Kubeko Composter

In Côte d’Ivoire, agriculture produces millions of tons of organic waste each year. Yet, no solution successfully exists to valorize this waste, usually burned and dumped into landfills with environmental damage as a result. Biomass conversion offers a big opportunity to reduce carbon emissions of agriculture. Moreover, biomass conversion projects have proven to be a boost for farmer’s revenue.

However, this opportunity failed to penetrate the market due to the unpredictability of rural agricultural supply  and the requirement of high capital investments.

LONO is an Ivorian bioprocess engineering company offering solutions to simplify and reduce the costs of converting waste into agricultural inputs. To do so, we designed the Kubeko, a product range of solar powered equipment for the composting of organic solid waste. By sustainably harnessing the potential of agricultural waste products, the Kubeko Solar Composter mitigates the effects of climate change and helps diversify revenue for smallholder farmers.

Agriculture is one of the biggest contributors to climate change. Yet, it is an essential activity in many countries, notably in Côte d’Ivoire, that is critical for the national economy and provides a livelihood for a considerable portion of the working population. Hence, there is a great potential in this sector for innovation to ensure national food security and reduce greenhouse gas emission to meet the targets  of the Sustainable Development Goals, notably SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production, SDG 13 Climate Action and SDG 15 Life on Land. Indeed, a third of the food produced globally is wasted, and this trend applies to Côte d’Ivoire as well. Reducing and valorizing agricultural waste and providing an additional source of sustainable agricultural inputs.

As agriculture is the largest economic activity in Côte d’Ivoire, actors in this sector are the most affected by waste. Smallholder farmers are the ones most affected by this, maintaining them in a state of poverty. The loss of revenue from the food wasted coupled with poor agricultural practices which reduce soil quality are contributing to poverty in Côte d’Ivoire. By creating fertilizers from waste with the Kubeko Composter, farmers can diversify their revenue and improve soil fertility.

The Kubeko Composter is a solar powered household composter that reduces the composting time for organic waste from 6 months to 30 days only. Households can put all types of organic waste into the Kubeko and a solar driven internal aeration system accelerates the aerobic decomposition of waste into compost. The compost produced by the Kubeko has been tested and the results of its application showed that it can replace up to 75% of mineral fertilizer requirements to achieve optimal yields for food crops and cash crops. Thus, with this organic agricultural input, we believe smallholder farmers will be able to ensure a sufficient and qualitative produce, tackling the issue of food production in the rural sector. 

The compost produced achieves this by improving sustainably the properties of the soil as its water retention capacity and its organic matter content. With these savings, our beneficiaries are then able to allocate these resources to food, education and energy expenses.  

A 1 000 L Kubeko Composter can approximately convert 400 kg of organic waste into 150 kg of compost and 40 L of liquid fertilizer, which represents a reduction of nearly 60% of volume, making Kubeko Solar Composter an efficient sanitation tool.

At LONO, we believe that affordable and accessible agricultural inputs can positively impact smallholder farmers’ yields productivity, crop resilience and reduce overall hunger for their surrounding community and the entire country highly depending on the outcomes of this sector.

The Kubeko Composter is primarily targeting smallholder farmers. In rural areas, 3 adults out of 4 work in the agricultural sector which accounts for 70% of their income. These farmers are largely represented by men aged 40 or older with no formal schooling. The agriculture practiced here is characterized by small-scale family-based farming and limited access to technology and smart-agricultural practices. 

In this context, with an affordable and up-to-date technology equipment like the Kubeko Composter, LONO helps farmers diversify their revenue by producing a valuable commodity out of the waste they would normally discard. Furthermore, LONO encourages them to apply good agricultural practices and reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides which are detrimental in the long run for the environment, as well as diversify their income lifting them out of poverty.

LONO has also developed its operational model around extensive after sales services and the deployment of demonstration sites to engage with these farmers and better understand their needs. 

The challenge aims at giving smallholder farmers access to sustainable inputs to improve agricultural productivity in a low-carbon food system. 

Food production systems have been industrialized such that the way food is being produced is unsustainable. Despite the efficiency of food production, future generations will face greater challenges to produce the food they would need to feed a growing population.

Smallholder farmers are the primary producers of food, hence would need an improved sustainable food system to keep producing the globe’s food in the future. The Kubeko Composter helps increase productivity through the production and use of sustainable low-carbon fertilizers.

