Three lake region counties awarded for food security tech

Three counties in the Lake Region Economic Bloc (LREB) have won awards for demonstrating the most promising smart technological solutions that address food security challenges.

Trans-Nzoia, Kakamega and Busia counties won county solution hubs contest after undergoing a competitive process against other devolved units which make up the newly established economic partnership.

The three became winners of the Inter Region Economic Network (IREN) Technologies and Innovations Challenge 2018 held at the end of a three-day expo.

IREN chief executive officer James Shikwati noted that the key objective of the contest was to grow a constituency of young people who take initiative and proactive steps to address challenges that face the lake region.

“I welcome more partners to this initiative to enable us compliment county government activities in the region,” he said.

The prize was organised by IREN in conjunction with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation in the expo that featured training and networking sessions.

Mr Shikwati said the ITIC-2018 recruited 166 youth who were enrolled into county solution hubs.

Trans-Nzoia County emerged top with the post-harvest management solution dubbed “NGAO”, a pesticide that uses dehydrating properties of diatomaceous earth to dehydrate cereals to prevent aflatoxins and deter weevils.

Kakamega County Solution Hub on the other hand developed a self-sustaining energy system that powers an irrigation water pump, while Busia County Solution Hub came up with a solar-powered cassava drying and chipping machine as a solution for post-harvest losses.

The ITIC 2018 competition aims to promote smart solutions for the 14 Lake region counties by identifying scalable food security compatible technologies for use by farmers and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across the agribusiness value chains.

“The Friedrich Naumann Foundation is proud to be associated with the innovative activities exhibited by young people from the Lake region of Kenya,” said Veni Swai, Senior Programme Officer, East Africa.