From AI-powered irrigation and hydroponics to agricultural waste and digital finance, 12 young entrepreneurs recognised in Kigali are turning food systems challenges into businesses.

Across Africa, a new generation of young entrepreneurs is building businesses around some of the continent’s most persistent agrifood challenges, from water scarcity and agricultural waste to limited access to finance, energy and markets.

That was evident in Kigali, Rwanda, where the 2026 GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize announced its winners at the closing ceremony of the Africa Food Systems Forum (AFSF), recognising 12 young entrepreneurs whose businesses are already working with farmers, consumers and rural communities across the continent.

Nigeria’s Israel Smart Obidah, founder of Smartel Agri-tech, and Uganda’s Nabakka Sandra, co-founder of Sandi AI Technologies, emerged as the Grand Prize winners, each receiving a US$50,000 grant to expand their businesses.

Smartel Agri-tech is addressing one of agriculture’s most pressing constraints: producing more food with less water and fewer inputs.

Its Farm-in-a-Box combines hydroponics, Internet of Things (IoT) monitoring and artificial intelligence-powered crop diagnostics to enable farmers to grow throughout the year. The system uses up to 90 per cent less water and can reduce input costs by as much as 70 per cent.

Since its commercial launch in 2024, the company has deployed more than 7,000 systems.

For Sandi AI Technologies, the challenge is less about production technology and more about making agricultural technology accessible to farmers who may struggle to obtain conventional loans or provide collateral.

The Ugandan company combines artificial intelligence with rural savings groups to help farmers access solar-powered irrigation. Its platform has reached 10,000 groups representing more than 301,000 people and has facilitated the acquisition of more than US$4 million worth of irrigation and agricultural technologies.

Together, the two businesses illustrate a wider trend among Africa’s young agripreneurs: using technology not simply as an end in itself, but to respond to practical barriers facing farmers.

The other finalists demonstrated how varied those solutions can be.

In Burundi, Jolis Nduwimana’s Wege Company converts banana and rice straw into reusable and recyclable packaging, offering an alternative to plastic while creating a market for agricultural residues. The company works with more than 15,200 farmers and serves over 10,000 customers each month.

Rwanda’s Amazing Insect Ltd, founded by Josiane Mujawayezu, uses organic waste to produce organic fertiliser and insect-based animal feed. The circular economy business serves more than 5,000 customers and works with 96 agricultural cooperatives.

In Mali, Baba Djibo’s Djibo Services has developed a biological compost activator that can transform organic waste into quality compost in about 10 days, compared with the 45 to 90 days associated with traditional methods.

Kenyan entrepreneur Olivia Okinyi is taking another approach to agricultural waste. Through Econasi Limited, pineapple waste is converted into plant-based leather and sustainable packaging alternatives. The company works with 500 small-scale pineapple farmers and says its model can increase farmer incomes by close to 40 per cent while keeping agricultural waste out of landfills.

Other finalists are tackling finance, food waste, energy and the digital divide.

Sincy Group Holdings, founded by Kenya’s Nancy Githumbi, provides traceable agricultural inputs, financing, training and market access and has served 549,000 farmers.

In Ethiopia, Tariku Denekew’s ZTN PLC is developing solar-powered agricultural technology for areas with limited electricity and internet connectivity. Its edge-AI system supports precision irrigation and agricultural decision-making, with pilot deployments recording a 48 per cent reduction in water use and a 30 per cent increase in yields.

Meanwhile, Kenya’s Kilimora, founded by Godfrey Noel, combines offline AI, soil monitoring and climate finance to connect smallholder farmers with sustainable markets and new income opportunities. The company works with 1,500 cooperative farming operators across six counties, more than 60 per cent of whom are women.

The solutions point to an agrifood sector increasingly shaped by young businesses working at the intersection of food production, climate resilience, digital technology and circular economies.

For Alice Ruhweza, President of AGRA, the significance goes beyond the awards themselves. “Africa’s food systems transformation will ultimately be driven by businesses that can solve real problems at scale,” she said.

Ruhweza said the entrepreneurs were demonstrating how technology could create new markets and jobs while responding to the realities faced by African farmers and consumers.

But moving from promising enterprises to businesses capable of operating at much larger scale, she added, would require capital, stronger markets, partnerships and an enabling environment for young businesses to compete and grow.

The 12 finalists came from nine African countries: Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and Uganda, reflecting both the geographic reach and diversity of youth-led agrifood innovation on the continent.

The GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize, hosted under Generation Africa, AGRA’s youth community, provides more than financial awards. Through mentorship, networks, visibility and connections with investors and policymakers, the programme seeks to help young businesses move closer to commercial scale.

For Africa, where the pressure to create jobs for a growing young population runs alongside the need to build more productive, resilient and sustainable food systems, the businesses recognised in Kigali offer an indication of where some of those solutions are emerging, from the farms, food systems and communities where young Africans are already building them.