ZuluLand Innovators Hackathon 2025 – YOA

Deadline: August 8, 2025

Applications are open for the ZuluLand Innovators Hackathon 2025. The Moses Kotane Research Institute (MKRI), by its Commercialising Innovation and Research (CIR) Programme, in partnership with native municipalities, invites youth, SMMEs, cooperatives, colleges, and casual merchants from the Zululand District to take part within the upcoming Grassroots Hackathon. This dynamic grassroots innovation problem provides a platform for group-led drawback fixing and thought improvement, specializing in sensible, reasonably priced, and regionally pushed options.

“Zululand Innovates – Empowering Local Minds| Transforming Rural Futures” is the hackathon theme that encourages group-pushed improvements in agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and different related sectors. It focuses on low-tech, indigenous, frugal (economical) and repair-primarily based options.

Focus Areas

• Agriculture and Food Security: Manual or photo voltaic-powered instruments, frugal irrigation programs, composting options
• Tourism and Cultural Preservation: Indigenous artefacts, rural hospitality fashions
• SMMEs and Manufacturing: Product/course of improvements, low-price merchandising programs
• Sustainability and Waste-to-Value: Recycled materials instruments, clear vitality units
• Youth and Community Services: Mobile group providers, rural coaching fashions

Benefits

• In-kind help (tools, instruments, coaching) and some other related help to the answer/thought.
• Access to MKRI’s CIR and different Innovation Programme
• Mentorship and pilot venture alternatives

Eligibility

Open to:

• Local youth and group
• Local inventors, creatives and makers
• Informal merchants, colleges, cooperatives, and SMMEs
• Elders and conventional data holders from the next municipalities: AbaQulusi, eDumbe, Nongoma, Ulundi and Pongola.

Judging Criteria

• Relevance to native issues
• Cost-effectiveness and ease.
• Use of native/recycled supplies
• Scalability and replication potential
• Community profit and inclusivity

Application

Interested contributors should submit their proposal subject concepts, which ought to embody:

• A short background
• A transparent drawback assertion
• A proposed answer

Submissions should not exceed three (3) pages in complete. Applications needs to be submitted by August 8, 2025 to [email protected].

For extra info, go to ZuluLand Innovators Hackathon.