AgriLife Limited

Poor waste management is a problem experienced by Tanzania Cities, example in Dar-es-salaam alone 4,600 tons of waste per day (Waste ccacoalition, 2018). The UN estimates that such rotting food accounts for up to 7% of greenhouse gas emissions. Some end up contaminating nearby water bodies. On the other hand, Livestock consumes roughly 20% of global proteins and compete with humans for ocean fish stocks, water, land, and soil resources, 30% of the fish catch is diverted from human consumption to make fish-meal (FAO, 2016). The industry needs a sustainable source of animal feed protein.

AgriLife solution replacing traditional fish-based diets with black soldier fly insect-based protein, we can offset the growing competition for the ocean fish stock required to be able to feed nearly 10 billion by 2050. We are creating a new and highly sustainable agri-food industry, backed by extremely innovative tried-and-tested production facilities. Nothing wasted, everything gained.

Approximately 30% of the fish catch is diverted from human consumption to make fish-meal which resulted in 85% of fish stock over-exploited. Fishmeal is currently produced using wild-caught forage fish such as anchovies, but due to increased demand and strict catch quotas designed to address overfishing, fishmeal prices have risen to $1700 per ton. One way around this would be to start to farm fish commercially. However, the current feed for farmed fish is made up almost entirely of other fish. Some fish require  1-8 kilograms of fish to create 1 kilogram of farmed fish. https://www.greenpeace.org/international/press-release/22494/fishmeal-industry-stealing-food-west-africa/

On the other hand, Waste is a challenge for rapidly urbanizing cities. The proper disposal of waste and the necessary infrastructure is a heavy cost for cities and residents that they cannot afford. In Tanzania, about 10,000 tonnes of waste is generated every day while the authority can only collect 30%. When organic waste goes to a landfill emits methane which is 23 times as potent as CO2 as a greenhouse gas. According to the UN, rotting food waste accounts for 7% of the global greenhouse gas emissions. It also contaminates soil, air and water systems and is a breeding ground for diseases. https://www.gcca.eu/node/4966

AgriLife uses a zero-waste circular system which is a novel solution to realize environmentally sustainable, climate-resilient insect protein production that is less dependent on land and water and has the ability to adapt to the climate. We are pioneering a waste-to-nutrient insect technology using black soldier fly larvae to up-cycle organic waste into sustainable protein ingredients for the poultry and aqua-feeds industry.

Through the use of Insects; we provide sustainable, adaptable and cost-efficient alternative sources of protein for and animal feed, to keep a sustainable framework, we are breeding high quality insects on an industrial scale. At AgriLife, we utilize low-tech solutions to tackle the food insecurity and waste problem in Tanzania. These qualities make us a resilient company that can outlast future challenges in Africa and our solution brings environmental sustainability into animal production. Unlike soybean and fishmeal, insect-derived proteins require less land, water and energy resources.

AgriLife serve the local community by using insects to reduce 38% of food waste that ends up in landfills and produces a large amount of methane a more powerful greenhouse gas than even CO2 which absorb infrared radiation and heat the earth’s atmosphere, causing global warming and climate change. It also contaminates soil, air, and water systems and is a breeding ground for diseases. 

AgriLife has a direct impact on the lives of Tanzanian smallholder farmers and their families through the company’s out-grower model. AgriLife continues to engage with farmer cooperatives to onboard farmers and optimize production processes and the supply chain. Once onboarded to the out-grower model, AgriLife conducts site visits to ensure product quality and efficient cooperation. Farmers partaking in AgriLife’s out-grower model generate $200 per month on average from producing insect protein. This not only is a source of additional capital to invest in their farms but renders them more resilient to climate change-induced reduction of crop yields.

We are aligned with the challenge because we use a zero-waste system which means we have little carbon footprint emissions. As AgriLife collects and recycles organic waste, it is driving circular production and zero-waste principles which makes the supply chain more sustainable. We are also creating circular and local solutions for animal feed which cuts emissions created by import.  As far as resiliency, our larvae will continue to be a reliable source of protein and nutrition as soybean and fishmeal become scarce and unreliable. 

The project is presently in its pilot stage and there are over 10 farmers using our black soldier fly meal. In the next 5 year, we project to be serving 100 small and medium scale farmers within our target market and up to 50 animal feed manufacturers. 

