Grameen Foundation President Prof Muhammad Yunus (pictured) has challenged Kenyan startups to leverage technology to address poverty and associated challenges.

He said technology holds the key in alleviating the impact of poverty, food insecurity, climate change, and waste management among other challenges.

“But the truth is, in order to alleviate poverty, the systems and policies have to be fixed, and tech is a major way to go about it,” he noted while speaking during a Hackathon event held in collaboration with Moringa School-themed “Technology for Impactful Change”.  The focus of the hackathon was to leverage on the power of collaboration and technology to develop home-grown impact-based solutions.

During the event, four Kenyan tech companies Chiro; Kambare, Kilimo Africa and Rafiki Carbon proposed solutions to eliminate Food Insecurity and to promote Waste Management.

Legal frameworks

Kilimo Africa emerged the winner after the judges established the concept had the potential for impact and scale-up including a solution to farmers and the entire ecosystem.

“Poverty is not created by poor people but by the systems we have in place, policies made and the legal frameworks created in specific countries,” Yunus said.

Kilimo Africa will benefit from a mentorship program by Yunus Social Business. This is expected to help the company refine its business model and in turn, position itself for funding.

Yunus attributed the economic movement he created in his native Bangladesh to the need to lift millions of families out of poverty.

He expressed hope that local startups would borrow this approach that saw him awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for pioneering the concept of microcredit and microfinance solution in Bangladesh.

Former Makueni Governor, Prof Kivutha Kibwana, applauded the approach to grassroot economics.

Licencing barriers

“As a county, we tried to implement the Grameen model of microfinancing in Makueni, but was hampered by existing legal and licensing barriers,” he revealed.

Kibwana pointed out that such a model is a game-changer in efforts to alleviate poverty, adding that it will in turn improve the livelihoods of Kenyans.            – George Kebaso