South Africa’s AgriProtein wins 2013 Africa Innovation Prize

Innovation PrizeSouth Africa’s AgriProtein team has been named the 2013 winner of the Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA).

This was announced May 8, 2013 in Cape Town during an IPA Gala and Awards Night.

Founded by the African Innovation Foundation and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the IPA is focused on building Africa’s capacity by investing in local entrepreneurship. It also identifies breakthroughs that exemplify Africa’s innovation and investment potential.

The AgriProtein team developed a new source of animal feed protein that lowers the cost of feed for African producers and farmers. The team’s innovative solution collects biodegradable waste, feeds it to flies that in turn produce larvae that are ground into protein to provide a more ecologically friendly, naturally occurring type of animal feed.  This approach is said to have improved the nutritional value of meat and lowers the cost of animal feed for African processors and farmers.

With global population expected to grow to nine billion by 2050 and more than 900 million people living in hunger, the demand for nutritious food is expected to rapidly increase.

Acknowledging this need and the impact of hunger in Africa, officials in charge of the IPA therefore decided to give the ultimate prize to the AgriProtein team out of the selected 900 applications from 45 countries.

Officials say winners were selected by a skilled panel of jurors based on the marketability, originality, scalability, social impact and business potential of their respective innovations.

The AgriProtein team received a cash prize of $100,000 while two runners up in the business potential category, Hassine Labaied and Anis Aouini from Saphon Energy received $25,000 for creating a bladeless wind convertor, and Sanoussi Diakite (in the social impact category) also received $25,000 for developing a thermal powered machine that husks 5 kilograms of fonia – a West African cereal – in just eight minutes.

“The Innovation Prize for Africa winners showcase African solutions to African challenges,” said Jean-Claude Bastos de Morais, co-founder of the African Innovation Foundation and the IPA.

Jean-Claude urged private sector leaders, donors and governments to work together to invest in practical solutions that will sustain Africa’s economic growth.

“We are honoured by this remarkable recognition,” said Jason Drew a member of the AgriProtein team.

According to Drew, the team is “passionate about expanding our business to recycle more waste nutrients and supply natural protein to feed farm animals – helping sustainably feed our continent – this is an African contribution to sustainable agriculture for our planet.”

The call for applications for the IPA 2014 will be announced in July 2013, officials said.

By Ekow Quandzie

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