A group of award-winning pre-teen girls from Nigeria, known as the ‘Smarties,’ has captured global attention with their innovative solution to tackling food insecurity.
The four girls—12-year-olds Goodness Nwonanne-Chima and Tiffany Tejiri Oghenemaro, along with 11-year-olds Excel Kiisibari Barile-Nwika and Salome Obehiremen Akhabhau—have developed an app called ‘AgriConnect.’
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Their app aims at combating food insecurity in Nigeria by connecting farmers, landowners, and investors, encouraging collaboration to boost local food production.
The Smarties explained that AgriConnect is designed to pair individuals who have land but lack farming expertise with skilled farmers in need of land and funding.
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The app also allows investors to support agricultural projects, with all parties benefiting from a profit-sharing arrangement.
Salome Akhabhau, one of the young inventors, explained the concept: “The investor brings the money to fund the farm, the farmer provides the skills and knowledge, and the landowner contributes the land. Everyone shares in the profits according to the terms they agree on.”
The Smarties’ innovation aligns with the United Nations’ Goal 2, which seeks to end hunger and improve food security by 2030. Their work earned them the Combat Hunger Award in the 2024 Technovation Girls competition, a global challenge encouraging girls to solve real-world environmental problems using technology.
Their victory has placed them among the 15 global winners and secured them further training in California, USA, where they will compete with other teams later this year.