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OYA ExoLab contributes to sustainability on Earth

What is OYA ExoLab?

The OYA ExoLab-10 Research in Space for Life on Earth, developed by Magnitude.io, in collaboration with SensXAfrica is an innovative initiative aiming at engaging young students in technology and science by allowing them to design their own scientific protocols to grow crops on Earth and use portable laboratories (ExoLabs) to share their findings with the global ExoLab community.

The space rocket SpX-26, that will be launched in November 2022, will transport crops in an ExoLab to the International Space Station. This will enable students to compare their crops growth experiment conducted on Earth to the crops growing in space i.e. in microgravity conditions. Upon return to Earth the plant specimens will be sent to the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and the Joint Genome Institute, where state-of-the-art research will be conducted and shared with all participants that have joined the initiative.

By familiarizing students with the carbon cycle and the importance of smart agriculture in today’s environmental context through their joint initiative, we aim at engaging youth and women as drivers of change so as to create tomorrow’s agents of sustainable development and continue accelerating youth inclusion and entrepreneurship promotion in agribusiness and agriculture.

Martha, a student, on OYA ExoLab

How does OYA ExoLab contribute to sustainability on Earth?

OYA ExoLab is strongly anchored in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and contributes to several Sustainable Development Goals namely:

SDG2: Zero hunger

OYA ExoLab compares crop growth conditions on our planet and in orbit to raise awareness about the necessity of sustainable soil conservation for food production.

SDG4: Quality Education

OYA ExoLab enrolls students from Kindergarten to University by offering educational material, virtual sessions with renown global researchers, scientists, and engineers providing hands-on experiments to reinforce their scientific curricula.

SDG9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

OYA ExoLab gives access to state-of-the-art technology to the young generation in order to raise interest in agriculture innovation and the importance of R&D.

SDG13: Climate Action

OYA ExoLab investigates the unique role plants have in sequestering carbon here on Earth and how they can be used to rejuvenate soil with nitrogen fixing bacteria.

SDG17: Partneships for the goals

OYA ExoLab brings together public institutions, research organisms, private sector and INGOs to encourage knowledge transfer.

OYA ExoLab moves one step forward!

OYA ExoLab initiative will be extended to other countries in order to create a network of educational institutions fostering specialized and digital skills for the youth. Seven institutions should soon join the OYA ExoLab consortium which will then include 11 institutes in 6 African countries: Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia! Fostering knowledge exchange and south-south cooperation between our partners will beyond any doubt strengthen the project impact!

OYA ExoLab also lays the ground for the development and rejuvenation of the agribusiness sector by introducing key issues related to agriculture today and the importance of innovative (digital) solutions. Moving forward, OYA ExoLab will partner with the private sector in each country of action to make sure that the success of this initiative is translated into entrepreneurship development by developing concrete innovative solutions for agribusinesses.

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