Step Out and Innovate! World Creativity and Innovation Day 2023

On the 20^th of April 2023, SBN hosted a webinar to celebrate the World Creativity and Innovation Day. The webinar which focused on the theme ‘Transforming Food Systems through Private Sector Innovation and Collaboration: Insights from Nigeria’ was organised in collaboration with Innovative Food System Solutions (IFSS) Portal, and GAIN Nigeria (Strengthening Nutrition in Priority Staples – SNiPS) in line with the generic theme declared by the United Nations, ‘Step out and innovate’.

Part of the discussions highlighted the GAIN’s overview of the food systems innovation strategy, the Nigerian approach to food systems innovation using SBN Nigeria and the SNiPS project in Nigeria as a case study, and insights from 5 innovators in Nigeria who have taken bold steps to explore new ideas and solutions that can tackle local food system challenges. The startups shared their innovation journey in providing solutions to the Nigerian food systems, as well as their challenges. Kelvin Tersoo, the founder of Tembekasua shared how his innovation started from an encounter with one of his aged grandparents, Ruth Ede who leads Scratop Nig Ltd shared how her company is innovatively converting waste to nutrient enriched fertilizers for farmers, Tolulope Olukokun is the founder of ThinkBikes, an innovative solution to refrigerate fresh fruits and vegetables from farm to market, Olanrewaju Oluwafemi spoke passionately about how his company, Middlebrook Farms came up with the innovative idea of producing affordable Organic Fertilizers from agro waste to address soil infertility problem, as well as cultivation of edible mushrooms from agro waste, and lastly Oyeyemi Fadairo, an Associate with Simplix Consulting shared her successes in manufacturing a model of inflatable tunnel solar dryer, which utilizes solar energy to remove excess water present in food, thereby reducing spoilage and making more safe food available to the large Nigerian population.

These technical innovations and many others are transforming Nigeria’s food system, making it more efficient, sustainable, and resilient. However, there is still a need for more investment in research and development, infrastructure, and policies that support the adoption of these technologies by value chain actors along the value chain, from smallholder farmers, processors, distributors to markers.

To access the audio recording, click HERE

To access the visual recording, click HERE