UNESWA LUYENGO 2024 ENACTUS NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

MATSAPHA – Who ever thought chicken feathers could become chicken feed? Talk about sustainable farming.

Students from the University of Eswatini (UNESWA), Luyengo Campus came up with a unique project that scored them big points during the Enactus National Competition 2024 – chicken feed from chicken feathers. Enactus is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to fostering social entrepreneurship among university students. It aims to create a better and more sustainable world by empowering students to take Entrepreneurial Action for others.

Zweli Magagula, who was representing fellow students, revealed that they came up with the idea of making chicken feed from feathers after realising that there were a lot of feathers  lying around in Matsapha. He said chicken feathers contained a material called keratin, which was the same that finger nails were made of. He said this material does not decompose easily, adding that throwing away chicken feathers was destructive to the environment, because they remained in the ground for a very long time, like plastic.

Revealed

Magagula said in their initiative, they collected the feathers and then boiled them at 140 degrees celsius. He said at this temperature, the keratin was broken down into a compound that could easily decompose. He said after it was boiled, they then added two compounds to turn this into food. Further, Magagula revealed that in addition to making chicken feed, they also made fertiliser from chicken feathers.

The panel of judges during the competition were so impressed with the product such that the students were eventually announced as  the  national winners during the event, which was held at Esibayeni  Lodge in Matsapha yesterday. The competition was sponsored by the Eswatini Electricity Company, Nedbank, Harmony Gold and MTN Eswatini. UNESWA was announced as the national champions of the competition and left with  E10 000 prize money. As winners, they are also expected to represent the county at the Enactus World Cup 2024, which will be held from October 2,  to October 4, 2024 in Astana, Kazakhstan.

This global event will bring together teams from 33 countries, to showcase their entrepreneurial solutions aimed at addressing social and environmental challenges. It’s a key moment for young innovators to demonstrate the impact of their work on a global stage. The Southern Africa Nazarene University (SANU) faculty of science obtained the second position, while Limkokwing University obtained the third position, wining E5 000 and E2 500 respectively. Good Shepherd College also won awards in other categories.

Generating

Speaking about the projects, the students stated that this was one way of cleaning the environment, while at the same time, generating income. They said the project was currently only in trial. Other projects from different institutions included the recycling of windshields as well as vehicle tyres.  Fikile Nkosi, the chairperson of the Enactus board was also among the keynote speakers. She highlighted that government should look no further to solve its challenges, but that the solution is available. “We have the answer”, she said, adding that it was beginning at Enactus. She also congratulated all the participants, adding that everyone was a winner.  “We have a lot of you that have skills we can use,” said Nkosi.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: