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ADVERTISEMENTEach year, over one billion tonnes of food go to waste while hundreds of millions still face hunger. For Ugandan entrepreneurs Sandra Namboozo and Samuel Muyita, this crisis has a personal dimension. Growing up in farming families, they witnessed first-hand how quickly harvested fruit could spoil before reaching markets – leaving farmers with major losses and little return for their hard work.
Fighting food waste with plant-based innovation
Motivated by this challenge, the pair developed a solution rooted in both science and sustainability. Their invention, a biodegradable sachet made from plant-based compounds, can extend the shelf life of fruit by up to 30 days. This breakthrough has placed them among the top ten selected innovators – called Tomorrow Shapers – of the Young Inventors Prize 2025, awarded by the European Patent Office (EPO).
“What brought us together was the fact that both of us came from an agricultural background,” says Muyita. “We had identified and related with a problem that was at hand, so it was easy for us to team up and come up with a solution, which is Karpolax.”
Their company, Karpolax, uses volatile organic compounds (VOCs) extracted from plants like cloves, lemongrass, eucalyptus and wintergreen to slow the ripening process and protect fruit from mold and bacteria. Unlike conventional synthetic preservatives, these sachets are natural, safe, and designed to release active ingredients gradually and specifically for different fruit types.
In pilot tests conducted with Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organization, mangoes stored with the sachets stayed fresh for 33 days – triple the shelf life of untreated ones. The product has since been tested on bananas, apples, and oranges, and new versions are being developed for pineapples, berries, and capsicum.
“It’s basically a sachet that we put in fruit boxes during storage or delivery,” Namboozo explains. “It releases an active ingredient that helps preserve the fruit for an extra 30 days.”
Empowering farmers with science-driven solutions
The duo met while studying at Makerere University in Kampala and launched Karpolax in 2020. Their vision was clear from the start: make scientific innovation directly useful to the people who need it most. “Farmers are one of our biggest customer groups,” says Namboozo. “We wanted to use our knowledge and technical skills to develop something that would not just end on a paper in a lab but really be used by somebody.”
By 2023, their product had reached over 100 farmers, 20 exporters, and 250 market vendors. With plans to expand across East Africa—including Kenya and Rwanda—the team is scaling up production and product lines.
Their work directly supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), by offering a low-cost, eco-friendly way to reduce food loss and increase farmer incomes.
Building from the ground up
“Starting from zero, you need to source for that funding yourself,” Muyita recalls. “We had some supervisors from the university who supported us and made us feel confident that we could succeed.”
With growing recognition and real-world impact, their ambition is only increasing. “Our vision is to be the world’s leading fruit and vegetable preservation company,” says Namboozo. And for other young innovators, Muyita offers a simple message of encouragement: “Believe in yourself. When you believe in yourself, believe in the fact that you have what it takes to make it. You will indeed make it.”
