Hasham is a young science enthusiast and social entrepreneur. Hailing from a humble background and a community where he has witnessed people giving up on their hopes because of poverty and impoverished livelihoods, Hasham decided not to give up and with a sheer determination and hard work he succeeded to pave hopes way through primary school to middle and then high school. Against all odds, he was able to educate himself and during his journey, he discovered his passion which is to “Do science for the betterment of mankind”.
While studying in the 11th grade Hasham identified a problem that has plagued the poor farmers in his ancestral village; the shortage of agricultural water which in turn leads to the shortage of food as the water scarcity renders the arable land useless. While working with scientists at his college Hasham did iterative experimentation and made a super-absorbent-particle which can conserve the water up to 70% of what is required in the conventional practices which means that using this particle the farmers can grow more food while using less water.
Super absorbent polymer particles developed by Hasham and his team.
After pilot testing and realizing the potential of this simple solution to alleviate the problems of water scarcity and food insecurity, Hasham went on and founded his startup (social enterprise) “Solvify” with a mission to make the solution even better with continuous research and development and democratizing it to reach as many farmers as possible in a short period of time. Hasham along with his team has presented his social enterprise at the Diamond Challenge, University of Delaware, USA and won the first prize in the competition and with the prize grant “Solvify” went on to reach out to more than 150 poor farmer families to help them to grow more with a less amount of water.
A farmer using the particles in his field
According to Hasham “My success in the competition at the University of Delaware is dedicated to the farmers of my country who work hard under the scorching sun so that people like us can have food, I want to expand ‘Solvify’ to reach the impoverished and downtrodden of my society, I am excited and very hopeful that with the help of like-minded people and with the support of institutions soon we will be able to tackle the problem of water scarcity and global food insecurity, by democratizing this solution.”
Hasham along with the farmers to whom he dedicates his success as a community leader and entrepreneur.