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In partnership with GIZ and iceaddis, and in close collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture of Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency, CTA recently awarded six Ethiopian start-ups at the Green Innovation and AgriTech Slam 2019 (GIAS2019) competition.

The Program is held in the country’s capital, Addis Ababa, in November 2019, GIAS2019 is run under CTA’s AgriTech Movers project, which aims to identify and support young Ethiopian agripreneurs using ICTs and digital technologies to help them achieve business growth. The competition included a Pitch AgriHack award category to specifically target entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 35 who could demonstrate an innovative digital solution for the agricultural sector.

The application process had two phases – firstly, GIAS2019 applications were shortlisted by independent technical experts who conducted due diligence to verify proposed innovations. The shortlisted applicants then pitched in front of an independent and multi-disciplinary panel of judges using a format adapted from CTA’s Pitch AgriHack initiative. Out of 30 start-ups mentored by iceaddis, the Pitch AgriHack category awarded six winners.

Debo Engineering is founded by young engineers, Boaz Berhanu and Jermia Bayisa, Debo Engineering has developed an algorithm that automatically detects and classifies plant diseases through image detection. The digital solution can be accessed via mobile phones or through the web. The Debo Engineering team has also developed drone technologies with the capability of early disease detection on large commercial farms.

Beside winning GIAS 2019 Award, Debo Engineering was got the following opportunities

• International(German) Tur one year experience at the incubation center.
• 83000 br for start up!
• Business plan development training