Four finalists are advancing to the Race to Feed the Planet Impact Competition at Enactus World Cup!

Race to Feed the Planet recognizes and mobilizes students who develop projects that demonstrate progress toward reducing food insecurity and lowering environmental impacts through plant-based agriculture, products, or enterprises. An estimated 8.9% of the global population is hungry; that number is expected to increase to 9.8% by 2030. The world needs sustainable solutions with low environmental impacts to address the nutritional demands of a growing food insecure population. ADM and LIVEKINDLY are sponsors of this race, and teams have the opportunity for a portion of $25,000 USD in project scaling funding. Finalists were chosen from a field of 79 entries from 16 countries by an independent judging panel of sponsor employees, subject matter experts, and Enactus alumni.

Team projects advancing to the Race to Feed the Planet final round include:

• Save the Grain from Enactus students at University of Cologne, Germany. Students initially identified a village in Togo where farmers lost a quarter of their harvest due to insufficient drying and storage capabilities and in turn forfeited significant profits by having to sell their grain crops at reduced prices for an abbreviated period. By developing a farming co-operative and introducing a low-tech, low-cost grain dryer, the Enactus students have empowered the village farmers by preventing postharvest loss and increasing capacity, enabling them to recoup greater profits. Upon their success, students have already expanded Save the Grain to Guinea-Bissau.

• Eco Xingu from Enactus students at UFPA Altamira – Federal University of Pará, Brazil, which reduces single-use plastic traditionally used in seedling packaging. 90% of these plastic bags are discarded and often burned, emitting harmful carbon emissions. As an alternative, the students have created eco-tubes from discarded plastic bottles, which also create a protective environment in which the seeds can germinate. Farmers have already validated the success of eco-tubes with two crops. The students have also trained a collective of Açai farmers in the implementation of the eco-tubes.

• Project Waraq from the Enactus student team at Ramjas College, India. Waraq is a business developed to manufacture biodegradable plates made from stubble and plant seeds. Farmers frequently burn crop debris, or stubble, creating a significant air-pollutant. The students at Waraq instead use stubble combined with seeds so that the compostable material supports new plant growth as it biodegrades. These plants in turn are used to feed malnourished school-age children. The team hopes to expand the Waraq project to 100 schools in 50 villages, lifting 70,000 people out of hunger poverty while preventing 12 metric tons of carbon emissions.

• Zaraat, from the Enactus student team at Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, India, which aims to uplift the farming community by reducing postharvest losses through a self-sustaining social enterprise involving an affordable and eco-friendly storage solution and transportation infrastructure improvement.

Please help us in congratulating these teams in their achievement and wish them best of luck when they participate in the Race to Feed the Planet Impact Competition at #EnactusWorldCup this October. 

World Races are just one of the ways that we work with Enactus students to fulfill our vision of creating a better, more sustainable world. In addition to the Race to Feed the Planet, there are three additional World Races— the Race for Climate Action, 1 Race 4 Oceans, and the Race to Rethink Plastic. Learn more on Enactus+. 

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