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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | What if a young entrepreneur found a way to turn plastic waste into income while keeping communities cleaner? Or developed a solution that helps farmers adapt to changing weather patterns and reduce food losses?
Or created a business that protects pollinators while creating jobs for women and young people? These are the kinds of ideas the PachiPanda Innovation Challenge was created to support.
Run by MTN Uganda and WWF Uganda, PachiPanda supports young innovators developing solutions that respond to environmental challenges while creating economic opportunities. More than a competition, it connects promising ideas to mentorship, funding, exposure and opportunities for growth.
Now in its second year in Uganda, PachiPanda is inviting a new generation of innovators aged 18 to 35 to apply for the 2026 edition.
This year’s theme, Nature Meets Innovation: Unlocking Africa’s Green Economy, focuses on four areas: climate resilience, sustainable livelihoods and green enterprises, biodiversity and natural-resource conservation, and digital solutions for Africa’s green economy. The challenge is open to university and college students, entrepreneurs and youth-led small businesses developing solutions in any of these areas.
The best way to understand what PachiPanda can offer is to look at the innovators who have already gone through the programme.
Last year, FarmGate Digital, KampalaBuzzline and Bottle for Cash Eco-Drop emerged as Uganda’s first national winners and went on to represent the country at the continental competition in South Africa. Their experiences show that PachiPanda is about far more than prize money. It helps promising ideas gain the skills, networks and exposure needed to grow.
For Ruth Kyobutungi, founder of FarmGate Digital, the journey began with a problem familiar to many farmers. Unpredictable markets, limited information and post-harvest losses often reduce farmers’ earnings and contribute to unnecessary food waste.
FarmGate Digital helps farmers make better decisions on pricing, storage and when to sell their produce. Through the competition, the business gained visibility, mentorship and support that strengthened its growth plans and sharpened its value proposition. Since then, the platform has expanded partnerships with farmers and cooperatives, reached more than 4,000 members and facilitated the movement of 217 tonnes of food, including 50 tonnes of perishable produce.
“The money was important, but the confidence, exposure and opportunities that followed were even more valuable,” Kyobutungi said.
For Hannington Sserwanga, founder of KampalaBuzzline, the starting point was the decline of pollinator habitats.
His innovation focuses on restoring these habitats through community conservation, digital mapping and green livelihood opportunities. Pollinators such as bees play a critical role in food production and biodiversity, yet their numbers continue to decline in many areas.
Today, KampalaBuzzline operates a nursery in Kawempe with more than 10,000 nectar-rich and pollen-producing plants and flowers. The initiative generates income through plant sales, creates employment opportunities and supports conservation. Exposure from the competition also helped raise the project’s international profile, with one of its innovations, the Kampala Bee- Run, later adopted in Costa Rica.
Bottle for Cash Eco-Drop addressed another challenge familiar to many communities: plastic pollution.
The innovation uses technology to encourage plastic collection and recycling. It demonstrates how environmental challenges can be transformed into enterprise opportunities and how waste can become a source of value while promoting cleaner communities.
Although the projects address different challenges, they share a common thread. Each began with a real environmental problem, developed a practical solution and used PachiPanda as a platform to refine, strengthen and expand its impact.
According to Enid Edroma, General Manager Corporate Services at MTN Uganda, that is exactly what the challenge aims to achieve.
“We see environmental challenges as opportunities for innovation, enterprise and job creation.
Through PachiPanda, we want to give young Ugandans the platform, mentorship and networks to turn their ideas into solutions that create value for both people and the planet,” she said.
Rita Kyategeka, WWF Uganda’s Partnerships, Fundraising and Communications Manager, said the programme also reflects the need to balance conservation with inclusive economic growth.
“We need solutions that protect nature while improving livelihoods,” she said. “PachiPanda helps young innovators show how conservation and economic development can reinforce each other.”
The top three winners of the 2026 Uganda competition will receive Shs15 million, Shs10 million and Shs5 million respectively. They will also earn the opportunity to represent Uganda at the continental PachiPanda competition in South Africa in February 2027.
For young innovators wondering whether their idea is ready, the experiences of previous winners offer a simple message: they do not need to have all the answers. What matters is identifying a real environmental challenge, developing a practical solution and showing its potential for impact.
Whether the idea reduces waste, protects biodiversity, strengthens climate resilience or creates greener livelihoods, PachiPanda is looking for solutions that show how innovation can help build a more sustainable future.
Applications for the 2026 PachiPanda Innovation Challenge are open until 30 September 2026 through the PachiPanda Challenge website.
