As part of activities to mark the 6th Ghana Industrial Summit and Exhibition, the 4th edition of the “Entrepreneurship Pitch Competition 2023″ for young entrepreneurs, Duckpro won the premium prize and received a cheque for 10,000.
The event, which took place at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC), was the theme “Enabling Eco-Friendly and Resilient Food Systems,”.
The competition formed part of efforts to solve the critical challenge of food security, which is aimed at supporting the quest of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) and partners in strengthening linkages for economic, social, and environmental sustainability.
Participants in the competition, made up of five teams namely: Olive’s Veggies, Awunpara, Farmitecture, AgroCold and Team Duckpro, had five minutes each to make presentations on their innovative products and ideas.
The presentations focused on protein sources in animal feed, local food production and market access, Greenhouse vegetable production, cold storage facilities, and farmlands and labour.
Industry experts who served as judges included Kwame Jantuah of Africa Energy Consortium Ltd., a food scientist, Daniel Amanqauh, and the Technical Advisor, Invest for Jobs, GIZ Ghana, Eunice Agyeiwah Agyepong.
At the end of the competition, Team Duckpro was adjudged winner of the contest and was awarded an ultimate cash prize of US$10,000; equipment worth €3000, a year-long research support by McGill University, and access to McGill’s Agile Project Management online course that supports them in managing their enterprise.
Farmtecture came up as the 1st runner-up and received a cash prize of US$6,000; equipment worth €3000, a year-long research support by McGill University, and access to McGill’s Agile Project Management online course that supports them in managing their enterprise.
Securing the 3rd position was Olive’s Veggies who also won a prize of US$4,000, equipment worth €3000, a year-long research support by McGill University, and access to McGill’s Agile Project Management online course.
AgroGold Ghana Ltd. and Awunpara settled for the 4th and 5th spot respectively and were both awarded us$1000, equipment worth €3000, a year-long research support by McGill University, and access to McGill’s Agile Project Management online course.
The AGI and its partners, including the McGill University master card FTP, Impact Investing Ghana and GIZ Ghana, have been key players emphasising the need for the private sector to engage in long-term collaborations with the government, universities, and technical training institutions in enabling eco-friendly and resilient food systems.
