Funding for Renewable Energy & Projects

The program is to study ACCREDITED MASTER IN RENEWABLE ENERGY which will help me in my projects for Sustainable Development and international impact. 

The problem is that Africa and in particular my country Uganda hasn't yet fully exploited its Renewable energy potential.   I would like to study that master's in renewable energy to help advance our/my renewable energy capacity to achieve SDGs starting with my project/projects which am undertaking to tackle the problems of general poverty, food insecurity, energy poverty & insecurity, land use, deforestation, land degradation, and climate change.

Studying this program will enable me to reach the goals of my current project and to accomplish other Renewable Energy-related and Sustainable development projects in Uganda and for networking for international impact.

 I'm solving general poverty, food insecurity, energy poverty & insecurity, poor land-use, deforestation, land degradation, and climate change.

I have set up a small to medium scale vanilla farm in Uganda and am seeking partnership or funding for the next steps to set up a solar-powered water supply and irrigation system on the farm and two small/medium scale factories with modern technologies possible. The factories will then benefit other local farmers within the local community and others far in other districts and regions.

One factory will be for processing Vanilla beans and the other for processing Jatropha oil and making premium products out of the Jatropha oil.

I am aiming at deploying the best probable sustainable and environmentally friendly practices for our farm and factory production, community and the cooperative that we shall form to benefit as many people as possible and to accomplish these I need to deploy skills and assets for renewable energy.

My Solution is to equip myself with renewable energy knowledge and skills as the Director of small Agric and Eco companies to be in a better position to tackle or solve the world challenges using four crops or primary feedstocks: Matooke (Green Cooking Bananas), Pumpkins, fresh Vanilla beans, and Jatropha oil to address all the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

Our solution shall need or deploy these processes and technologies: 

-Sustainable & eco agricultural processes powered by renewable energy (where applicable)

 -Sustainable & eco-industrial processes powered by renewable energy which will include food treating prosses to expand shelf life and manufacturing finished higher value products and making other consumer products out of the produced feedstock for example soap, shampoo, and biodiesel from Jatropha oil.   

 Technologies: Renewable Energy technologies are key and needed in every process for the solution to reach its goal and maximum impact.

The other technologies or technological processes that will be needed are:  

Curing, Flour-milling, Transesterification, Seed-oil-extraction, Detoxification, Saponification.

This is a business model is based on these four crops by which we aim to sustainably tackle multiple global challenges to benefit a wide population of Uganda in the key areas of food security, poverty alleviation, healthy eating, and positive environmental impact.

 We have already mobilized at least 5000 different farmers for those crops, 1000 of them for Vanilla & Jatropha who we shall coordinate as our suppliers or cooperative members to start with as small-scale processors.

 From my humble income in the UK; I have set up a small to medium farm for Vanilla, Jatropha & Cooking bananas (Makooke) farm which we would like to use as a pilot project for the aimed model to gear up for the nationwide agri-business and development.  Moving forward to the next steps, first I/we need to set up an underground-sourced solar-powered water supply and irrigation system on this pilot farm to keep these crops vibrant and then under the same pilot model to set up the following small/medium scale factories/plants/units with the best possible modern technologies that would fully or partially be powered by renewable energy:

 The first factory or plant/unit will be for processing fresh Vanilla beans. We shall process 60% of our Vanilla feedstock to exportable Vanilla beans because 1/we already have substantial market for them from big international buyers. We shall process 20% as Vanillin extract and 20% as Vanilla powder which will all significantly add value to our farm harvested and out-sourced fresh beans.

The second factory or plant/unit which will be separated from the food processing factory or units/plants will be for processing Jatropha oil as Jatropha is planted alongside Vanilla vines for support and it is produced or grown together with vanilla, and there already Jatropha seeds to start with from Vanilla farmers.

 The third plant/unit will be for processing Matooke (Green cooking bananas) to make flour and other possible value-added products from fresh Matooke—and we shall need the technical assistance to have the most appropriate technologies of producing flour and other value-added products out of Matooke.  We shall also explore and promote technologies to make use of Banana fibers which will give further economic and environmental benefits.

 The fourth plant/unit will be for processing Pumpkin to make dried Pumpkin seeds and Pumpkin flour which we shall promote and market as high nutrient longer shelf-life staple foods.

 Matooke (cooking Banana plants) and Pumpkin crops are already grown in large quantities in Uganda and sold as fresh produce which easily goes to waste. Thus, by coming up with processed marketable products of longer shelf life from fresh green cooking Bananas and Pumpkins would add value to this fresh produce and reduce their wastage, and after securing funding for our business model, we shall even advocate increasing their production by millions of farmers to cope with the created industrial demand thus affecting millions of Ugandans which is even transferable and scalable to other countries.

