In the 2022 edition, AKADEMIYA2063 recognized the most innovative projects in each category, leading to the selection of eight winners from the competition. The top awardees were honored at the 2022 ReSAKSS Annual Conference held in Harare, Zimbabwe, from October 25th to 27th, in recognition of their remarkable contributions to fostering innovation and advancing development across Africa.
2022 ReSAKSS Data Challenge – Meet the Winners!
Category 1 – Essay or Report
François Sagna’s project, “La mise en place de banques alimentaires d’Adansonia digitata (baobab) comme solution à la sécurité alimentaire au Sahel et à la réduction de l’exploitation de cette espèce emblématique : cas du Sénégal et du Mali,” centered around utilizing ReSAKSS data to establish a Baobab food bank, aiming to address food security challenges in the Sahel region and mitigate the exploitation of this iconic species.
Koudjo Espoir Gaglo’s “Mitigation of Environmental degradation and salinization impacts in Fatick, Senegal: a remote sensing-based approach,” project uses historical climate event data coupled with flux tower and remote sensing data to assess a land surface model’s ability to represent heterogeneous ecosystems and the trade-offs needed to simulate their functioning in the Sahel.
Category 2 – Visual Arts
Themed “Growing and Sustaining Africa’s Agricultural GDP,” Tumwebaze Alex’s project portrays Africa’s annual agricultural GDP using ReSAKSS data and attempts to analyze the problems hindering agricultural growth, and how improvements can be made in this sector to feed the African population and grow the economy while making the continent a better place for everyone.
In his project titled “Reducing Poverty Headcount Ratio in Uganda and Africa,” Okecha Willy delves into the multitude of significant challenges impacting the African continent. He explores potential solutions that, if effectively implemented, have the potential to catalyze development and support continued growth.
The “Climate Smart Agriculture” project by Philip Lugoolobi promotes the development of a weather guide app that uses ReSAKSS downloadable precipitation CSV data files to help farmers in various regions of Africa predict future rainfall patterns and thus plan for their next season.
Category 3 – IT Products & Services or Predictive Modeling
Najiib Kateregga’s initiative, titled “Investment Eye Africa,” aims to develop an application capable of analyzing ReSAKSS data and providing investment advice to users across different African regions. This innovative app is poised to play a crucial role in closing the information deficit regarding agricultural investment prospects.
Category 4 – High School Project
In her project “Reducing Child Malnutrition in Africa,” Vanessa Nalugya aimed to develop an affordable, nutrient-rich porridge product that could be easily accessed by even the most isolated families to combat the malnutrition, stunting, and underweight conditions among children residing in remote regions of Uganda.
Livingstone Ssekimpi’s visual arts project, “Engulfing Poverty and Food Insecurity through Urban Farming,” promotes an effective design tailored for urban farming. This design aims to facilitate the cultivation of short-root crops and accommodates poultry or rabbit rearing within a confined space. The primary objective is to involve the youth in agriculture, thereby not only enhancing food security but also enabling them to generate income for themselves.
