- Young Ugandan business owners (aged 26 and 28) identified for Karpolax, a naturally degradable sachet that triples fruit service life without refrigeration
- Their creation supports smallholder farmers and suppliers, avoiding over 1 million tonnes of fruit from ruining in simply 3 years
- The European Patent Workplace is granting them EUR 20 000 to establish their natural, low-priced option to artificial preservers
MUNICH and REYKJAVÍK, Iceland, June 19, 2025/ PRNewswire/– Throughout an event held today in Iceland, the European Patent Workplace (EPO) granted the Ugandan business owners Sandra Namboozo (26 ) and Samuel Muyita (28 ) the Neighborhood Healers reward for their creation. It is a naturally degradable sachet that assists fruits remain fresh longer by launching natural substances that postpone ripening and avoid putridity.
The Neighborhood Healers reward identifies changemakers concentrated on social equity, establishing options for food security, education, health care and reasonable working conditions. Their work promotes level playing fields and fights discrimination. As this year’s receivers of the Neighborhood Healers reward, Namboozo and Muyita gotten in overall EUR 20 000 ( EUR 5 000 granted to each Tomorrow Shaper and an extra EUR 15 000 in acknowledgment of this unique reward).
” Winning an unique reward is an effective recognition, not simply of our work, however of the farmers we serve every day. It shines an international spotlight on a basic fact: development rooted in compassion can alter the world. This acknowledgment fuels our objective to make sure that no harvest goes to squander which every farmer, no matter how little, has a reasonable chance at success,” stated Namboozo and Muyita.
Namboozo and Muyita were chosen by an independent jury as one of the 10 winners of the Young Inventors Reward 2025, selected from over 450 prospects worldwide. This reward commemorates innovators aged 30 and under, referred to as Tomorrow Shapers. From this group, 3 were granted with unique rewards:
- World Builders, granted to the French-American Marie Perrin, for promoting sustainable access to important resources like water, energy and sustainable facilities
- Nature Guardians, granted to the United States siblings, Neeka and Leila Mashouf, for safeguarding environments and biodiversity, and dealing with environment modification, ocean health and wildlife preservation
- Neighborhood Therapists, granted to the Ugandan group.
Decreasing waste, increasing strength
In 2022, the world lost over 1 billion tonnes of food, while 783 million individuals dealt with cravings, according to the United Nations Structure Convention on Environment Modification (UNFCCC). In sub-Saharan Africa, where access to freezer is restricted, post-harvest losses especially impact smallholder farmers.
Namboozo and Muyita, both from farming households, set out to establish a natural option to artificial preservers. Their option, Karpolax, is a naturally degradable sachet put inside fruit product packaging that launches a mix of plant-derived unstable natural substances drawn out from cloves, lemongrass, eucalyptus and wintergreen. These substances sluggish ripening by decreasing ethylene emissions and safeguard versus mould, fungis and germs In pilot tests with Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Study Organisation, Karpolax extended the service life of mangoes from 11 to 33 days. The item has actually likewise been effectively utilized on bananas, apples and oranges.
” In Uganda, if farmers are not utilizing Karpolax, they are not utilizing anything, … they do not have an option. Without refrigeration, items will go to waste. We have actually seen a decrease in waste of over 40%,” stated Muyita.
Recovering neighborhoods through food security
Karpolax was released in 2020 and, by 2023, had assisted over 100 farmers, 20 exporters, and 250 suppliers, avoiding more than one million tonnes of fruit from going to waste Namboozo and Muyita established the sachets while studying farming sciences at Makerere University in Kampala ( Uganda) and are now dealing with brand-new variations for pineapples, capsicum, and berries. The journey to launch, nevertheless, included considerable challenges: ” At first, we did not have access to the devices, labs, the know-how and financing that we required … we needed to stroll from laboratory to laboratory … we dealt with numerous difficulties, however we are here since we found out how to be durable to them,” stated Muyita.
The Young Creators Reward commemorates around the world innovators 30 and under utilizing innovation to attend to worldwide difficulties postured by the United Nations Sustainable Advancement Goals (SDGs). Namboozo and Muyita’s work supports SDG 2 (Absolutely No Appetite) by decreasing post-harvest losses and SDG 12 (Accountable Intake and Production) by promoting sustainable food conservation practices.
The winners of the 2025 edition were revealed today throughout an event livestreamed from Iceland.
Discover more details about the creation’s effect, the innovation and the innovator’s story here
About the Young Inventors Reward
Focused on people 30 and under, the Young Inventors Reward showcases the transformative power of youth-driven options and identifies the amazing youths leading the way to a more sustainable future. Developed in 2022, prizes were very first given out throughout the European Developer Award event. Since 2025, the Reward has actually gone up an equipment with its own devoted occasion, held independently from the Award. Amongst the 10 Tomorrow Shapers chosen for each edition, 3 get unique rewards: World Builders, Neighborhood Healers, and Nature Guardians. In addition, an Individuals’s Option winner is chosen through an online public vote. Each Tomorrow Shaper gets EUR 5 000, while the 3 unique reward winners are granted an extra EUR 15 000. Individuals’s Option winner likewise gets an additional EUR 5 000. Learn more on the Young Inventors Reward eligibility and choice requirements.
About the EPO
With 6,300 employee, the European Patent Workplace (EPO) is among the biggest civil service organizations in Europe Headquartered in Munich with workplaces in Berlin, Brussels, The Hague and Vienna, the EPO was established with the objective of enhancing co-operation on patents in Europe Through the EPO’s centralised patent giving treatment, innovators have the ability to get premium patent security in approximately 46 nations, covering a market of some 700 million individuals. The EPO is likewise the world’s leading authority in patent details and patent browsing.
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SOURCE European Patent Workplace (EPO)