A Kenyan start-up called Keep It Cool has won Sh166,919,200 (£1 million) at the 2024 Earthshot Prize Awards held in Cape Town, South Africa.
KIC won first place in the ‘Build a Waste-free World’ category, which honors businesses that choose to reduce food waste and single-use packaging while inspiring a new generation of individuals and industries to reuse, repurpose, and recycle.
Francis Nderitu, the founder and Managing Director of Keep IT Cool, was in Cape Town to accept the prize and promised to expand the company’s operations.
Speaking at the awards ceremony he said, “We are on a mission to revolutionise the food supply chain in East Africa, and we will continue to enhance market access, reduce waste, and build climate resilience for small-scale fish and poultry farmers throughout the region,”.
Keep IT Cool operates in Kenya and Uganda, providing small farmers and fishermen with sustainable refrigeration and efficient distribution solutions.
It extends the shelf life of their produce, reduces waste, and generates more consistent income.
By increasing earnings and reducing food waste, KIC is contributing to a more sustainable future for these communities.
Keep IT Cool is Kenya’s second Earthshot Prize winner, following Mukuru Clean Stoves, who received a similar amount in 2022 in the ‘Clean Our Air’ category.
The Earthshot Prize, established by Prince William and the Royal Foundation in 2020, is one of the world’s most prestigious environmental awards.
It acknowledges inspiring and innovative solutions to the world’s most serious environmental concerns.
The fourth annual Earthshot Prize awards ceremony took place in Cape Town in 2024, and it was attended by Prince William.
Earthshot Prize 2024 – Full list of winners
Protect and Restore Nature: Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative, a project that has saved the critically endangered Saiga antelope from extinction in Kazakhstan
Clean Our Air: Green Africa Youth Organization, who use behavioural change to help communities clean up waste and build circular waste management infrastructure across Africa
Revive Our Oceans: High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, an alliance of at least 119 countries with the ambitious goal to protect 30% of land and oceans by 2030
Build a Waste-free World: Keep IT Cool, a Kenyan-based company using solar powered refrigeration to help cut harvest waste for farmers
Fix Our Climate: Advanced Thermovoltaic Systems, an American company that convert excess heat, produced during the making of steel or cement, into electricity
The Prince of Wales said he wants his environmental Earthshot prize to “change the world for good” over the next decade as he celebrated this year’s winners.
Prince William closed the awards ceremony in Cape Town by calling for people around the world to join the “movement for change”.
Models Heidi Klum and Winnie Harlow, actor Nina Dobrev and artist Tobe Nwigwe announced the £1m ($1.2m) prize winners from each category at the event.
all 2,000 attendees were asked to wear sustainable clothes – either made from recycled materials or a previously worn outfit – and on arrival a host of global stars, made their way down the “green carpet” instead of a traditional red one.
by DENNIS MILIMO
