Milken-Motsepe Prize in AgriTech Finalist Team Esoko speaks to their entrepreneurial paths, their links to the prize, and the inspiration and motivation behind their innovations in this “Stories From The Field” series. Click here to read more.
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Engineering News: How an AgriTech Prize Helped Me Realise My Life’s Work
By: Diana Orembe – Founder and CEO of NovFeed When I was a child, I witnessed firsthand my uncle’s struggles as a fish farmer. Growing up on his farm, I saw the immense effort he put into his work, only to be met with financial challenges due to the high cost and inconsistent quality of the feed stock. I later learnt my uncle was not alone, and that African farmers across the spectrum faced similar productivity challenges. This inspired me to find a way to create meaningful change in the African agricultural sector. During my second year at university, while conducting research on the application of microbes as feed, I revisited fish farms and found that the same issues my uncle faced were still around, even ten to fifteen years later. Farmers were investing heavily in feed, often imported and expensive, which cut deeply into their profits. Seeing that these issues