• Is the overall winner of the Global Innovation through Science and Technology 2019.
· Njoroge floored 23 finalists from 18 countries
Image: /TRIZZA KIMANI
Mt Kenya University researcher Donatus Njoroge last week won a global award after developing a biopesticide for grains.
Njoroge was the overall winner of the Global Innovation through Science and Technology 2019 competition organised by the US Department of State.
He beat 23 other finalists from 18 countries to scoop Sh1.5 million in seed capital and Sh5 million in Amazon Web Services (AWS) Credits.
The US government recognised him for his environmental friendly pesticide plans.
The researcher developed a bioproduct to reduce post-harvest losses. “It is a product to protect grains against weevils. It works on all grains. It is a biopesticide and entirely from different plant species and does not harm human beings – no effect on health or environment,” Njoroge said.
It will be among the first biopesticide to hit the shelves locally because the others on sale are synthetic.
Njoroge said bioproducts are harmless to human health and the environment. Synthetic products have in the past been linked to cancer.
“There are no bioproducts for grains in the country and the region. There are bioproducts for other crop protection but when it comes to grains, we rely on the synthetic products. If we are able to commercialise, then we will be the first,” he said.
He plans to roll-out the product commercially in the coming months and take on multinationals with an eco-friendly pesticide.
“The finds are supposed to help me scale up the product while the AWS credits will help get computing solutions without incurring any costs. Such include storage space, so I will not need to buy servers,” Njoroge said.
“I was also hooked up with a mentor who will walk with me when scaling up the innovation regionally and internationally. (He is) David Hammond, the president and chief executive for National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce.”
Mount Kenya University founder Simon Gicharu said, "This award is a testament to the culture of innovation and research we have propagated at MKU.
“We shall continue encouraging and supporting our staff and students to come up with ideas that are geared towards solving Africa’s most pressing challenges.”