Internationally, several composting technologies exist in the market. Nevertheless, there are many differences in terms of capacity, price and use. Most composting technologies are for small scale domestic use such as the Bokashi One or Rotating Composter. They are meant for household kitchen waste and require a fertilizing agent that helps break down the waste. These technologies have a small volume and occupy a small space. They are not cumbersome, but need to be emptied on a frequent basis. Due to their small size, the unit price of these technologies is lower than the Kubeko Composter. 

Locally, alternative products are not available; our main competition is manual composting. It is often free (in investment) but takes space, a lot of time (4 months compared to 4 weeks with Kubeko) and intensive labor (plowing of large quantities of biomass in order to ensure sufficient oxygen supply). The proven value of compost produced with Kubeko is therefore our main selling point.

The advantage of the Kubeko Composter is primarily its treatment capacity, ease of use and robustness. With a volume of 1m3, the Kubeko  Composter is an effective composting solution for households as well as for plantations, for cooperative and for agribusinesses. For each cycle of 30 days, a Kubeko can approximately convert 400KG of organic waste into 150KG of compost and 40L of liquid fertilizer. Its effectiveness and the quality of the compost produced makes the Kubeko Composter an essential tool for smallholder farmers to contribute to a sustainable food system.

Composting is a technology that has existed for many years. It is the process of controlled aerobic decomposition of solid organic matter to produce a nutrient rich humus-like material, compost, which is a fertilizer and a good soil amendment that improves water retention and aeration, adds nutrients to the soil, and reduces erosion, which are essential to maintain good soil quality for a sustainable food production system. Vegetable waste as well as animal manure are suitable materials for composting. Municipal waste and sewage sludge can also be composted but require sorting and treatment.

Under ideal conditions, composting occurs following three steps. First, at a moderate temperature, microorganisms decompose the waste. Then, as temperature rises, bacteria continue decomposing the waste. Lastly, as the supply of high-energy compounds decreases, temperature decreases and the compost matures. This is a process that occurs naturally. Nevertheless, it occurs over a long period of time to produce a suitable product to use as an agriculture input. This process can be harnessed with a device that can considerably shorten the composting time and yield a readily usable compost.

The Kubeko Composter is a composter that helps accelerate the conversion of organic matter in compost and liquid fertilizer. These inputs will help contribute to a more resilient and sustainable food production system, that improves agricultural productivity and reduces carbon emissions as a result of waste and fertilizer production. 

From 2016 to 2018, the Kubeko Composter has undergone extensive Research & Development activities regarding its component and design. These activities also consisted in the production of compost with different types of agricultural waste encountered in Cote d’Ivoire and a preliminary market study for the product was also realized. Since 2018, the Kubeko Composter is officially out of its prototyping and validation phase in a pilot situation with a level of technological maturity on the TRL scale of 8. The Kubeko Composter is commercialized since mid 2019 and there are currently 50 units sold, of which 30 installed”. We are currently accelerating and setting up agricultural demonstration plots across Côte d'Ivoire, to showcase the effect of the compost produced by Kubeko Compost to farmers. The equipment is becoming more prominent and projects are being implemented in 2020 to put in place the Kubeko Composter in different localities for smallholder farmers and cooperatives. The compost produced from these equipment has been tested in local labs. 

Link video to the product demo https://youtu.be/U-BSrlwZBfk

LONO’s mission is to reduce poverty in rural areas of Côte d’Ivoire by creating value at the beginning of the agricultural value chain for farmers who, unfortunately, do not always benefit from economic spinoffs of their activity. We aim to do so by offering technology advanced and affordable products to develop an additional value chain from a raw material that they owned but currently perceived as worthless: organic waste. 

By its intervention, the Kubeko Solar Composter offers the possibility to tackle at least 03 SDGs, namely Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12), Climate Action (SDG 13) and Life on land (SDG 15) while promoting principles of circular economy. 

Thus, in its operating and business model, LONO does not use any new raw material but rather uses organic waste for compost and bio-fertilizer production. The use of a Kubeko a 1m3 can sustainably fertilize up to 1 ha of land and this organic matter sustainably improves the structure of the soil and reduces the need of chemical fertilizer. 

Secondly, smallholder farmers in Côte d’Ivoire have yields that are far below from optimal. Low productivity in the agricultural sector impacts the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers in Côte d’Ivoire that rely on this activity for at least 70% of their income. With the Kubeko Solar Composter, LONO envisions to sustainably increase productivity and increase farmer’s livelihood. LONO’s beneficiaries are expected to receive an additional income of $5-$10 USD per month in addition to benefiting from better sanitation, hygienic and healthy environment at home and work. 

