Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu grew up in an agricultural family where he learnt practical crops cultivation and livestock keeping first hand as a kid. Nnaemeka wears several hats - he is the Executive Director of The Smallholders Foundation, which uses community radio to educate farmers. He has also founded ColdHubs which provides solar-powered cooling systems that help farmers in off-grid areas in Nigeria to maintain and extend the life of their harvest. He has received more than 23 awards during his professional and academic career including an Ashoka Fellowship, Nigeria’s Young Person of the Year and has been a Yara Prize Laureate. 

In this podcast Nnaemeka talks about how he got started on his journey, the role his companies play in helping farmers, how social entrepreneurship is a challenge must one jump into headfirst and lastly he hopes that everyone can be a change agent. 

Notes:

01:22 — The onset of Nnaemeka’s environmental journey

06:03 — Challenges faced by farmers in the region

08:42 — Role of The Smallholders Foundation

13:19 — ColdHubs and how it helps smallholder farmers

16:04 — Food security in Nigeria and Coldhubs role

18:22 — Politics and policy

20:06 — Social entrepreneurship

21:25 — Perception about climate change in Nigeria

26:16 — Being a change agent