 Now for Matooke and Pumpkins, we are collaborating with different food scientists around the world for product research and development (R&D) and we need funding to come up with the prototypes and patents of the best suitable products to add to the already known Pumpkin-products: Pumpkin Seeds, and Pumpkin Flour.  

It is worth noting that even at this stage before R&D is complete and production started, we have already secured buyers in Uganda, within East African Countries, and internationally for the products we are sure of, say for Pumpkin seeds, Pumpkin flour, and Matooke flour, which indicate that on addition to the range of other benefits, our business prospects will be great if we get the help/partners/investors we need now plus the funding I need to study online Accredited Renewable Energy program by Renewable Energy Institute.

We have so far targeted 5000 suppliers/farmers of those four crops most of them for Cooking Bananas and 1000 of them for Vanilla/Jatropha for our small-scale factory capacity which we project to advance in three years after starting to a medium capacity of 100,000 suppliers which in six years we intend to upgrade to a large-scale capacity supplied by over 1,000,000 farmers to cover the whole country. With no specific political attachment, we shall work effectively in a nonpartisan way with equality better than the government would, but working and collaborating with different stakeholders including the central government, district local governments, division local councils, farmers associations, etc.

 The rationale of focusing on these four crops:

 These four crops can be successfully and sustainably grown all together to have the best or maximum land use and output which best suits the subsistence farmers that make the biggest number of self-employed Ugandans who would supply us with their produce/feedstock as explained below; Vanilla can only be grown on very limited best fertile soils with suitable conditions but the vanilla crop must be planted alongside a support plant- which in Uganda is preferably Jatropha shrub tree and therefore we know that where is Vanilla crop, there will also be Jatropha trees to start with.

 We know that Vanilla is grown under considerable natural shade which is best provided by banana plants or banana plantation and all these crops do better when cultivated with a ground cover plant preferably the pumpkin plant which can be grown for this purpose as ground vegetative cover and as well as a food & cash crop; and so, the interaction of all these crops when mixed intercropped has a positive effect of maximizing the land-use and output from any suitable farmland which would so beneficial to our subsistence farmers as we are pursuing to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals

 So far in Uganda, Jatropha is mainly used as a hedge and as a support plant for Vanilla, and no serious commercial use is made from its products and in particular its seeds though those Jatropha seeds are known to have high oil content, are left to waste in farmers’ gardens.  So, when we devise a project or business model to make commercial use of them (Jatropha seeds that contain the oil), will be of an economic and environmental benefit, and Jatropha will also serve as another perennial cash crop to vanilla farmers as well as serving as the support plant for the main vanilla cash crop.  

However, the most important impact is that subsequently, our model will also turn Jatropha into an independent viable cash crop that is grown as a sole crop for its oil even on poor soils where most crops would not thrive and it will benefit the poorest people who do not have fertile land and give them a chance to grow some cash crop which they wouldn’t be able to do.  And such Jatropha cultivation whether on fertile soils with other crops or as a sole crop on poor land will sequester more carbon from the atmosphere hence directly and indirectly help against climate change.

Jatropha oil can be used to make biodiesel and/or to be detoxified to make higher-value medicinal and cosmetic soap products and for the start (before there is enough or a lot of Jatropha/Jatropha oil), we shall prioritize the higher profit root of making premium products and leaving the possibility of biodiesel production open when there enough quantity to sustainably support it.

The physicochemical properties of Jatropha-oil give it great potential for industrial applications. However, the oil has the downside; it has Phorbol esters, which are known to be toxic, and so the oil must be first detoxified by removing the phorbol esters if it is to be safely used in making a high standard, internationally sought-after medicinal soap, and other cosmetic products.

 Because of that toxicity, Jatropha oil must be processed in a separate factory preferably or at a significantly distant plant/unit from food processing plants if it is to be processed under the same factory- (when we can only afford to set up one factory and we process Jatropha and its products from a distant/separated plant).  And to make those premium products from Jatropha oil we shall need technical help/hire/guide in mastering and deployment of the appropriate detoxification technologies of removing the toxic phorbol esters from the oil.

Manufacturing such premium products from Jatropha oil will even offer extra benefits as it is cheaper and poses far less environmental impacts to produce Jatropha oil compared to producing the same quantity of vegetable oil which, is conventionally used to make consumer goods like soap that we intend to make from our Jatropha oil.

 We anticipate both Vanilla and Jatropha oil divisions to boost each other as more different farmers would be attracted to supply us both their fresh Vanilla beans and Jatropha seeds because their Jatropha seeds have been wasted in gardens; thus boosting our vanilla and Jatropha seeds/oil stocks and business.

