Ugandan innovators Sandra Namboozo and Samuel Muyita have been named among the top 10 winners of the prestigious 2025 Young Inventors Prize, awarded by the European Patent Office (EPO).
They are the only Africans on this year’s list, earning international recognition for their groundbreaking invention: biodegradable sachets that significantly extend the shelf life of fruits.
The duo’s innovation directly targets one of the continent’s most persistent agricultural problems—post-harvest losses.
By slowing down the ripening process, their plant-based sachets are helping smallholder farmers reduce waste and maximise income from their produce.
The impact has already been felt across parts of Uganda and beyond, where farmers are often forced to sell quickly or risk total loss of fresh fruits due to inadequate preservation solutions.
“This means so much, not just for us, but for the millions of farmers who struggle daily with post-harvest losses,” Sandra said in response to the news.
“It shows the world that solutions to global challenges can come from anywhere—and that Africa is brimming with innovation.”
The Young Inventors Prize, now in its first standalone edition, honours inventors under 30 who are addressing global challenges through science and technology.
This year’s ten awardees, known as Tomorrow Shapers, were selected from over 450 candidates worldwide.
Their innovations span critical areas including healthcare, sustainability, and digital transformation, with all projects contributing toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Sandra and Samuel’s biodegradable sachets stood out for their simplicity, scalability, and real-world impact in agricultural communities.
By offering an affordable and eco-friendly way to extend freshness, their work not only benefits farmers economically but also helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions linked to food spoilage.
EPO president António Campinos praised the young innovators for their transformative potential.
“Young inventors are the architects of a brighter tomorrow, bringing fresh perspectives and bold solutions to the world's most daunting challenges,” he said.
“By celebrating their achievements, we underline the power of science and technology in shaping a sustainable future.”
The award ceremony will take place on June 18 in Reykjavik, Iceland, and will be livestreamed globally. During the event, three of the ten winners will be named for special categories: World Builders, Community Healers, and Nature Guardians.
An online vote will also determine the People’s Choice award. Each of the top 10 finalists will receive €5,000 (about Shs20 million), with special prize winners earning an additional €15,000 (Shs60 million).
Sandra and Samuel’s recognition is a first for Uganda on this global platform, and their selection reinforces a growing narrative about the ingenuity and resilience of African youth.
“It’s about problem-solving. We looked around and saw the frustration among farmers—fruit going bad before it could be sold. This invention is our way of saying: we see you, and we’re working with you,” said Samuel.
The European Patent Office, headquartered in Munich with offices across Europe, is one of the world’s largest public institutions in intellectual property.
Its patent system allows inventors to gain protection in up to 46 countries, covering a market of 700 million people.
The Young Inventors Prize was first introduced in 2022 and has since become a powerful platform for showcasing the promise of youth-led innovation.
For Ugandans, Sandra and Samuel’s achievement is more than personal—it’s symbolic of a wider shift toward home-grown solutions. Their story is a reminder that with the right mix of creativity, purpose, and support, young Africans can lead the charge in solving global challenges.
The ten Tomorrow Shapers taking on global issues
- Extending the shelf life of fresh produce: Ugandan entrepreneurs Sandra Namboozo and Samuel Muyita created a biodegradable sachet that slows fruit ripening, reducing food waste and supporting smallholder farmers.
- E-waste tackling solutions through paper-based electronic device parts: Austrian industrial designer Franziska Kerber developed dissolvable components for devices such as routers, enabling easier recovery of valuable metals.
- Sustainable aviation sealants: Filipino aeronautical engineer Mark Kennedy Bantugon developed an aircraft sealant made from discarded Pili Tree resin, offering a more sustainable and less toxic alternative to many current sealants.
- Revolutionising rare earth recycling: French-American chemist Marie Perrin pioneered a process to extract europium from discarded fluorescent lamps, making its recycling simpler and less toxic.
- Capturing pollutants and improving air quality: Colombian entrepreneur Mariana Pérez designed a Direct Air Capture system that removes CO₂, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide from the air, enabling captured pollutants to be converted into biodegradable materials.
- AI-designed enzymes for industry and healthcare: Lithuanian researchers Laurynas Karpus, Vykintas Jauniškis and Irmantas Rokaitis co-developed an AI-powered platform for designing new enzymes tailored for biomanufacturing and pharmaceutical, among other applications.
- Smart labels to reduce food waste and food poisoning: Spanish inventors Pilar Granado, Pablo Sosa Domínguez and Luis Chimeno created biodegradable smart labels that monitor food freshness in real-time, helping reduce unnecessary food waste.
- Carbon capture for shipping: Engineers Alisha Fredriksson (Sweden/UK) and Roujia Wen (China) built a modular carbon capture system that binds CO₂ into solid limestone pellets, cutting emissions for existing ships.
- Turning waste CO₂ into essential fibres: US scientists and twin sisters Neeka and Leila Mashouf developed a process to convert industrial CO₂ into cellulose pulp for sustainable, biodegradable materials, among other applications.
- Smarter semiconductor manufacturing: Slovenian researcher Teja Potočnik developed an automated platform to facilitate the manufacture of nanomaterial-based semiconductor devices, paving the way to next-generation microchips and electronics.