An Enactus student team from the University of Cologne, Germany, won the Race to Feed the Planet Impact Competition held during the 2022 Enactus World Cup last week with their project, Save the Grain. The project is a two-part social enterprise that empowers village farmers in Togo and Guinea-Bissau, Africa, through logistics and technology. For their winning project, The University of Cologne students will receive $15,000 in scaling funding for Save the Grain from The Race to Feed the Planet sponsors ADM and LIVEKINDLY. Additionally, the second-place team receives a $10,000 award from the race sponsors. Save the Grain developed from a desire to solve challenges faced by independent African farmers stemming from low yield and small profits. The solutions, the students realized, would come from improved efficiency rather than increased supply. On the technological innovation side, the students developed a low-tech, low-cost, solar grain dryer to prevent postharvest loss. Simultaneously, they created a farming co-operative to scale capacity and eliminate expensive brokers from the logistics chain.
The Race to Feed the Planet is a year-long program in which Enactus student teams advance the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (or Global Goals) through projects that demonstrate progress toward reducing food insecurity and lowering environmental impacts through plant-based agriculture, products, or enterprises. Enactus Germany Country Leader Oliver Faber notes that, “To win a Race is hard work!” and that he is “proud of all students who are engaged to save our planet.“ Faber appreciates Enactus Race competitions because the funding means that students like the Save the Grain creators are afforded a real possibility to boost their project and “turn its vision into a real business.”
Jan Weernink, Gobal Marketing Director, ADM BioSolutions mentored one of the finalist teams. He says, “ADM is proud to have been a sponsor of the Enactus Race to Feed the Planet challenge. As a leader in the agriculture space, we recognize the invaluable efforts of these innovative students and their projects supporting food security all over the world. It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to mentor a finalist team, the students of all teams involved are future leaders of the world, and we are happy to be a part of their path towards global food security and entrepreneurial leadership.”
In addition to the Race to Feed the Planet, Enactus offered three other Races during the 2021-2022 program year: the Race to Rethink Plastic, the Race for Climate Action, and 1 Race 4 Oceans. Any Enactus team in the global network can enter a project in a Race. During the year, the Race to Feed the Planet projects advanced to a top-twelve field which was further winnowed to a top-four group. These finalists participated in a juried competition at Enactus World Cup. “It is an honor to be a part of the Enactus World Cup in Puerto Rico and represent Germany and Cologne,” says one of the Enactus student representatives, adding, “We have met so many amazing people who are doing great work around the world. Kölle Alaaf!”
