For the second time, the b|u|s Award, organised jointly by TAHA and AHA, took place in hybrid form. The whole thing was made possible thanks to financial support from the Lower Saxony Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Verbraucherschutz). The event took place on 5 October in Arusha, Tanzania, and was complemented by the online participation of the German jury. The ten finalists determined in the pre-selection process were given the chance to present in turn their entrepreneurial ideas to the international jury in the form of “pitches” and win the b|u|s Award. The jury evaluated the proposals based on criteria such as cost-effectiveness, sustainability, chances of success etc.
The business ideas were many and varied. They ranged from avocado seedlings through making organic fertiliser from waste from the city landfill to pumpkin seeds as a healthy food supplement. In the end, Wema Paul achieved first place by a narrow margin. This female entrepreneur from Arusha wants to build more storage facilities for storing onions. With this possibility of temporary storage, local producers are not forced to sell their goods immediately, but can wait for a moment when the price is right. Professional storage also avoids post-harvest losses. Thanks to this idea, Wema is not only showing foresight with regard to the livelihood of local people, but she is also directly creating jobs and a business that is self-sustaining in the long run by charging a small fee per day. We warmly congratulate Wema on her well-deserved success.
The jury was composed of Tanzanian and German members. The Tanzanian jury consisted of representatives from our Belgian Agricord partner Trias, the NGO YEP Tanzania, the accelerator ndotohub and the Equity Bank. On the German side, Mr. Ralf Pohle from the Marketinggesellschaft der niedersächsischen Land- und Ernährungswirtschaft e. V. and Dr. Jürgen Wilhelm from the Lower Saxony Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection took part, in addition to the AHA’s Managing Director Nicole Bolomey and our long-time b|u|s trainer Kurt Hattinger.
