Stevia-A Healthy Organic Sugar

1. Sucrose from sugarcane industry from my western kenya region continue to raise Human's diabetic mortality through its harmful disturbance of blood sugar balance since Most of our meals and beverage - especially Tea - are sweetened with this harmful industrial sugar. 2. sugarcane harvest is done after 18 months after planting which starves the farmer from sustainable income for such long period. 3. Subsistence farmers from this region are unqualified to engage in this agribusiness due to uneconomical small tracts of land. 4. Sugar Factory cane-crushing equipment plus tractors for land preparation and transportation emit volumes of harmful greenhouse gases into ecosystem. My idea is to spearhead the switch to subsistence farming of scientifically approved zero-calorie sweetener stevia herb for all mankind consumption-sweetening ingredient; first Harvest time for stevia is 3 months; produce per acre is 3 to 4 tonnes; Is less bulky to process in its value chain

Rise in blood-sugar related diseases - Diabetes

https://www.atkins.com/how-it-works/library/articles/10-ways-sugar-harms-your-health

https://www.who.int/elena/titles/free-sugars-adults-ncds/en/

1. The switch to subsistence farming of scientifically approved zero-calorie sweetener stevia herb for all mankind consumption-sweetening ingredient; 

2. To cluster small-holder farmers into community cooperative societies for production and marketing. first Harvest time for stevia is 3 months hence a viable social entreprise for income generation activity 

3. Produce per acre is 3 to 4 tonnes; Is less bulky to process in its value chain that helps in mitigation of carbon footprint. a crystallization processing plant to be installed with international standards approval for green production process

From my community this shall be a startup that is based on my lived experience that gives me an understanding of an unmet need that i have to content with in my own life, having experienced years of this unmet need. 

I give voice on behalf of fellow rural folk who can barely support themselves
beyond a day. They hereby need to go out and work so that they can afford basic necessities that includes brewed Tea sweetened with sugar that is common for breakfast, and in some cases, the only meal for families in this region. Future accessibility for basic commodities such as
commercial sugar & tea leaves is hereby compromised with the advent of
COVID-19 nemesis that has pushed people into isolation with imminent lockdown in our country that still lacks job-protection plan as well as stimulus package for her citizen in face of such danger.

My community shall find it useful to access an alternative localized production of zero calorie but natural sweetener for their daily beverage. i have 400 stevia crop on my quarter-an-acre farm for the last eight months and my family is off the hook of the diabetic-friendly
commercial sugar sold at malls; retail shops & village kiosks.

Western kenya region is installed with about seven active sugar-processing factories whose respective cane-crushing equipment run on diesel with carbon-dense effluent ejected into both Atmosphere, land and water. this is besides farm equipment and for ferrying inputs onto cane farms and harvested cane from farms to factories totally running on fossil fuels that also chokes the ecosystem with carbon-dioxide. This industry also requires more handhelp as it is yet to mechanize/automate its production line from the farms. Stevia shrub is potent with a quarter-acre farm able to produce hundred times sweet content against sucrose from current sugarcane variety

1. Stevia solution addresses Health mitigation against increasing sugar related ailments unlike the current mainstream sugar industry

2. It shall utilize small holder subsistence farmers who are majority in our community to participate in propagation and farming of stevia sweetener for beverage, soft drinks and confectioneries hence income potential for many that raises wealth creation index in our sociiety

3. By use of organic manures / fertilizers as a requirement for stevia propagation shall help improve soil profile with its microorganisms hence environmental conservation

Manufacturing - Harvested leaves from the stevia herb shall be dried similar to the brewing in Tea factory; Then decolorization before crystalization for "cosmetic" presentability and packaging to increase shelf life of the product

1. In Tea Factories;

2. in food crystallization

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4KT3oYksxE

3. Home made stevia extract

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh8u_zUtaDw

4. Stevia extraction Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biPdaRRm4RI

My vision is to sample out 70 out of 100 single women families with at least

10x15 feet kitchen garden each to receive a donation from my project of 50 well propagated stevia seedlings . Then to have farmyard manure determined by a qualified agronomist and supplied by a locally available online agrovet. this manure shall enrich the development of this crop through maturity which in this case shall be less than the usual three month period since we shall have used a fully hardened seedling ready for transplanting. 

