In a bid to strengthen Nigeria’s agriculture sector, Olam Agri, a leading agribusiness in food, feed and fibre, has partnered with Nanyang Technological University, a leading global research college in Singapore. The agribusiness sponsored the recently-concluded Singapore Business Case Competition X African Challenge 2023 organised by the institution to craft innovative, sustainable strategies targeted at raising the resilience level of the local food value chain.
The Singapore Business Case Competition is an innovative
competition that is centred on Africa. It featured 34 teams comprising 135
undergraduates from over 11 universities which made presentations on
climate-smart strategies to Olam Agri with a focus on how to improve Nigeria’s
agriculture sector, tackle climate threats, and address the topographic and
systemic challenges impeding the achievement of food security. The contest was
launched on February 25th, 2023, and concluded with team TPG Consulting emerging
as the overall winner on March 11.
The team TPG Consulting presented solutions that seek to
optimise fish farming, meet rising local demands for aquatic foods, mitigate
challenges in the poultry segment, reduce cattle herd migration, utilize tech
to raise efficiency in handling seed-to-harvest circles in key crop areas,
reduce agriculture waste, raise the employment potential of agriculture amongst
others. The team won a $1,500 prize in addition to an all-expense paid trip to
Nigeria to implement their solutions.
Speaking on the contest, Ashish Pande, the Country Head for Olam
Agri Nigeria, said, “We are glad to have allowed the smart, young minds to come
up with idea case studies that are capable of improving the resilience of our
food supply chain. Especially, the ideas represent a huge lever for unlocking
the potential of the aqua and poultry segments, and raising protein consumption
on the continent.”
“The latest investment actions are parts of our signature value
chain development drive through the Seeds for the Future project. The actions
demonstrate our commitment to helping Nigeria achieve its agriculture
development and economic growth agenda,” he added.
Saki Kobayashi, the Co-founder of EnerScale, who served as a
judge at the contest, was captivated by the impressive performance of the
contestants. In her words, “The participating teams demonstrated outstanding
performance during the SBCC X AC 2023. I was especially impressed to see their
use of technology and creativity to solve crucial challenges in Nigeria’s
agricultural sector.”
In the same vein, Amit Jain, the Director of NTU-SBF Centre for
African Studies, explained, “The participants at this year’s SBCC contest had
the opportunity to test their knowledge, analytical thinking, and communication
skills by solving real-life business problems. The teams presented
climate-smart solutions targeted at solving agricultural challenges in
Nigeria.”
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