Two Kenyan innovators impressed at the 2022 Ashden Awards with their innovative ideas on clean and accessible energy and natural climate solutions.
The two were among the four African winners who were honoured at the awards. The other two were from Togo and Zimbabwe.
Organisers of the event rewarded the two Kenyan ventures with Ksh3,513,467 each for installing internet connection at refugee camps, boosting education and using creating jobs while the other offers solar-powered cold storage.
"We are a team of 10 refugees in the Kakuma camp in Kenya, which has a population of 200,000 and is growing rapidly," the Kakuma innovators stated.
The other Kenyan venture helped reduce post-harvest losses through solar-powered cold storage and market linkages.
"We offer farm-level cold-storage as a service and a digital market linkage platform to seamlessly integrate small and medium-scale farmers into professional value chains," SokoFresh innovators said.
Notably, over 200 applicants, including clean energy sector specialists and indigenous community representatives, made submissions for the award.
The winners are set to travel to London for the award ceremony on November 2. However, for the first time since it began in 2001, the ceremony will be held both in Nairobi and London.
"Our winners and runners-up show how the continent is a hotbed of innovation, demonstrating the resilience and ingenuity of those most at risk from climate change," said Ashden CEO Harriet Lamb.
"They also show that clean energy has the potential to create 14 million jobs in Africa by 2030 and boost livelihoods," the CEO added.
The winners were selected for delivering innovative, ground-breaking, and scalable climate solutions to the journey to zero carbon.
"Ashden's mission is to accelerate transformative climate solutions just world," read the award's website.
