ITWeb Africa recently featured IRRI-AfricaRice, the Third Place Winner of the Milken-Motsepe Prize in AgriTech. In this article, Venuprasad Ramaiah, PhD, head of the International Rice Greenbank at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), details the importance of growing flood-tolerant rice varieties across Africa. Read the full article here.
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Africa’s Green Economy Summit: Milken-Motsepe Green Energy Prize Winner: “Aftrak Solves Economic and Green Energy Challenges and Produces A Zero Carbon Energy Solution Accessible To Nearly Everyone”
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH JONATHAN WILSON, AFTRAK PROJECT LEAD, THE WINNERS OF THIS YEAR’S MILKEN-MOTSEPE GREEN ENERGY PRIZE OF $1-MILLION. HE IS ALSO A LECTURER IN SYSTEMS AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERING AT LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY. AFTRAK IS A GROUNDBREAKING INITIATIVE THAT COMBINES SOLAR MICROGRIDS AND TAILORED TRACTORS TO EMPOWER SMALLHOLDER FARMERS ACROSS AFRICA. IT AIMS TO SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE CROP YIELDS AND SMALLHOLDER INCOMES WHILE PROVIDING ACCESS TO CLEAN, GREEN ELECTRICITY IN RURAL COMMUNITIES. CONGRATULATIONS ON WINNING THE MILKEN-MOTSEPE GREEN ENERGY PRIZE! CAN YOU SHARE A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF YOUR INNOVATION AND ITS IMPACT ON EXPANDING ACCESS TO SUSTAINABLE ELECTRICITY IN AFRICA? We’re obviously thrilled to bits to win the Milken-Motsepe Prize for Green Energy. Our innovation is around a socio-economic solution to both energy access, but also agriculture and food scarcity. So, we have a system that comprises of three main parts. The first one is a microgrid, and we put loads of work into this microgrid.