News

Tanzanian female scientist wins top innovation award Her trailblazing innovation helps manage destructive pests while preserving pollinators, enhancing crop yields, and ensuring food security. WEDNESDAY December 4, 2024 Dr Never Mwambela, the founder and CEO of Plant Biodefenders and a senior lecturer at the College of African Wildlife Management Mweka, Tanzania, poses for a souvenir picture with organisers of Agroecological Food Futures Prize 2024 after she was declared winner of the award in Kigali, Rwanda, on Tuesday December 3, 2024. PHOTOS / COURTESY By Adam Ihucha The Tranquility News Correspondent, Rwanda A young Tanzanian female scientist has scooped the ultimate East African region innovation award, upstaging 200 plus colleagues. Dr Never Mwambela, a pioneering female scientist and senior lecturer at the College of African Wildlife Management Mweka, has been named the overall winner of the inaugural Agroecological Food Futures Prize 2024, raising a Tanzanian flag high. The award ceremony took place on Tuesday night in Kigali, Rwanda, where Dr Mwambela’s exceptional innovation stood out among the contributions of over 200 competing scientists. Dr Mwambela is the founder and CEO of Plant Biodefenders, a Tanzanian startup credited for developing Vuruga Biocide, an eco-friendly pest control solution that promotes sustainable agriculture in the face of climate change. The trailblazing innovation helps manage destructive pests while preserving pollinators, enhancing crop yields, and ensuring food security. Dr Never Mwambela, the founder and CEO of Plant Biodefenders and a senior lecturer at the College of African Wildlife Management Mweka, Tanzania, delivers her speech to accept the Agroecological Food Futures Prize 2024 in Kigali, Rwanda. Additionally, her company also produces herbal teas aimed at promoting health and wellness. The Agroecological Food Futures Prize, an initiative by the Biovision Foundation, aims at highlighting and supporting sustainable agricultural small and medium enterprises across East Africa. During the award ceremony, the event manager announced: ‘The winner is Plant Biodefenders from Tanzania’, celebrating Dr Mwambela’s transformative contributions. In her acceptance speech, Dr Mwambela expressed her gratitude to the Biovision Foundation and other organisers for acknowledging her work. She candidly highlighted the hurdles her startup faces, particularly in terms of funding and reaching farmers. Dr Never Mwambela, the founder and CEO of Plant Biodefenders and a senior lecturer at the College of African Wildlife Management Mweka, Tanzania, displays products of Plant Biodefenders (Tanzania) Limited in Kigali, Rwanda. “Our products and innovations are impactful, but reaching the people remains a daunting task,” she said. To overcome this, the prize will enable Plant Biodefenders to train over 10,000 smallholder farmers, raising awareness about their sustainable products and innovations. Dr Mwambela shared her vision for expanding their solutions to other African nations contending with similar pest challenges, emphasizing the need for decreasing dependency on synthetic pesticides. She called for partnerships and investments to surmount logistical hurdles and access broader markets. In a sunlit conference room in Kigali, Rwanda, the air buzzed with anticipation. Renowned experts in agriculture and environmental sustainability sat attentively, their eyes fixed on Dr Mwambela. The Tanzania High Commissioner to Rwanda, Mr Abdallah Nangwanda, said the Agroecological Food Futures Prize did not elevate Dr Never Mwambela alone, but also inspired the entire nation to strive for excellence in various research and innovation fields.    With a confident smile, Dr Mwambela began her high-profile pitch with the words: “We save humans and the planet’s biodiversity with the right innovation”. Agriculture, she explained, faced a formidable challenge, as crop losses range from 20 to 40 per cent, thanks to damage caused by pest. Quoting the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s data, Dr Mwambela said the global cost of pest control soared to an astonishing $220 billion, with invasive pest species accounting for $70 billion annually. The fall armyworm wreaked havoc on maize crops, Tuta absoluta decimated tomatoes, and the elusive coffee berry borer ravaged precious coffee cherries, she explained. “Traditional synthetic pesticides—while widely used—had grown into both a financial burden and an ecological threat,” Dr Mwambela said, adding that farmers grappled with rising costs, decreased effectiveness, as pests developed resistance, and collateral damage to non-target species and ecosystems. Organisers of Agroecological Food Futures Prize 2024 and participants in the competition pose for group picture. She paused to let the gravity of the situation sink in. “The urgency,” she explained,” is undeniable. The world needs innovative, effective, sustainable, and safe alternatives. And that is where Vuruga Biocide comes in.” The room seemed to collectively lean forward as she introduced Vuruga Biocide, a revolutionary biopesticide derived from fungi. Unlike conventional pesticides, this solution is affordable and non-toxic, ensuring pests do not develop resistance. “Easy to apply and requiring no protective gear, Vuruga Biocide is safe for humans and the environment alike,” noted Dr Mwambela, stressing that remarkably, it even attracted pollinators, boosting crop yields and enhancing food security. Her enthusiasm grew as she outlined the competitive advantages of Vuruga Biocide. The world needs innovative, effective, sustainable, and safe alternatives. And that is where Vuruga Biocide comes in,” Dr Never Mwawmbela, the founder and CEO of Plant Biodefenders, and a senior lecturer at the College of African Wildlife Management Mweka, Tanzania. By enhancing the decomposition of organic matter, it improved soil health, integrated with other biocontrols, and attracted natural pest predators like spiders, she said. “It boasts a long shelf life of 12 months at room temperature and is already certified by BioInspector for its unmatched safety and efficacy in eliminating 90 to 100 per cent of pests,” Dr Mwambela explained. Crucially, she stated, it was more cost-effective than chemical pesticides, heralding a new era for farming economies. Plant biodefenders had already made a significant impact, Dr Mwambela noted, adding that armed with four patents and six registered products, they had transformed the lives of 11,500 smallholder farmers, created jobs, and empowered countless youth and women. Their training sessions had armed 7,000 farmers with knowledge and tools, creating a ripple of positive change in local communities. Mr Hans Von Zinkernagel, the Programme Manager, Policy and Advocacy at Biovision Foundation, called for changes in financing frameworks, advocating