Ten finalists have been selected in the EatSafe Innovation Challenge led by EatSafe Consortium.
Groups in the consortium are global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and Pierce Mill Entertainment and Education, Busara Centre for Behavioural Economics.
It is supported by the Scaling Up Nutrition Business Network (SBN).
The challenge was made possible with support from Feed the Future through U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
The organisers noted that World Health Organisation estimates that every year, 600 million become ill and many die due to unsafe eating.
WHO said 38 per cent of those affected were children under five years, and 53 per cent were people living in low and middle-income countries (LMICs).
The challenge aimed at encouraging development of food safety solutions or safer food products to improve food safety for consumers in traditional markets.
Among hundreds of applicants, 10 finalists were selected, five from each country, to participate in Nigeria and Ethiopia on August 31 and September 1.
From Nigeria, the top five innovators are Timilehin Oluwatoyinbo, Tijjani Ali Lawal, Ruth Ede, Jennifer Idogun and Oyeyemi Fadairo.
In Ethiopia, the top five innovators are Saeed Ismael, Helen Weldemichael, Yezichalem Tessema, Binyam Kassa Engidasew, and Eyoel Legesse Arega.
Food safety mentors were assigned to guide the finalists in refining their concepts for the competitions.
In October, the top three finalists from each competition will proceed to the Global Grand Finale at Technical University of Denmark (DTU) to compete for $10,000.
The winning concept will be judged on food safety and nutritional benefit, adaptability to low- and middle-income countries, scalability and environmental sensitivity.
Prof Olugbenga Ogunmoyela, who mentored Nigerian finalists, said: “It has been a refreshing session mentoring the five finalists, looking at elements of food safety within their various innovative ideas and supporting them to build business models around the value chains identified for this innovation challenge, we look forward to showing our innovations at the global competition”.