Nuru Ethiopia Wins 2026 Innovation Prize

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 14, 2025

Contact: Casey Harrison | info@nuruinternational.org

Washington, D.C. – Nuru Ethiopia, led by Managing Director Abiy Meshesha, has been named the winner of the 2026 Nuru Collective Innovation Prize, a $20,000 prize awarded on an annual basis to a Nuru Collective member organization. The prize aims to drive inspiration and incentivize innovations for organizations within the Nuru Collective. 

Nuru Ethiopia staff, 2024

As in the last two years, submissions for the 2026 prize were evaluated by an unbiased selection committee of peers based on six standardized criteria: 

• Climate Change & Digitalization: Solution supports climate change adaptation through new digital technologies.
• Demand: There is a clear demand from farmers, agribusinesses, or local communities for this solution.
• Value Addition: Measurable impact can be generated for farmers and/or their agribusinesses through this solution.
• Limited Added Costs: Neither farmers nor their agribusinesses will face significant increased or production costs with this solution. 
• Overcomes an inefficiency: The solution must help agribusinesses or farmers overcome challenges that are clearly identified. 
• Adaptability: The organization’s annual operating plans and strategic objective are aligned with the solution. 

To enable learning and inspire innovation across the entire Nuru Collective, all submissions were presented virtually to the entire Nuru Collective. Nuru Chief Sustainability Officer Casey Harrison shares, “Nuru Ethiopia is demonstrating how practical innovation can accelerate community-led restoration. This approach strengthens cooperative unions, boosts survival rates at scale, and positions Nuru’s expanding NbS portfolio to deliver measurable, long-term climate and livelihood impact.” 

Nuru Ethiopia earned the prize for its innovative solution focused on climate-smart afforestation, which is the process of strategically planting trees on either unused or damaged land. This includes agroforestry approaches that integrate trees within farming systems to restore degraded crop land. The innovation will address key challenges in large-scale tree planting efforts, including: 

• maintaining seedling quality,
• improving planting efficiency, and 
• mitigating the environmental impact of non-sustainable materials.

Nuru Ethiopia staff and Nuru Chief Implementation Officer Matt Lineal pictured holding tree seedlings, 2025, Photo Credit: Dr. Matthew Aghai

As the Nuru Collective Innovation Prize Winner, Nuru Ethiopia will receive $20,000 USD when needed for implementation of the proposed solution. Nuru Ethiopia’s solution combines digital, mechanical, and sustainable material approaches:

• Digital Development: An Internet of Things (IoT) approach utilizes sensors to provide real-time monitoring of nursery conditions. For example, a sensor can be inserted into a seedling pot, providing real-time data on soil pH and moisture levels. This enables precision agriculture to optimize water and nutrient use, maximizing resource efficiency. It offers a unique digital solution for monitoring seed and seedling health in low-tech environments.
• Mechanical Efficiency: The use of improved tools, such as planting tubes for seedlings, forestry planting tools, seedling carriers with field planting bags, tree-planting equipment, and seedling handling and transport equipment, significantly boosts planting efficiency, helping to ensure that seedlings are consistently planted at the exact depth necessary for roots to flourish. Additionally, the tool allows tree planters to stand in an upright position, decreasing fatigue and risk of injury while planting many trees in one day.
• Sustainability: The innovation includes biodegradable tubes to eliminate the use of non-eco-friendly polythene tubes in nurseries and during outplanting. These tubes serve as a sustainable alternative that avoids the carbon emissions generated during the production, transportation, and disposal of plastic, while also naturally enriching the soil.

“This Innovation Prize is a game-changer for Nuru Ethiopia. It accelerates our mission to digitally transform climate action, ensuring healthy seedlings, slashing emissions, and boosting planting efficiency. This empowers us to deliver unprecedented, scalable impact in building resilient communities.”  -Nuru Ethiopia Managing Director Abiy Meshesha

Nuru Ethiopia Agriculture Extension Rural Livelihoods Program Manager Zerihun Woldesenbet and Nuru Ethiopia Managing Director Abiy Meshesha, 2024

The Nuru Collective is proud to celebrate innovative thinking, which is vital to sustainable impact. The 2027 Nuru Innovation Prize submissions will be evaluated in August 2026, with the winner announced in October 2026. 

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About Nuru Ethiopia:

Nuru Ethiopia is a local nonprofit organization that builds resilience in vulnerable communities in rural Ethiopia by developing farmer-owned agribusiness enterprises to lift families out of extreme poverty by 2030. Established in 2012, Nuru Ethiopia has impacted over 229,000 people through 273 farmer-owned agribusinesses. Visit www.nuruethiopia.org to learn more.

About Nuru:

Nuru is a global collective that enables inclusive and sustainable prosperity by identifying communities at the stability tipping point, strengthening rural livelihoods and market systems, and fostering stabilizing connections that repair social fabric and pave a pathway to peace. Nuru envisions a world without cycles of unjust poverty, where resilience and hope are cultivated in the most marginalized communities. The Nuru Collective has local organizations in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Niger, and Nigeria. Learn more by visiting www.nuruinternational.org.