S4S Technologies wins prize for innovative food waste reduction using solar-powered tech, benefiting farmers and the environment
An Indian agritech start-up, S4S Technologies, has been announced as one of the five green innovators to win the prestigious Earthshot Prize, awarded by Prince William and The Earthshot Prize. The prize ceremony took place in Singapore on 7th November, where the 2023 winners were revealed, including Acción Andina, GRST, WildAid Marine Programme, S4S Technologies, and Boomitra.
S4S Technologies focuses on tackling food waste by employing solar-powered dryers and processing equipment to empower smallholder farmers to preserve crops and convert surplus produce into valuable products. This addresses the significant issue of annual agricultural waste in India, where approximately 30 percent of crops are lost due to bumper harvests and price fluctuations.
The Earthshot Prize aims to support solutions for some of the world's most pressing environmental challenges. The five winners, selected from among the 15 innovators and entrepreneurs named the 2023 Earthshot Prize Finalists, have received a £1 million prize to scale their solutions and accelerate their impact. These recent winners, including S4S Technologies, have projects spanning six continents, contributing to environmental conservation and community support.
Founded by six university friends in 2013, S4S Technologies provides rural communities with cost-effective solar-powered conduction dryers and food processing equipment for on-site crop preparation, replacing more expensive conventional industrial preservation methods.
The organisation also promotes female farmers and supports entrepreneurs in producing and selling valuable food products, such as ketchup, using preserved waste. S4S creates a marketplace, connecting commercial buyers with these products and returning most of the profits to the farmers.
S4S Technologies reports that up to 300,000 women smallholder farmers supported by their initiatives have experienced profit increases of 10–15 percent. At the same time, the 2,000 female entrepreneurs they collaborate with have seen their incomes double or triple.
The organisation aims to reach three million smallholder farmers and 30,000 entrepreneurs by 2025. By 2026, they anticipate reducing food waste by 1.2 million tonnes and removing the equivalent of 10 million tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere.
The Earthshot Prize, launched by Prince William and his Royal Foundation in 2020, is an ambitious 10-year initiative to fund 50 solutions to urgent environmental problems by 2030. It is based on the five Earthshots: protect and restore nature; clean our air; revive our oceans; build a waste-free world; and fix our climate. Each year throughout the decade, Prince William and a distinguished Prize Council will award £1 million Earthshot Prizes to five winners, one per Earthshot.