Bio Innovation Award Winner Launches Waste-to-Fertiliser Business
Sierra Leonean innovator Mohamed Saviour Samu has launched new organic fertiliser and insect-based protein products through his company, EntoTech Innovations. The business utilizes Black Soldier Fly technology to convert agricultural waste—such as cassava peels and crop residues—into valuable resources for poultry and fish farmers.
Samu’s innovation secured a US$30,000 grant after winning the President Bio Innovation Award in 2025. Within a year of receiving the funding, the EntoTech team progressed from their initial pitch to full product development and commercial market entry.
The grant enabled the establishment of an insect breeding facility known as the "Insect Village" and a three-acre site at Four-Mile, strategically located near local poultry farmers.
The official launch took place this week at the Njala University Living Lab in Taiama, where the Ministry of Communication, Technology and Innovation showcased the company's progress. The event also marked the start of commercial distribution, with EntoTech offering about five tonnes of fertiliser ready for market and over 300 kilogrammes of protein currently being tested by local farmers.
Speaking at the launch, Stevenson K. Kamanda, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Communication, Technology and Innovation, emphasized the initiative's potential.
Kamanda, highlighting the ministry's goal to identify local talent, provide early support, and nurture promising ideas into sustainable commercial enterprises, remarked that their winning criterion was an answer to the question,
"How can we turn something that is considered waste into something productive and valuable?"
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