 The capacity for Jatropha oil feedstock and products shall be expanded by encouraging and promoting more specific Jatropha farming rather than only growing it as a Vanilla support tree or a hedge and this will also enable many farmers on poor land to grow Jatropha as a sustainable cash crop for their sustenance and this will alleviate poverty on a large scale, enable such farmers to meet medical bills, educate their children and so many other benefits to quality of life of those farmers and to their communities.

In addition to alleviating poverty and improving quality of life for potentially a huge number of farmers who can sustainably grow Jatropha unlike other cash crops, it will cut down on greenhouse gas emissions and global climate change because most Vegetable oil production that we shall substitute by each unit of our processed Jatropha oil, is associated with intensive fertilizer application, deforestation, water pollution, agricultural burning, and black carbon emissions plus other environmental degrading practices.  All such environmental impacts would be mitigated by our business model of using Jatropha oil to make premium products.

 Another anticipated benefit is the natural medicinal properties of Jatropha oil and its derived soap. Soap from Jatropha oil contains ingredients that have antifungal and bactericidal properties and proved and documented to prevent and treat skin rashes.  On those grounds we also expect Jatropha oil-derived soap to be more effective than common soap against communicable-disease pathogens including the coronavirus.

 Therefore, we/I’m seeking Funding/Capital/Support to:

1). Get the funding for the accredited master program by the European Renewable Energy Institute. 

2. Set up a modern underground water supply and irrigation system on our pilot farm- preferably powered by solar renewable energy.

3). Set up a modern small/medium scale factory for processing vanilla from our pilot farm as well as from other farmers who mainly grow on a subsistence basis.

4). Aid us and help complete our research & development (R&D) to come up with prototypes and patents we require to process Banana/Matooke and Pumpkin feedstock to high or value-added longer shelf-life food products including turning banana fibers into high-value products.

5). Set up small/medium scale factory for processing Banana/Matooke and Pumpkin to high or value-added longer shelf-life food products.

6). Set up a modern small/medium scale (separate factory preferably) or a unit/plant for processing Jatropha seeds/oil from our pilot farm as well as from other farmers who mainly grow on a subsistence basis.

 7). Install and master the technologies/equipment to detoxify (remove) phorbol esters from Jatropha oil at the Jatropha factory/plant as well as installing the machinery and capacity to make the intended Jatropha-oil-derived-products, medicinal soap, and other cosmetic products.

Thus, by our Jatropha oil processing factory/plant or division we aim to:

A)  Collect most if not all Jatropha seeds from vanilla and other farmers that have jatropha plants on their gardens/farms

B) Extract the oil from the collected seeds with modern industrial technology.

C) Refine and detoxify the oil by removing the toxic phorbol esters.

D) Make premium (value-added) products out of our detoxified Jatropha oil and/or export some (if there enough surplus quantities to export) as Jatropha oil would make one of the best, if not the best natural medicinal and cosmetic soap products on market anywhere and it may be needed by some big/international manufacturers, and the utilization of our detoxified Jatropha oil by such international manufacturers that make high valued products to their customers will still serve the same purposes of elevating poverty to our people and lessening carbon footprints by substituting normal/common vegetable oil consumption and production.

 We have been operating before registering officially, but we have applied for the company registration though we have not yet registered the cooperative that will take care of all our farmers and their communities as we want to register after hearing from you to know the most appropriate registered entity you or your partners fund or deal with in regard to our project/business model.  We may register as a Limited Company, a Community based organization, as a Cooperative group or otherwise depending on the advice we shall get.

 It is on this basis that we seek to partner with MIT through your most appropriate partners or departments for the required funding and research to equip us with knowledge and skills for those farming and processing technologies and equipment/machinery.

Please we also request you to advise us accordingly regardless of your decision and particularly connect/link us/me to potential investors/partners or other possible donors.

When you give us a go-ahead as finalists for possible funding of all or any of these project divisions/activities, we shall then send you a full detailed (costed) proposal or business plan accordingly.

We shall be immensely grateful for your positive consideration.

The problem is poverty, underdevelopment and unexploited Renewable energy potential. 

The solution is to tackle/solve the problem using the four named crops powered by renewable energy.

The problem and the solutions will be aligned through these challenges/impacts:

-The financial-dimension: it will create/increase income, people will clear debts  and make savings to boost their satisfaction with current and future financial situations. 

-The physical/Health-dimension: our people will be healthy because of their medical-care affordability, good nutrition, sleep etc.

-The environmental-dimension: Water, clean air and other environmental aspects will be improved.

The social dimension: Will result into healthy/happy relationships with families/friends and communities.

We are technically at Concept stage but practically between a concept stage to pilot stages because we have started and we have a clear concept of how we can run and make the project/business successful.   But we haven't yet had further results.  We need funding and some expertise to come up with prototypes of Pumpkin and Banana products.   We need funding and expertise for jatropha oil detoxication and to set up the appropriate small/medium factory/factories (as fully explained above in the space with no maximum word limit.) 