Finally,  LONO contributes to a number of climate smart agriculture pillars- such as the recycling of nutrients to soils by applying bio-fertilizers to agricultural land, carbon sequestration in soil, and the decrease of the net greenhouse gas flux by 1660 CO2 eq/T per year. Therefore, LONO’s solution also enhances resilience to climate risks by adaptation to climate change.

For all the aforementioned reasons, LONO believes that there is a need to unravel the energy potential contained in waste.

LONO’s sales strategy, targeting its first 100 users started in January 2019. For this entry phase, we favored a B2B2C distribution channel targeting local agro-factories, agricultural cooperatives and national agencies in order to distribute Kubeko Compost amongst their affiliated farmers. 

Currently, 50 units of Kubeko Composter have been sold, positively impacting 300 people in total. In one year, LONO aims to distribute 150 units of Kubeko Composter (accumulative) impacting 900 people in total and in five years, 1 850 units of Kubeko Composter will be sold (accumulative) impacting 11 100 people in total. 

LONO’s sales strategy, targeting its first 100 users started in January 2019. For this entry phase, we favored a B2B2C distribution channel targeting local agro-factories, agricultural cooperatives and national agencies in order to distribute Kubeko Compost amongst their affiliated farmers. 

Currently, 50 Kubekos Composter have been sold, positively impacting 300 people in total. In one year, LONO aims to distribute 150 units of the Kubeko Composter (accumulative) impacting 900 people in total. In five years, 1 850 units will be sold (accumulative) impacting 11 100 people in total. 

Barrier 1: In Côte d’Ivoire, there is a certain level of culture reluctance to work with waste. 

Barrier 2: For the years to come, LONO needs to strengthen its product distribution strategy. With the aim of serving exclusively end users living in the rural areas, this is a particularly tough challenge not only when it comes to the installation of the products with our beneficiaries but also for the after sales services that LONO provides for each system sold. 

Barrier 3: LONO does not have real-time data of the use of our systems yet. In order for LONO to retrieve this information, the technical team has to be with our users physically, which in the long run, poses a logistical problem. Challenges can also arise around the manipulation of the system; households could shorten the composting time or put too much waste into the KubeKo in order to produce more compost to earn more revenue.

Barrier 4: LONO’s business model relies on the purchase power of actors in the agricultural sector. Thus, the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the global and local economy, might affect our potential customers' wallets and by ricochet affect LONO. Finally, in 2020, there will be presidential elections in Côte d’Ivoire which might cause a period of political instability.

Solution 1: To understand and trust that waste can turn into something clean like compost through the use of the KubeKo Composter, requires a change in mentality. We plan to use several communication channels to emphasize how there is no contact between waste and user. The most important channel to achieve this will be prototypes in targeted areas so that people can better imagine and understand the composting process and experience the ‘cleanness’ of compost. In addition, we can use ambassadors/influencers to support this message and will document where possible the experience of the first users.

Solution 2: As most of our clients and partners are in the rural areas of Côte d’Ivoire, LONO plans on upgrading its vehicle pool to reduce its maintenance costs and increase its availability for field trips. 

Solution 3: For the year 2021, LONO will commercialize systems with captors enabling the company to do a remote monitoring of the daily use of the Kubeko Composter. The prototypes of this improved equipment are actually being tested in Morocco. However for our current systems, when installation takes place, a short training is given to the users and a manual is handed out. Also, each participating community has a designated user that actively monitors, identifies and trains less diligent users. 

LONO has a team of 10 full-time staff and 3 part-time staff.

LONO was created in December 2016 by Noël N’Guessan (Ivorian) and Louise Bijleveld (Dutch). 

Noël is the Technical Director of LONO and a chemical engineer by training with a MSc in Environmental Sanitation. He has worked for European and Ivorian sanitation organizations and started a successful software company in Côte d’Ivoire. Noël has won several national and international prizes for his achievements as an entrepreneur (last one being best Ivorian entrepreneur from Total).

Louise is the Commercial Director of LONO.  Before starting LONO in Abidjan, she worked for the Dutch government and at the EU Representation where she was involved with development cooperation and foreign trade. She was listed in Forbes 30U30 in 2019 as European social entrepreneur.

In addition to the founders, LONO has a team of 3 engineers (senior, medior and junior), 1 business developer, 1 sales assistant, 1 social impact officer, 1 accountant, 1 administrative assistant, 1 agro technician and 1 environmental specialist.  

 Most of LONO’s team members have been with us since the beginning. They contributed to the development of our products and therefore have extensive knowledge of the technical features as well as of the sector we operate in. The combination of different backgrounds of the team members and their international experience allows LONO to combine, adjust and adapt existing technologies and developments in order to serve best the market LONO works for.

