the final products from the three winning teams,” he said as he handed over the prizes.
“The years 2020 and 2021 have been a challenging moment for our sector due to the outbreak of covid-19, drought, and political wars but we believe that all this can be mitigated if we create solutions that mitigate productivity. Our Country is a gift from God, we only use only 35% of our arable land, leaving 65% unutilized,” he added
Commenting on the awards, William Matovu, Country Director, Heifer International Uganda said that,
“This is the first year of the AYuTe Africa Challenge in Uganda, and the significant level of interest from startups to participate just demonstrates the type of positive impact we are going to have in the development of agritech,”
He added; “We are excited to start working together with; Electric Tractor Innovation, the Solar Water Pump company, and Grafting Tomato Technology. Their solutions will be very valuable to foster value addition amongst smallholder farmers. By working together with the stakeholders like Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, and the Ministry of ICT & National Guidance, we look forward to further connecting these innovative companies with the resources they need to help solve the industry’s most pressing challenges,”