I project 60 days after planting of the seedlings piecemeal harvesting (then sun-drying since western kenya lies along the equator hence over 8-hours of sunshine available) shall commence first for respective domestic consumption before
training shall be planned on how to propagate from these crops for new batch of farmers. Once mature crop stevia is for consumption shall witness reduction of sugar consumers at public retail outlets which is a growing danger to public for crowding in the face of COVID-19 pandemic as well as inevitable reduction in high blood sugar diseases.

Current: 15

In One year: 1000

In 5 Years: 15,000

The numbers projected in 5 years are approximate diagnosed diabetics plus their immediate neighbors

Next year:

1. Farmer Recruitment

2. Register the farmers into cooperative societies for production & marketing of stevia

3. Recruit & train project staff

4. Train farmers with adherence to safety standard measures in relation to COVID-19 Pandemic by World Health Organization

5. Create job opportunities through stevia agribusiness

Next 5 Years:

Partnerships with multi-nationals such as coca-cola; pepsi; cadburys...

Next Year:

1. unavailable cash capital to carry necessary & formal needs assessment

2. unavailable cash capital to undertake farmer recruitment

3. unavailable cash capital to establish farmer a formal office space with office equipment for the farmers

4. unavailable cash capital to Recruit & train project staff

5. unavailable cash capital to Train farmers with adherence to safety standard measures in relation to COVID-19 Pandemic by World Health Organization

6. unavailable cash capital to establish initial stevia project nurseries

7. unavailable cash capital to Train farmers in stevia production with adherence to safety standard measures in relation to respective industrial production jurisdictions

In 5 Years

8. Inaccessible Technical processing of harvested stevia feedstock into finished stevia powder/crystal for consumption

9. Assumption that government to issue promptly necessary permits for the processing

10. Assumption that there shall be a reliably committed farmer constituency 

11. An Assumption that Weaning off of both farmers and consumers of the traditional adherents to sugarcane sugar shall be smooth

12. That the required farm inputs shall be made available that currently unavailable

13. Most people currently are totally unaware of stevia as an organic sweetener hence shall need much marketing muscle

14. An Assumption that an agreed percentage of income from production by farmer shall be invested into the cooperative as per the cooperative Act as their share capital / savings

15. That consumers shall be willing to pay and find it affordable the price tag on the processed stevia product is also an assumption

Next Year:

For all lack of cash capital i shall initiate a business model that shall incorporate stakeholders willing to invest into the venture as shareholders or as potential donors

In 5 Years

For Inaccessible Technical processing of harvested stevia feedstock into finished stevia powder/crystal for consumption, initial collaboration with financial institutions / individual may be invited to finance technocrats of the industry 

For Assumption that government to issue promptly necessary permits for the processing, the industry's blue-print shall first be subjected for government line ministry approval during the establishment

For the Assumption that there shall be a reliably committed farmer constituency sampling of beachhead shall be carried out at initial stage

For An Assumption that Weaning off of both farmers and consumers of the traditional adherents to sugarcane sugar shall be smooth we shall enhance marketing pitch for the product

For the unavailable required farm inputs shall be made available that via initial solicitation of funds towards its production and supplied to farmers as soft loans

Enhanced marketing via both print & electronic as well as bulk SMS done to Most people currently  unaware of stevia as an organic 

For the Assumption that an agreed percentage of income from production by farmer shall be invested into the cooperative as per the cooperative Act as their share capital / savings continuous training via farmer-field-schools to be initiated

A monitoring & evaluation wing of the project to be well established to give prompt reports that gives progress that helps determine pricetags

Two part-time colleagues

Bonface Makalasia Khwesa

B.ed(Sc), Chemistry and Biology; Diploma in Freelance Journalism,UK

Evidence based tasks elsewhere

Mobilization and coordination, liaison with government agencies of the programme Planning and Investment Opportunities West Kenya Agriculture Region,by Development Trust Innovation Africa, DTIA:2014;

Skills in Logical Framework Analysis;

Trained in Population, Health&Environment (P.H.E)@ Kenya School of Government 

Team leader on G.I.S. MERECP 2 Project;

AMREF – supervisor HIV AIDS awareness in Western Kenya, 2007; RESOURCE PROJECTS KENYA,– Research Assistant: Child labour survey baseline 

Task in project

Overall team leader; stakeholder relationships management; field supervision.

