At Akilah, we educate female leaders to solve the world’s most pressing challenges through a lens of opportunity and sustainability.

It’s this thinking that has led Akilah graduates to be at the forefront of driving the adoption of solar energy, using development skills to ensure access to safe drinking water, and achieving job creation through sustainable craft work.

Three other Akilah students, Marie Rose Mushimiyimana, Marie Aline Iraguha, and Delphine Ihirwe are tackling an equally pressing challenge.

Delphine Ihirwe, Marie Rose Mushimiyimana, and Marie Aline Iraguha

Tackling World Hunger

The United Nations estimates that one in nine people in the world today (815 million) are undernourished. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the picture is starker still — one in four is undernourished.

More frightening still is that world hunger has risen for a third consecutive year, according to the United Nations’ annual food security report. The total number of people who face chronic food deprivation has increased by 15 million since 2016.

There is no doubt that one of the greatest challenges the world now faces is how to ensure that a growing global population — projected to rise to around 10 billion by 2050 — has enough quality food to meet their nutritional needs for a healthy life. This for a planet experiencing increasing water and land scarcity, soil, land and biodiversity degradation and more frequent and severe weather events. The impact of climate change on agriculture compounds the situation.

It is for this reason that eliminating hunger is the #2 Sustainable Development Goal.

However, optimizing current agricultural practices will only get us part of the way towards this goal, finding a true solution will require innovation. Marie Rose, Marie Aline and Delphine are doing their part, by blazing the trail of hydroponics in Rwanda.

Rwaponics

The students developed a hydroponic gardening system that allows people to grow vegetables without access to land. Their system uses water and natural nutrients, instead of soil, to grow vegetables.

Last year, we shared how Marie Rose, Marie Aline and Delphine won Akilah’s Business Fund competition and later represented Akilah at the Hult Prize Competition. Since then, this trio of innovators has gone on to launch their own business: Rwaponics.

By collaborating with Ignite Solar, the fastest growing Pan-African developer of off-grid energy solutions, they were able to set up their first hydroponics system.

So far, the results have exceeded all expectations, showcasing the impact that this technology can have on food security for Rwanda, the African continent and the world. Crops that are grown in this way take up less space, require less water, grow faster and are less vulnerable to disease.

A Rwaponic’s lettuce plant after 8 days

“In Rwanda, we don’t have enough land to grow vegetables, but with this system, we don’t need much space. It also doesn’t require much water compared to traditional farming. Normally we are reliant on irrigation in the dry season, but this system works all year long. The system is very easy to set up. It only requires ingredients that you can buy at the market — everyone can afford it. We use 20 grams of nutrients in 250 liters of water, which we can use to grow 200 plants. The crops in this system are healthy and grow faster,” Delphine explains.

Rwaponics’ current hydroponics system

Marie Rose, Marie Aline, and Delphine are working hard to turn this innovative idea into a viable business. And with the global hydroponics market projected to be worth $27.29 billion by 2022, it shows every promise of being a success. They are certainly starting to make waves in the Rwandan startup community and were recently invited to speak on Rwandan television.

We’re sure the trio will continue to achieve great things after they graduate from Akilah in November 2019. We wish them all the best and leave you with this inspirational quote from their television appearance.