My Solution is innovation to tackle or solve the world challenges using four  crops or primary feedstocks: Matooke (Green Cooking Bananas), Pumpkins, fresh Vanilla beans, and Jatropha oil.

I as the Director of a small company want to bring it to the attention of the world that by using these four crops we can solve many global challenges more so to have sustainable development goals SDGs.  But the best outcome and best results can be realized with a combination of renewable energy for which knowledge and skills I would like to attain by studying an accredited Masters in Renewable Energy that I'm funding for. 

However,  all or most projects are looking at or considering Jatropha as a renewable/sustainable energy source/crop for using its oil to make biodeiesel.  We accept this and we consider it a viable route and an option for our Jatropha oil.   But for us, we want to go beyond that, and we go beyond to the extent where Jatropha oil can have a maximum impact in the fight against climate change and for wider and stronger SDGs. We want Jatropha oil to be detoxified by removing the toxic Phorbol esters and then used in making premium products that otherwise would have been made from vegetable oil which its production is associated with deforestation, water pollution, agricultural burning, and black carbon emissions plus other environmental degrading practices.     

It is currently serving 10 people, in one year it will serve 50, and in five years we shall be serving 50,000 and in ten years we shall be positively affecting or impacting at least a million people if all goes to plan including forming a cooperative.

When we impact the parents, we subsequently also impact their infants through better nutrition, shelter, medical-care affordability etc.

We measure them by the number of the impacted people, the level or degree of change/impact say for the poor farmers from surviving for having food to being able to educate their children and other standards of living. 

10 people,  9 all work part-time and one who is the manager and a female is full time.

I have done a Master's degree in Environmental Protection and management but I need to do the accredited Masters programme in Renewable energy to give more knowledge and skills of dealing with the challenges, and that is why am applying for the funding to enable me to do this programme with any other possible funding and support to enable my projects to prosper.

My colleagues who are on the ground in Uganda have vast experience in crop production.  

We have a strong network of other farmers-and they trust us- they want us to be their representatives.

I myself and we as a company and team believe in a strong, diverse, equitable, and inclusive leadership team. And the manager of our agribusiness operation is a woman and the only one working full time. 

I was invited by the Renewable Energy Institute (REI) to do an ACCREDITED MASTER IN RENEWABLE ENERGY and offered 50% of the tuition and I must look for the 50% which is £4410 and to maintain myself throughout the 18 months of the program.

 However, raising £4410 is a very big challenge for me given the fact that I am funding my project in Uganda explained above by myself using my limited income, and my current income will even diminish when I start the course. 

But I also immensely need the knowledge and skills I will get from studying MASTER IN RENEWABLE ENERGY program for my project in Uganda, and to scale up that knowledge and skills to benefit a wider population and the entire planet.

Human Capital: we would some expertize to  master many of those technologies especially for detoxification, factory machinery installation, etc 

Business model:  We would welcome any other strategy, advice etc

Financial: This is the key requirement.  We are seeking partners/investors for start-ups and those interested in long-term investments like setting the factories/plants we need for Vanilla, Banana processing, Pumpkin processing suitable for pumpkin market and the Jatropha factory or plant that would be separated from the food factories or (plants if it is to be one factory).

Legal or Regulatory Matters: would help if it comes.

Public Relations: would help if it comes.

Product / Service Distribution:  it would be very helpful to get customers especially that can trust us to pay in advance. 

Technology: Technology is so important as already explained.

Metia, Tencent, Infosys, Joep Lange Institute:  Why & how: To establish Tech business dealing in digital marketing, reliable internet services with associated tech products and solutions.  We can also work with them to boost online shopping in the region.

Reckitt Benckiser:  To be their agents; supplying their products that do not compete with Pasante products and we also supply them Jatropha-oil to make premium-cosmetic-products.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and CHAI: We need them for funding for research with medicinal plants and Jatropha-oil below.

We need to partner with any/all of your partner Universities, Education, or Research Institutions: Cambridge, Melbourne University, HKU Med, etc for research in medicinal plants to make high-efficacy plant-derived medicines.

 Also, we need them for research expertise to come up with the best technologies to detoxify Jatropha oil of the toxic-phorbol-esters to make high-value medicinal soap and other cosmetic products.

 Microsoft, Facebook, Google: Why & how: For funding to tackle some of the global health challenges experienced in our target countries/region and to equip us with the capacity to provide access to AI and expertise in those countries.

GSK, Optum, Bay Area Global Health Alliance: For the above research and cooperation to deliver the next-generation of medicines/vaccines and participate in their trials.