Nicholas Serem Kirukmet

Bachelor of Arts Geography(Remote sensing and GIS) – Moi University
Evidence based tasks elsewhere

GIS projects manager,Machakos County Land Information Systems-  creation of integrated information and financial systems to ensure efficient and transparent revenue collection mechanism. spatial information including plots and buildings are to be digitized and loaded into a database.

Mt Elgon Ecosystem Conservation Program (MERECP) for Lake Victoria Basin Commission- mapping and spatial analysis of actors, value chains, extension services and conservation areas so as to come up with market driven community model for conservation and improvement of livelihoods systems

Josephat Nyongesa

Msc. Agricultural Economist – Egerton University

Climate change / Disaster risk reduction; livelihoods; renewable energy & energy saving devices; agribusiness/small medium enterprises; Rural socio-economic development; institutional / community capacity building; small holder land use planning; markets & value-chain development
Past Experience: Rockefeller foundation; SIDA; Royal Netherlands Embassy; DGIS; DFID; Mark & Spencer; World Bank; UNDP-GEF

Currently None

A healthy double sweet zero-calorie organic sugar at an affordable price shall be supplied to consumers of beverages and confectioneries within kenya and beyond.

My project shall provide stevia seedlings to 100 subsistence farmers for propagation; Organic fertilizers shall be provided alongside; Harvested stevia shall be collected and weighed and payments made commensurate with delivered stevia leaves out of which a percentage shall be retained in savings towards the account of respective farmer

Stevia sales shall ensure continued revenue ploughed-back into the social entreprise

Major expense shall include feedstock that is Stevia; Business premises; employee salaries and processing plant set-up

Am particularly encouraged with my application to Solve for the following resources:

• Opportunity to Join a supportive community of peers, funders, and experts to help advance my innovative work through Solve's nine-month program;
• I shall be privileged to Receive mentorship and strategic advice from Solve and MIT networks;
• A chance to Attend Solve at MIT, their annual flagship event in May; and
• Receive access to over $2 million in prize funding for the 2020 Challenges.

1.Monitoring & Evaluation: This is core to help with tracking down of all planned process of the project

2. Marketing, media & exposure: So as to increase shelf life of the stevia and Reach as far away market and platform for replication of our cooperative model for small scale farmers of stevia

3. Funding & Revenue model to stem up income potential for farmers and project sustainability

4. Technology to domesticate the stevia herb as well as aid replication

5. Business model since this is a social entreprise that should make reasonable profit without compromising environmental conservation

MIT Faculty since my initiative shall benefit from MIT's objective as a research institution that adds to the body of knowledge and community development; Solve members since its catchment is diverse and has a global footprint; Soft drinks multinationals such as coca-cola; Pepsi;....since they are best suited to offer their customers zero-calorie sweetened soft drink...

Stevia crop can be customized for aerial gardens; as potted high-value crops in kitchen gardens which is ideal for refugee camp-life such as is in North-East kenya in Daadab and Kakuma

Participating refugee house hold units shall be trained on how to propagate the initial seedlings during budding stage and effluent from toilets customized to supply organic fertilizer in a "permaculture" model

In my East Africa community cooking has for a longtime traditionally been considered as a women's affair and reserve. Breakfast in most homes in rural kenya is brewed Tea that is currently sweetened by sugarcane sugar that is currently blamed for upsetting blood sugars. With unscrupulous sugar wars on the increase recently in Kenya, prices for sugar commodity is unpredictable yet most households rely on it for their daily beverage hence womenfolk shall benefit from this Stevia project

Most families from rural kenya live on less than a dollar a day hence unimaginable for them to access healthcare resources to check on their blood sugar levels. This means that most cases goes unreported/documented for patients who succumb to blood sugar related ailments. This prize shall provide for a mapping exercise by use of GIS house holds that can be traced via remote sensing to help with visibility for health documentation of constituents

Our Stevia venture address a zero-calorie sweetener which can be traced virtually in all corners of our kitchens, Hospitals and even boardrooms: medicines; Beverage; Soft drinks; Candy; chocolate bars; Cakes; bread ... and the list goes on. This is virtually about food and all human beings are what they eat! Therefore we are here discussing about repairing a ship that all of us are aboard!