LONO works with partners active in different parts of the value chains from the sorting of the organic waste to the agronomic testing of the produced compost. These partnerships include:

• The District of Yamoussoukro helping LONO develop local projects to recycle the minerals in organic waste to benefit local populations ;

• The Interprofessional body for the palm oil value chain (AIPH) introducing the Kubeko Composter to smallholder farmers in the palm oil sector ; 

• The Leading polytechnic institute in francophone west Africa (INPHB) which is LONO’s partner in research dedicated to organic waste processing ;

• The Fund for Agricultural innovation (FIRCA) which assists LONO in performing and promoting pilot and demonstration innovations ;

• Fruit producers and exporters which test the impact of the Kubeko Solar Composter on the waste management challenges of their supply chain and the impact of the compost on the fruit quality and quantity ;

• The Swiss Centre for Scientific Research (CSRS) that performs agronomical validation of the agricultural inputs produced by the Kubeko Solar Composter ;

• The Agency for Rural Development (ANADER) which performs training, instills Good Agronomical Practices and ensures an effective distribution of our products to our beneficiaries.

LONO sells hardware with a profit margin. LONO’s users are smallholder farmers but we distribute B2B, our main offtakers being organizations and businesses working directly with smallholder farmers, like cooperatives, agro processors, or exporters. They purchase the Kubeko Composter for smallholder farmers in order to improve or secure their own supply, sometimes in a pre-finance construction. 

The aim is to make the return on investment for a farmer who buys a Kubeko Composter maximum 2,5 years. This means that the increase in yield of farmers due to the compost produced by a Kubeko Composter, justifies the investment with a RoI of 2,5 years. In order to reach this, we need to reduce the costs of production in the scale up as we are currently on a RoI for farmers of 4 years (slightly depending on the sector and region of a farmer). In addition, access to off-grid solar energy has a big market in Côte d’Ivoire. 

In partnership with home solar providers, LONO is also planning on offering a PAYGO model (payment in small installments for users who can’t afford or are not willing to buy the product in cash) in which the Kubeko Solar Composter is part of the solar kit offered to households. In this case, households that are off the grid and don’t have easy access to electricity still have the ability to use our equipment and generate all its benefits.

The mission of LONO as a company is to create value out of organic waste. Currently, the infrastructure to valorize the considerable amount of waste produced is lacking. There is great value in the agricultural waste that is currently discarded, both economic and environmentally. The waste has the potential to increase the carbon storage capacity of soils and therefore to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create a more sustainable food production system. Hence LONO attempts to create a culture of sustainability and circularity in agriculture and food production.

In order to incorporate sustainability in agriculture and the valuation of waste as a common practice, LONO needs to expand its outreach. The Kubeko Composter needs to be advertised and accessible to farmers all over Côte d’Ivoire. A monitoring system is also an essential element that LONO is planning on developing to improve the equipment and the service provided. With a higher visibility and business advice from SOLVE, LONO’s mission can be effectively accomplished.

Kubeko Compost is a proven technology that has the ability to convert organic waste into an effective agricultural input that improves soil quality. Yet there is still development needed, notably in terms of monitoring and evaluation, as well as marketing.

LONO is a new company that is rapidly growing. We need to work on our marketing in order to promote our equipment and services. Having more visibility will help deliver our services to all parts of Côte d’Ivoire, reducing the agricultural waste nationwide and bringing economic opportunities for vulnerable populations.

Furthermore, we are working on developing equipment to monitor the use of the Kubeko Compost. Collecting information on temperature, moisture, yields, etc. from the equipment is essential for product development. With the collected data, we could improve the technology and the services we provide.

In order to reach an exponential growth, LONO would like to partner with several organizations and institutions through the MIT SOLVE Challenge.

First, LONO would be pleased to collaborate with MIT Biological Engineering Faculty and the Industrial Performance Center to help the company improve the design of its system by implementing up-to-date captors which would allow us to better monitor and/or evaluate the use of our systems. 

Second, LONO could also benefit from the MIT Course Business and Impact Planning for Social Enterprises in order for its business model to have the largest impact possible on its end users in the particular context described in the application (West African Rural Areas). 

Finally, LONO would like to work with some of MIT SOLVE partners like OLAM which is one of the biggest companies in the cocoa value chain in Côte d’Ivoire. Having access to their network will allow LONO to penetrate the most productive sector of Côte d’Ivoire and help demonstrate the efficiency of our agricultural inputs for thousands of cocoa producers affiliated to OLAM.