The Bart Nnaji Foundation has officially launched the Bart Nnaji Innovation Challenge, a practical innovation competition calling on bold thinkers, builders, creators, and technical problem-solvers to design safer ways of harvesting palm wine without climbing trees.\n<\/p>\n
According to an official statement signed by David Nwobodo on behalf of the foundation, which was established in 1983, the winners of the challenge will share a total prize pool of \u20a625 million. The grand prize winner will walk away with \u20a610 million, while the remaining \u20a615 million will be shared among three other top finalists to serve as prototype development funding to help them build and test their solutions.\n<\/p>\n
The competition is fully open to undergraduate and postgraduate students, active members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), and independent researchers across Nigeria.\n<\/p>\n
Nwobodo explained that the initiative aims to encourage practical engineering solutions capable of protecting lives, supporting rural enterprises, and modernizing palm wine harvesting without erasing its rich cultural value. The challenge focuses directly on a long-standing occupational hazard within Nigeria\u2019s traditional agro-industrial sector: preserving an important cultural and economic practice while drastically reducing the physical risks faced by local harvesters.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cFor generations, palm wine harvesting has remained an important part of community life, supporting families, local traders, micro-businesses, ceremonies, and festivals across many communities,\u201d Nwobodo stated. \u201cHowever, the traditional method requires harvesters to climb tall palm trees using ropes, pegs, and improvised tools\u2014a process that is physically demanding and highly dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n
The foundation further noted that as experienced traditional harvesters grow older and fewer young people choose to embrace such a hazardous profession, the future of the local palm wine economy relies heavily on safer, smarter, and more practical mechanization.\n<\/p>\n
The task for participants is to develop viable concepts or physical designs that reduce or completely eliminate the need for harvesters to climb tall trees. Proposed entries can leverage mechanical engineering, automation, local materials, improved tools, modified tapping systems, or any creative approach that enhances safety and operational efficiency.\n<\/p>\n
Commenting on the initiative, Dr. Ifeabunike Joseph Dioha, a Professor of Industrial Chemistry and Energy Studies, and Director of Renewable Energy Projects at the Admiralty University of Nigeria (ADUN), described the challenge as a timely intervention connecting indigenous science, engineering, and grassroots community development.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the kind of innovation challenge that should excite students, researchers, and practical problem-solvers because it applies science to a real-life problem,\u201d Professor Dioha said.\n<\/p>\n
Dioha, who is also a former Director of the Energy Commission of Nigeria in the Presidency, disclosed that several of his postgraduate students are already participating in the challenge. He noted that the platform gives young innovators the opportunity to think practically, design responsibly, and contribute to an agricultural solution that yields direct societal and economic impact.<\/p>\n
In addition to the \u20a610,000,000 grand prize and prototype development backing, the foundation will provide full travel support for the top three finalists selected to attend the physical pitch defense.\n<\/p>\n
Interested individuals and collaborative teams can register through the official competition page. The application window is brief, with entries set to close on May 27, 2026.\n<\/p>\n
BartNnajiInnovationChallenge, AgricTech, AgriculturalInnovations , SafeHarvesting, EngineeringNigeria, YouthInnovation #ProductDesignRuralEnterprise #MSMEAfrica<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Bart Nnaji Foundation has officially launched the Bart Nnaji Innovation Challenge, a practical innovation competition calling on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":494942,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[178],"tags":[215701,79,148243,215702,18,236,139145,215703,19,17,215704,215705,139165,85503,134422],"class_list":["post-494941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entrepreneurship","tag-bankofindustry","tag-business","tag-businessgrants","tag-cleantechgrants","tag-eire","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-entrepreneurshipnigeria","tag-idice2026","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-nigerianyouths","tag-nyif","tag-smefunding","tag-startupfunding","tag-tonyelumelufoundation"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116609620642471376","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=494941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494941\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/494942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=494941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=494941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=494941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}