LAGOS, NIGERIA — Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN) on Dec. 8 announced the start of its social impact campaign to encourage and foster innovation within the country’s food systems.

The campaign, called “FMN Prize for Innovation,” is designed to inspire and revitalize food production in the country and ultimately contribute to attaining the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Each year, the prize will focus on a different element of the food value chain to generate new and imaginative ways of thinking and encourage novel solutions to established problems, the company said.

Over the coming weeks, operators within the Nigerian food systems, including all activities in the value chain that covers feeding and nourishing people, from growing, harvesting, packaging, processing, transporting, and marketing, can send in their applications for the prize with the prospects of winning the starting prize of 3 million nairas ($7,310).

“A significant number of the challenges facing the food systems in Nigeria today, including low productivity due to damaged crops, limited access to agricultural value chains, and food loss or wastage, can be solved by creative thinking and the right investment in innovation,” said Sadiq Usman, director of group strategy and stakeholder relations at FMN. “And that is where companies like ours come in. The prize for innovation is another way of demonstrating FMN’s commitment to enriching lives and empowering commitment by investing in not just the development of the food value chain but in capacity development and access to resources.”

Judges for the FMN Prize for Innovation will include Usman; Mira Mehta, chief executive officer and founder of Tomato Jos Farming and Processing Limited; Adeyinka Adeyemi, CEO, Fate Foundation; Mezuo O. Nwuneli, a private equity investment adviser.

The first category will be open to entries from micro-, small- and medium-scale enterprises in Nigeria. Applications will be expected to address food loss and wastage in the food production process. All entries must be situated within the food value chain and be accompanied with proof of business registration.

Entries also will be evaluated for efficacy, innovation, and scalability by technical experts in the agro-allied and food processing industries. The top prize in this category 3 million nairas.

The second category will be open to entries from Nigerian students (undergraduate or post-graduate level). Ideas will be expected to tackle loss and waste in the food production process and will be judged based on viewer’s choice (all Nigerians). Participants will be required to send in a video pitch of their ideas and to post the same on their social media handles, tagging FMN.

Ten of the most creative entries will be shared on FMN’s social media accounts, while participants solicit votes through likes and interactions. The top three entries with the most engagements will be rewarded, with the first, second, and third place winners getting 300,000, 200,000, and 100,000 nairas, respectively.

Interested participants can log on to https://prizeforinnovation.fmnplc.com/ to send in their entries. Entries for the first category close on Jan. 6, 2022, while entries for the second category close on Dec. 29, 2021.