CHICAGO — Projects involving sorghum porridge in Kenya, chicken coops in Albania and cover crops in Tongo were among eight seed grant winners of $25,000 each announced Nov. 28 by the Institute of Food Technologists and Seeding The Future Foundation.

The seed grants are awarded to organizations that create ideas to transform food systems and have developed a prototype or initial proof of concept demonstrating the idea is feasible and impactful when scaled.

“We are thrilled about the quality, innovative nature and potential impact of this year’s seed grant winners,” said Bernhard van Lengerich, PhD, founder of Seeding The Future Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports solutions to help improve the global food system. “They demonstrate and embody the core intent of the challenge: impactful innovations that address the biggest challenges facing food systems across the globe.”

The winners were:

●Aquagenius: Based in the Republic of Benin, the small-scale fish farming operation uses an aquaculture feed system based on insect product that requires few resources and generates an ecological impact.

●Feeding Albania Foundation: The project focuses on building and distributing portable chickens’ coop packages for non-governmental organizations that then provide food security throughout Albania.

●Global Seed Savers: The ECOSEEDS (empowering communities for sustainable, equitable, ecological and diverse food systems through seed sovereignty) project in the United States promotes seed-saving communities, seed production centers, seed entrepreneurship and farmer-consumer hubs.

●Ndalo Heritage Trust: The research project in Kenya investigates the mineral bio accessibility of whole grain sorghum porridges fortified with acid-rich and beta-carotene-rich food to improve micronutrient status in Siaya County.

●Safe Environment Hub: A black solder fly farming project in Kenya converts organic waste into biofertilizer and high protein feed while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

●Tiny Seed Project: Based in the United States, the PISCES (permaculture institute, cultivating resistance: promoting cover crops for sustainable agriculture in northern Tongo, West Africa) plans to test and expand seed production for four potential cover crops in the Savanes region of northern Tongo.

●Urban Being, Inc.: JRDN-URBN has designed a model of turnkey vertical tower farm plots to improve urban food systems in Canada.