Sedes Sapientiae wins Stanbic National Schools Championship with Poultry Feed Machine

August 31, 2026 in Business, Companies, Financial Services, U by Editor

Stanbic National Schools Championship delegation handing over the prize to the champion of the 11th season

Students at Sedes Sapientiae Academiae in Kiruhura have won the 11th Stanbic National Schools Championship with a poultry feed-processing machine aimed at helping farmers cut feed-processing costs.

 

A poultry feed-processing machine designed by students at Sedes Sapientiae Academiae in Kiruhura District has won the 11th Stanbic National Schools Championship, highlighting the growing emphasis on practical innovation in Uganda’s education system.

The student team developed a multi-purpose machine that can chop and grind different types of animal feed, targeting a common challenge faced by small-scale poultry farmers who have access to raw feed materials but incur additional costs when processing them.

Steven Turyamwesiimire, one of the students behind the innovation, said the team was motivated by the high cost of processed poultry feed.

“Farmers have the poultry feeds but lack ways of processing them, which becomes costly. So, we decided to make a machine that can help farmers process their feeds at home without buying processed feed,” he said.

According to Turyamwesiimire, the machine could reduce feeding costs by up to 60% and improve farmers’ monthly profits, although the figures are based on the students’ assessment of the innovation.

The machine is designed to provide farmers with an alternative to commercial feed-processing services while allowing them to process different feed materials at the farm level.

Sedes Sapientiae emerged ahead of Iganga Secondary School, which was the first runner-up. St Kizito High School Namugongo finished second runner-up, while Aga Khan High School was third runner-up.

The competition comes as Uganda seeks to give practical skills and problem-solving a greater role in education, particularly through the Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC).

Speaking at the championship finale, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Jonard Asiimwe said the shift towards hands-on learning should enable students to apply classroom knowledge to real economic and social challenges.

He said Uganda needs young people with practical STEM skills, digital literacy and competencies relevant to sectors such as agriculture, industry, healthcare and finance.

Asiimwe also urged young innovators to embrace emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, while strengthening intellectual property protection and pathways for commercialising promising innovations.

The Minister called for stronger links between schools, government institutions and the private sector so that promising student innovations can receive technical support and opportunities to move beyond competitions.

The championship’s organisers said this year’s edition attracted applications from more than 1,000 schools. The number of schools participating in the boot camp increased from 150 in 2024 to 200 this year.

The competition has two main components: the Student Spark Challenge, which focuses on innovative ideas from schools, and the Business Fellowship, which supports alumni students and teachers seeking to refine and scale businesses developed through earlier editions.

Stanbic Bank Uganda Chief Executive Mumba Kalifungwa said the championship had evolved from a quiz competition into a platform focused on skills including problem-solving, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, teamwork and leadership.

The bank said it has invested more than UGX7 billion in the programme over the past decade, with the initiative reaching more than half a million learners, teachers and community members.

This year’s prize pool exceeds UGX100 million, with support directed towards participating students and schools and the development of their entrepreneurial ideas.

For the winning students, however, the significance of the poultry machine will ultimately depend on whether it can move beyond the school competition and become a practical, affordable product for farmers.

That transition—from student prototype to commercially viable agricultural technology—could provide the more important test of whether school-based innovation can translate into solutions for Uganda’s farming economy.