2022 Earthshot Prize Winners Announced! plus prize winners—Kheyti and Mukuru Clean Stoves!
2022 Earthshot Prize Winners Announced! Prize Winners—Kheyti and Mukuru Clean Stoves
2022 EARTHSHOT PRIZE WINNERS ANNOUNCED!
Last Friday, the Duke and Duchess of Wales, Prince William and Princess Kate, announced the winners of the 2022 Earthshot prize in a lavish ceremony in Boston, Massachusetts. One winner was announced for each of the five Earthshot categories:
- Protect & Restore Nature: Kheyti
- Clean Our Air: Mukuru Clean Stoves
- Revive Our Oceans: Indigenous Women of the Great Barrier Reef
- Build a Waste-Free World: NotPla
- Fix Our Climate: 44.01
We’re going to spotlight each today and tomorrow. Each winner will receive £1million prize money (about 1.2 million USD) and access to a global support network to scale their work. If you missed the ceremony, America’s Public Broadcasting System network will broadcast the event on Wednesday, December 14th. Check local listings for timings. Rumor also has it the event may be on the EarthShot Prize’s YouTube channel.
Why does the EarthShot Prize matter to us? Because it’s helping spur climate change problem solving by seeking out the most innovative solutions to the environmental challenges facing the planet. And by providing initial funding to help scale these solutions, the EarthShot Prize helps us move the needle so that our worst fears around climate change don’t come true.
DEEPER DIVE:EarthShot Prize
EARTHSHOT PRIZE WINNER—KHEYTI
KHEYTI—GREENHOUSE IN A BOX! Is the 2022 EarthShot Prize winner for Protecting and Restoring Nature. On the one hand, Kheyti—greenhouse in a box—is just a smarter, more equitable way of building greenhouses. Which makes it climate adaptive agriculture. On the other hand, because it’s a smarter, more equitable way of building greenhouses, it’s green technology, helping farmers become more resilient to climate change. Either way, it’s a great idea!
Kheyti designs, adapts and implements low-cost farming solutions which help small farmers increase yield and predictability of produce. The company’s greenhouse-in-a-box is a low cost, modular, and technologically-equipped greenhouse. In addition to that, Kheyti provides installation and training services, delivering a product that decreases the unpredictability of farming and increases a farmer’s earning potential.
Here’s how it works: The company is connected to universities and partners that have developed new materials with lower costs structures; it uses sensors that allow farmers to collect data on conditions and efficiency in the greenhouse, as well as aid with automation; and Kheyti has developed a hydroponics system that makes a one-size-fits-all solution which allows farmers to grow food regardless of soil type or condition.
Kheyti claims to have increased crop yields by 7x with the 1000+ farmers who have their greenhouse-in-a-box. And why does Kheyti—greenhouse in a box–matter to us? Of the world’s 570 million farms, over 80 percent cover less than two hectares, the size of three football pitches. Together, these small-hold farms produce a third of our food, but those who farm them are amongst the poorest people on the planet and the most affected by climate change. The company’s goal is to reach 50,000 farmers by 2027.
DEEPER DIVE: Kheyti, YouTube, Q&A with Kheyti co-founder, Forbes, EarthShot Prize
EARTHSHOT PRIZE WINNER—MUKURU CLEAN STOVES
The 2022 Earthshot Prize for Clean Our Air is Mukuru Clean Stoves. Mukuru Clean Stoves is a social enterprise that designs, produces and distributes improved, reliable and affordable cook stoves for low income households. Their cook stoves are made using locally sourced recycled waste metal. This reduces production costs and makes the products affordable for our target market.
Growing up in Mukuru, one of Nairobi’s largest slums, for years Charlot Magayi sold charcoal for fuel. That charcoal was the cause of regular respiratory infections for her and her neighbours. Then, in 2012, her daughter was severely burnt by a charcoal-burning stove. Seeking a better solution, in 2017 she founded Mukuru Clean Stoves.
Burning solid fuels such as wood, charcoal and agricultural waste in open fires and traditional stoves exposes families to air pollution levels as much as 50 times greater than the World Health Organization guidelines for clean air. Clean cook stoves decrease fuel consumption by 30-60%, reduces toxic smoke emissions by 50-90% and lowers the risk of burns in children under 5 years by 40%.
Why does Mukuru Clean Stoves matter to us? 36 million Kenyans have their health impacted negatively due to exposure to household air pollution (HAP) each year. 84% of Kenyans use solid fuel like wood, charcoal, agricultural waste, animal dung and coal. Over 15,000 deaths each year are attributed to household air pollution (HAP) in Kenya according to World Health Organization (WHO). Now multiply that out to the other dozens of developing countries around the world and the importance of MCS becomes clear.
DEEPER DIVE: Mukuru Clean Stoves, EarthShot Prize, Wired