Levente Varga, Clement Nkululeko, and Zsombor Donkó have won the GearUp! innovation competition titled “From Ideas to Reality – Youth for Sustainable Development,” and will have the opportunity to implement their project ideas in Ghana during a one-month professional fieldwork program.

The innovation competition “From Ideas to Reality – Youth for Sustainable Development,” implemented in cooperation with the Africa Another Way Foundation and the Tropical and Subtropical Development Council of MATE, has successfully concluded. The aim of the initiative was to develop practical agricultural solutions that contribute to the sustainable development of local communities and strengthen their resilience.

The program provided students with an opportunity to address agricultural challenges in developing countries through creative yet feasible ideas. Applicants developed projects that, by building on local conditions, can help improve food security, economic development, and environmental sustainability in communities.

The competition’s greatest recognition is a special professional opportunity: the three winning students may take part in a one-month fieldwork program in Ghana, where, with the support of professional mentors, they can test and further develop their projects in practice, working directly with local farmers and communities.

The winners of the competition:

Levente Varga
Clement Nkululeko
Zsombor Donkó

The winning students’ project focuses on reducing post-harvest losses, presenting suitable storage options, pest control, and mapping irrigation practices and opportunities. During fieldwork, they will also collect data to develop recommendations that will be useful to local farmers in the long term.

One of the program’s key messages is that innovative ideas can achieve real social impact when grounded in local needs and implemented sustainably. The competition also demonstrated that the knowledge, creativity, and commitment of the younger generation can play an important role in addressing global development challenges.

The project is implemented with the support of the HAND Association and the European Union’s GearUP! program.
We would also like to congratulate the winners and wish them every success in implementing their projects in Ghana.