Powered National Institute of Soil Science in partnership with the 3rd ANI National Invention Workshop & Exhibition. Oye Ekiti
Curated by Segun Oke, Resource & Innovation Consultant
CHALLENGE THEME:
“Diagnose, Revive, Regenerate: Cracking the Code of Nigeria’s Degraded Soils in a Changing Climate”
Nigeria’s soils are in silent crisis. Years of overuse, climate shocks, poor diagnostics, and erosion have left our lands barren or dangerously unbalanced.
We are issuing a grand challenge to scientists, inventors, startups, engineers, and indigenous thinkers:
Can you build a smart, scalable, and affordable solution to help revive Nigerian soils—starting with better detection, deeper understanding, and precise action?
INNOVATION FOCUS AREAS:
1. Digital Soil Diagnostics & Smart Detection (Priority Track)
Create tools or platforms that make it easy and affordable to detect, analyze, and diagnose soil health in real time.
Solutions could include:
AI-powered soil health analysis apps
Handheld sensors or mobile spectral scanners
Drone/satellite-based soil mapping
Tools for real-time nutrient/pH/microbiome analysis
Platforms that crowdsource and visualize soil data nationally
This track recognizes that you cannot regenerate what you cannot diagnose. Solutions should enable every farmer—from Kaduna to Bayelsa—to know what’s wrong beneath their feet and how to fix it.
2. Regenerative Soil Treatment & Remediation
We welcome bio-based, nanotech, or indigenous innovations that restore degraded soils, including:
Biofertilizers or living soil amendments
Microbial or fungal soil conditioners
Affordable soil pH balancers or detoxifiers
Mycorrhizal inoculants or root symbiosis innovations
3. Climate-Resilient Soil Engineering
AI models for predictive soil degradation hotspots
Smart tillage or erosion-proof systems
Land rehabilitation systems using solar or renewable energy
Geoengineering techniques to reverse salinization, compaction or acidification
WHO SHOULD APPLY?
Innovators in AI, agri-tech, soil science, satellite data, and environmental engineering
Indigenous and local problem-solvers with scalable low-tech solutions
Research teams, university students, startups, and farmer collectives
TIMELINE
Challenge Opens: August 2025
Application Deadline: will be communicated
Shortlist Announcement: will be comunicated
Final Showcase: 3rd ANI National Invention Workshop & Exhibition
Oye, Ekiti | September 15–17, 2025
WINNERS & IMPACT
Top Innovations Will Receive:
National recognition and certification
Access to incubation funding, grants, and partnerships
Pilot opportunities with Nigeria’s Soil Science Research Network
Features in academic journals and global forums
WHY THIS MATTERS
You cannot feed a nation on dead soil.
Without soil health, there is no food security, no climate resilience, and no agricultural prosperity. This is Nigeria’s time to lead the global movement for regenerative soil innovation, starting with tools that make soil visible, intelligent, and healable.