This is a subscriber-only article
From Newcastle West to Silicon Valley, University of Limerick student Jack O’Connor is living life in the fast lane. He is the founder and team leader of the Moyo Nua project, which aims to improve living conditions in developing countries. Born from humble beginnings at the 2017 BT Young Scientist schools competition, Moyo Nua has won many awards and recently represented Ireland in The World Trade Centre’s ‘Peace Through Trade’ competition, which it went on to win.
BT Young Scientist
“We decided to enter the 2017 BT Young Scientist of the Year competition and would’ve spent days throwing ideas for a project off the wall, before the ergonomic seed planter came to us. At the time there was a documentary out on TV, Living Off A Dollar, which is where we got the idea for the seed planter. We wanted to make something small that could go a long way to helping farmers in extremely poor countries.
“The prototype we made was a handheld seed planter that not only reduces labour time, but improved farmers’ wellbeing. The seed planter is basically a 3ft handheld seed drill – just sink the base into the soil and pull the trigger to plant the seed. For farmers who do everything by hand, workload is greatly reduced and there is also no repetitive bending over, reducing the risk of injury.
“If farmers can be more productive and work easier, then their children can stay in school longer. We ended up winning the Science for Development Award, which was sponsored by Irish Aid. As a prize, we were given the opportunity to visit Malawi and work on the Self Help Africa mission. We also got the seed planter patented.”
Turning point
“In February 2018, we visited Malawi, which was an unbelievable experience. Malawians are the friendliest people you will meet, we spent half the time singing and dancing.
Farming is all done by hand, which has huge knock-on effects. Young farmers commonly struggle with health problems
"However, the whole trip was a real eye-opener for me. The country is amongst one of the poorest economies in the world.
“Farming is all done by hand, which has huge knock-on effects. Young farmers commonly struggle with health problems, especially with their backs, and young boys and girls are being pulled from school to work on the land as a result.
“Seeing that for myself was a real turning point. When we were out there we tested our ergonomic seed planter and it was successful. I came home from the trip with serious motivation to do something serious with the seed planter.
Moyo Nua
“During a reception for UN Secretary Amina J Mohammed in August of last year, I took the chance to officially launch Moyo Nua, which means “New Life”, with “moyo” meaning “life” in Malawian (and “nua” meaning “new” in Irish).
“I was fortunate to have the project entered as UL’s Enactus contender for this year. Enactus is an international entrepreneurship competition for third level students. We now have a team of 25 students and the whole project has taken off since.
Last September we got to represent Ireland in the Enactus World Cup in Silicon Valley, which was an amazing experience. I really fell in love with San Francisco and I will definitely be revisiting
“Moyo Nua aims to provide the tools and resources needed to improve prosperity in impoverished environments. We not only want to design and distribute our handheld seed planters, but create eLearning workshops for students.
“Countries like Malawi are very much centred on agriculture and other primary sectors and we want to provide schools and universities with online learning facilities.
“Last September we got to represent Ireland in the Enactus World Cup in Silicon Valley, which was an amazing experience. I really fell in love with San Francisco and I will definitely be revisiting.
“While out there we began talks with the World Trade Centers Association and we were recently announced as winners of their Peace Through Trade competition.
“Earlier in the year we attended the Future of Work Summit in Dublin Castle. That was a great event for just making contacts alone. We are talking now with MIT, one of the best-known universities in the world, so the project is gathering huge interest.”
Development
“One of the ideas that we have been working very hard on has been to design the hand held seed planter using locally sourced materials and basic tools so that the planter is accessible for everyone and business can be created.
“We are also piloting our eLearning workshop in Castle retirement village and in the local national schools, with the hope of being able to roll that out in universities and schools in Malawi.”
Workload
“I’m putting serious time into Moyo Nua, sometimes I’d be working 20-hour days. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. I really love collaborating, working with people and networking. Time management is still tough. I’m studying international business in UL at the minute and next year I’ll be studying in France.
“It is not a bake sale, I’m not looking for a way to make quick cash. I am really only interested in raising living standards in Malawi and other countries in similar positions. It’s almost like a social movement – we have no competitors, only collaborators. I might not have all the answers, but I know where I want this project to go and I’m sure it will get there.”
Follow @MoyoNua
SHARING OPTIONS: