Jacob’s Ladder Africa and Moringa School have unveiled the winners of the Technology for Climate Hackathon that challenged young people to develop innovative tech-based solutions to address the impact of climate change in Kenya.

Wara Farm headed by Verah Kwamboka and David Nene emerged the winner for their artificial intelligence (AI)-powered solution to mitigate inefficiencies in food supply chains as a way to tackle food insecurity in the country.

The solution they created decentralises supply chain processes and increases access to information by farmers and tools they need to improve on their outputs.

The second-place was Okoa Waste, which seeks to provide urban waste management solutions, and third was Kambare, which seeks to close the gap in access to high quality and affordable aqua feeds.

Jacob’s Ladder Africa says it will incubate the top five teams in the hackathon to assist them to further develop their solutions.

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“The brilliant ideas presented by the different teams that took part in the hackathon underscores our belief that African youth can be the engine for innovation on the continent,” said Jacob’s Ladder Africa co-founder Bilha Ndirangu.

She added, “They have the potential to bring forth fresh, new solutions that are contextualised to Africa and we feel compelled to spur them on and help provide the tools they require.”

The organisers challenged the youth, who form more than 60 per cent of the African population, to leverage innovation to tackle climate change and develop unique solutions to African challenges.

“Our collaboration with Jacob’s Ladder Africa exemplifies a good meeting of minds in using technology to encourage innovation towards developing solutions for climate change,” indicated Moringa School CEO Snehar Shah.

Snehar Shah. PHOTO/COURTESY

He added, “The need for tech talent stands out and Moringa School continues to produce more and more skilled graduates. Some great ideas have emerged from the hackathon including creating a platform for urban farming, organic waste management and more.”

The judging panel was comprised of Dorothy Maseke, Head of Risk & Compliance at ICEA Lion Group; Lizzie Biney-Amissah, Partner at E3 Capital; Marcus Watson, Partner at KawiSafi Ventures; and Francis Kahindi, Founder of Techprescribed.