Award, now in its third year, recognizes extraordinary achievements of young change-makers from around the world
Tafadzwa Chikwereti, a 24-year-old project management student at Bulawayo’s National University Of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe, has been included in the top 50 shortlist for the Chegg.org Global Student Prize 2023, an annual $100,000 award to be given to one exceptional student that has made a real impact on learning, the lives of their peers and on society beyond.
Tafadzwa Chikwereti was selected from over 3,851 applications from 122 countries.
The Varkey Foundation partnered with Chegg.org to launch the annual Global Student Prize in 2021, a sister award to its $1 million Global Teacher Prize. The intention was to create a powerful new platform that shines a light on the efforts of extraordinary students everywhere who, together, are reshaping our world for the better. The prize is open to all students who are at least 16 years old and enrolled in an academic institution or training and skills program. Part-time students as well as students enrolled in online courses are also eligible for the prize.
Tafadzwa Chikwereti grew up trapped in poverty on a small farm in rural Zimbabwe and witnessed firsthand the struggles his parents and other smallholder farmers faced, which made him determined when he got to school to research and draft ways to help his community become better farmers. Consulting various teachers and agriculture experts to gain more knowledge on the subject, he developed a keen interest in agribusiness and through expos and open days developed a mini project linking farmers to markets in his hometown via the online WhatsApp platform, which gave him further insight into the real problems they faced through with a lack of access to knowledge and finance. He pulled together a team and founded the eAgro platform that provides access to knowledge and finance to farmers, not only improving their yields but also allowing them to break out of the smallholder farmer trap. To date, eAgro has grown from a mini-project to a company run by students that services over 10,000 farmers in Zimbabwe, providing them with access to information on farming practices, crop management, and weather patterns. Additionally, access to finance enables them to invest in their farms and increase their yields, earn better prices for their produce, generate extra income, and pay off fees. This has had a ripple effect on their families and communities, contributing to poverty reduction and improving the overall standard of living while creating employment opportunities for young people in the community, cutting youth unemployment rates. They are proactively seeking university students and recent graduates for much of the work, to help them get extra income and real world work experience, and by working together and leveraging technology, they can create sustainable solutions to the challenges facing their communities one farmer at a time. Tafadzwa has helped develop two mobile apps known as Cropfix and Credfarm, geared towards promoting sustainable agriculture practices in the community; he has won a string of awards for his innovations and also helps his community by volunteering with the local Rotary Club on initiatives like supplying food banks with meals to help the vulnerable in times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Zimbabwe has historically fared well in the Global Student Prize, with Kudakwashe Foya, a 24-year-old student from Harare, who was studying sociology, anthropology and psychology at Harare’s University of Zimbabwe, included in the top 50 shortlist for the Chegg.org Global Student Prize 2022. And Zimbabwe-born Tafadzwa Munzwa, a 26-year-old medical student at Cavendish University Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia, was included in the top 50 shortlist in 2021.
Heather Hatlo Porter, Head of Chegg.org and Chief Communications Officer of Chegg, said:
“We are at a critical turning point as we face some of the greatest challenges in history. Students worldwide are keenly aware of this urgency, and they are leveraging their ingenuity to overcome the significant obstacles facing them to build a better future for us all.
“Congratulations to Tafadzwa Chikwereti. Chegg not only celebrates your achievements but also the endless possibilities that exist when young minds are driven by a passion for change. The Top 50 Global Student Prize finalists deserve the opportunity to have their stories told and have their voices heard. Their dreams, wisdom, and inventive spirit will illuminate a more hopeful future for everyone.”
Sunny Varkey, founder of the Varkey Foundation, said:
“Tafadzwa Chikwereti’s story is a testament to the crucial role that education plays in building a better world for us all. It is the key to solving humanity’s greatest challenges, from war and conflict to climate change to growing inequality. As time runs out to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, it is more important than ever to prioritize education so we can face the future with confidence.”
Applications and nominations for this year’s Global Student Prize opened on 19 January and closed on 14 May. Students are being assessed on their academic achievement, impact on their peers, how they make a difference in their community and beyond, how they overcome the odds to achieve, how they demonstrate creativity and innovation, and how they operate as global citizens.
Last year’s winner was Ukrainian teenager Igor Klymenko, a 17-year-old student from Kyiv, Ukraine, who moved to the countryside at the start of the Russian invasion to finish his final year of high school. Sheltered in the basement of his new home, Igor successfully completed his studies while refining the mine-detecting drone he had been working on for eight years. He was selected as the winner of the 2022 Chegg.org Global Student Prize from over 7,000 applications from more than 150 countries.
The first winner in 2021 was Jeremiah Thoronka, a 21-year-old student from Sierra Leone, who launched a start-up called Optim Energy that transforms vibrations from vehicles and pedestrian footfall on roads into an electric current. With just two devices, the start-up provided free electricity to 150 households comprising around 1,500 citizens, as well as 15 schools where more than 9,000 students attend.
The top 10 finalists of the Global Student Prize are expected to be announced in August this year. The winner, who will be announced later in the year, will be chosen from the top 10 finalists by the Global Student Prize Academy, made up of prominent individuals.
If students were nominated, the person nominating them was asked to write a brief description online explaining why. The student being nominated was then sent an email inviting them to apply for the prize. Applicants were able to apply in English, Mandarin, Arabic, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian. To join the conversation online follow @cheggdotorg
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