Green promoters, a team of five young Rwandan innovators have won the Wege Prize 2022, a competition organized by Kendall College of Art and Design’s Wege Center for Sustainable Design-USA.
Their winning project is about making an environmentally friendly, safe and affordable product which can be used as both pesticide and fertilizer.
The competition ignites game-changing solutions for the future by inspiring college and university students around the world.
This year’s Wege Prize 2022 attracted 31 teams from 70 global academic institutions from 29 countries.
They contested for $65,000 in total cash prizes, while helping to show the world what the future of problem solving looks like.
Comprising Rwandan students with a passion for agriculture and environmental sustainability from Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture, UAE University and Davis College- Akilah, Green Promoters won first place in this year’s competition with $30,000 cash prize.
The money will be used to establish EZA Two-in-One, an environmentally friendly, safe and affordable product which can be used as both pesticide and fertilizer.
Commenting on the award, Green Promoters Team Leader, Marie Merci Uwimbabazi, student at Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture said that it was a very big honor for the team to represent Rwanda and their universities on a global stage to win the biggest prize which will be the initial investment to the implementation of their project.
"We were privileged to be awarded as the first winner of Wege Prize 2022 and we are moving forward to the implementation of this idea so as to serve our community and the world,” she said.
The young innovators are very hopeful that their product will make a significant impact.
"The new product and processes benefit the challenges of waste and idle resources in various communities while creating new opportunities. The introduction of EZA Two-in-One promises to reduce the costs of imported inputs, while also promoting safety in agricultural production in Rwanda,” said Green Promoters team member Emmanuel Tuyishime, student in the College of Electrical Engineering at UAE University.