Start-Ups in Kenya Get Prizes to Address Climate Change
Up to 13 climate change start-ups in Kenya have received a cash prize of US$82,500 for innovations that could help vulnerable communities. The Climate Information Prize (CIP) awarded the cash prizes this month (6 April) to boost new solutions that use climate information and datatargeting vulnerable communities in Kenya’s eastern, north-eastern and Rift Valley regions.
According to Slater Jonty, the CIP director, of the 115 innovators who applied for funding, 13 emerged winners. “The 13 had the potential of reaching more people, were sustainable and benefited the vulnerable group,” Jonty says. The first prize of US$15,000 was awarded to Sam Owilly of Pawa-Farm for a project on climate conditions that enable farmers make informed decisions and improve farm management practices. “The CIP money will enable us reach more people in Makueni County from the 1,500 we are currently working with to at least 5,000. It will also help us scale up the project to the other counties,” Owilly says.
CIAT