Oscar Brian Ojok, a Civil Engineering student at Makerere University’s College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT), has been awarded the prestigious Uganda Climate Innovation Fund (UCIF) grant at a prestigious ceremony held on Thursday, 26th February 2026 at Kampala Serena Hotel.Ojok was among just four winners from Cohort 3, recognised from over 300 applicants across the country, securing the grant for his ecoflash dryer – a solar-powered instant cassava dryer designed to tackle post-harvest losses in Northern Uganda and beyond. The system runs primarily on solar energy, with cassava waste serving as supplementary energy. With the grant, UCIF will fund the innovation for the next 12 months, enabling the team to move from prototype to pilot implementation.The CeremonyThe award ceremony took place on the afternoon of 26th February 2026 at Kampala Serena Hotel, running from 3:00pm to 8:30pm. Guests were first taken through exhibition booths where innovators showcased their work before the formal programme began.Brian Ndyaguma, the UCIF Lead, opened the proceedings with a presentation on the fund’s journey so far. He highlighted the incredible growth of the innovation portfolio, noting that the quality of applications had strengthened with each cohort. He spoke about the observations and learnings from working with early-stage climate innovators, and the immense opportunities that exist for Ugandan solutions to address climate challenges facing smallholder farmers across the region.Mathew Rupanga, Team Leader of the Climate Smart Jobs (CSJ) programme, followed with a broader presentation on the CSJ initiative. He took time to recognise notable participants and their contributions, giving special mentions to innovators who had shown exceptional dedication throughout the bootcamp and pitching process and earlier awarded cohort 1. He then invited the chief guest and other dignitaries for a gallery walk of selected exhibiting teams, a moment that allowed innovators to showcase their work to some of the most influential figures in Uganda’s climate and development space.A Memorable moment with the Guest of HonourOne of the most memorable moments of the ceremony came when the Guest of Honour, Mr Chance Kabaghe, former Minister of Agriculture for Zambia and current Chairman of SeedCo East Africa and United Capital Fertiliser, visited Ojok’s exhibition booth.Accompanied by the Guest of Honor, Her Excellency, Tiffany Kirlew, Deputy Ambassador of the British High Commission in Kampala, and other dignitaries during the gallery walk, Kabaghe stopped at the ECOFLASH booth to see the prototype firsthand and interact with Ojok. He was deeply impressed by what he saw and heard.Kabaghe commended Ojok for his innovation spirit, noting that the project was rooted in real problems faced by farmers on the ground. He praised the resilience demonstrated by Ojok and his team in developing a solution that addresses post-harvest losses – a challenge he knows well from his decades of experience in agribusiness across Africa.“This will be very good for the future,” Kabaghe told Ojok, encouraging him to keep pushing forward with the innovation. “You are solving a real problem, and that is what matters, keep it up”For Ojok, the moment was both validating and motivating. “Having someone of Mr Kabaghe’s experience and standing take time to understand what we are building and then encourage us like that – it means a lot. It tells us we are on the right track.”The Innovation: Ecoflash dryerEcoflash dryer is a dual-energy flash drying system that runs primarily on solar energy as its main power source, with cassava waste – peels and stems and other biomass; serving as supplementary energy source when additional heat is needed or during periods of low sunlight. The system dries cassava indoors, weather disruptions, in minutes rather than days. It is automated, temperature-controlled, and produces aflatoxin-free flour that can access premium markets.The problem it solves is acute in Northern Uganda. Over 80 percent of farmers rely on traditional sun-drying, which fails completely during wet seasons. The few mechanical dryers available run on expensive kerosene, pushing costs beyond the reach of smallholder farmers. This could be a game changer for Uganda’s economy, since Uganda is the 22nd cassava producer in the world and East Africa centre of excellence in cassava chain.The team behind Ecoflash“This was made possible by my team,” Ojok said after the ceremony. “We spent time and resources to innovate together, and they showed up whenever I needed them.”He specifically thanked Emmanuel Haboya, (electrical engineer) and Lynette Bananuka, (Year 3, Makerere electrical engineering student at CEDAT, whose expertise was instrumental throughout the project. He also extended gratitude to Joyce Ruth Agilo, Brenda Kisakye, Sedrick Otolo, for their contributions and showing up whenever needed.Through this journey, the Ojok has officially registered his company as ECOFLASH LTD, a Ugandan agritech company now poised for growth.“We are grateful and excited for the future now that UCIF will fund us for the next 12 months,” Ojok said. “I can’t wait to scale this, and I promise the impact will be huge for smallholder farmers and for climate resilience.”The journey to victoryFrom over 300 applicants across Uganda, Ojok was shortlisted to join just 25 innovators invited to the intensive UCIF bootcamp. There, ideas were stress-tested, business models refined, and pitches perfected. After the bootcamp came the final pitch round and due deligence and validation. When the results were announced, only four emerged victorious. Ojok and ECOFLASH were among them.“We don’t take this win lightly,” Ojok said. “To go from 300-plus to 25, and then to be among the final four – it was humbling, we had most technical innovators and professors in the room. But it taught us that with a strong team and relentless effort, you can compete with the best.”Mathew Rupanga, during his speech, had emphasised exactly this point – that the innovators who made it through were those who not only had strong technical ideas but also demonstrated the resilience and commitment to see their visions through.The post Makerere University Student Wins Uganda Climate Innovation Fund was written by the awesome team at Campus Bee.