AgriLife uses a zero-waste circular system to produce eco-friendly fish feed. At AgriLife, we utilize low-tech solutions to tackle the food insecurity and waste problem in Tanzania. These qualities make us a resilient company that can outlast future challenges in Africa. We produce feeds by leveraging nature’s recycling agents, insects through a natural and easily scalable process that is labour-intensive and perfect for Africa to keep a sustainable framework, we are breeding high quality insects on an industrial scale.

AgriLife’s unique value proposition lies within the combination of its products, the decentralized production model and a tech-enabled supply chain. The decentralized production model allows AgriLife to expand its production, at the same time enabling smallholder farmers to generate an additional income. The supply chain is tech-enabled by mobile technology for payment processing and logistics partner who provides on-demand deliveries through an online platform. This combination has allowed AgriLife to set up and expand a network of insect protein-producing farmers. This is easing sales at minimal GHG emission and logistical costs and improves access of farmers to bio-fertilizer and the adoption of sustainable circular production processes.

Moreover, AgriLife has developed a novel potential patent black soldier fly incubator technology that tremendously reduces the black soldier fly pupation period from normal 30 – 60 days to only 10 days. That novel discovery has helped us to unlock the potential of black soldier fly scaling to industrial production and increase our farm productivity by 70%. 

AgriLife has onboarded 5 farmers to its out-grower model and is directly impacting them as they generate over $100 per month in revenue. We are currently serving over 20 farmers and 6 animal feed distributors and 1 animal feed manufacture firm.

In 5 years our plan is to increase production by 50% annually the projected future impact of our solution in term of the number of beneficiaries, there will be an increase in the number of farmers from 17,725 to 35,000 due to the accessibility of affordable fish feed. AgriLife production will increase from the current production of 20 tons to 500 tons per year, ultimate impact fish farmers and increase their disposable income by 30% and will increase their standard of living.

Increase in this production level will result in both environmental and societal impact includes but not limited to the direct employment of 20 people from year 5 onwards.  Furthermore, many seasonal workers will be employed. Consumers will be able to access fish at an affordable price this will raise per consumption of fish from the current 8kg per annum to 15kg per annum. 

AgriLife has developed the following key performance indicators (KPI) to track the performance of our company. We will primarily collect data through surveys with key stakeholders, in addition to holding targeted interviews, to confirm assumptions about changes to farming productivity, production costs, and income.

KPI 1: By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources by 30%

KPI 2: By 2030, halve per capita city food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses

KPI 3: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries

KPI 4: Increase in alternative insect-based protein ingredient production by 20 tons annually.

KPI 5: Increase of accessibility of fish to consumers by 30% due to affordable animal feed

KPI 6: Reduction of fish and poultry farmer’s production cost by 30%

4 - Full-time staff 

3 - Part-time staff

3 - Volunteers

The team is founded by four co-founders that have living and raised in coastal areas which fishmeal selling is the main business, we got an opportunity to experience how destructive the approach is. To get enough fishmeal to grow 1kg of fish my father has to kill an average of 4-8 kg of small fish. We also discovered that farmers are no longer able to access fishmeal, as their primary source of poultry feed. This is due to overfishing in Lake Victoria which has led to reduced availability, high cost, and low quality of fishmeal. Because of this, farmers are not able to sustain a profitable business and meet the rising demand for high-quality protein. Because we understand the problem deeply and the impact it has on the families of impoverished farmers. As a team driven by passion and commitment, we think it’s the right time that we pioneer a solution that works to address this problem. Not just for us, but the 33 million small-scale livestock farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. 

AgriLife look at the findings from Relay Graduate School of Education (GSE) report that says “there is an increasing body of evidence that diverse teams of varying racial and ethnic makeup produce better results” together with our own experiences,  we have developed four steps to begin building more diverse, equitable and inclusive teams:

• Customize our vision and strategy: AgriLife diversity vision, definition, and rationale to fit AgriLife’s unique culture also make sure that the message that diversity matters comes from the top management.
• Focus on recruiting and selection practices: We provide training for unbiased interviewing and selection processes and establish strategic partnerships that connect our organization with diverse talent pipelines as well as promote pay equity
• Invest in leadership development to retain high performers. Employ a range of formal and informal professional development tools, such as mentoring, coaching, and education opportunities. Regularly evaluate internal talent to ensure that employees of colour are in the leadership development pipeline.
• Acknowledge holidays of all cultures: We come to realize that one way to build awareness of diversity and foster greater inclusivity is to be aware of and acknowledge a variety of upcoming religious and cultural holidays.

By participating in this program AgriLife get the opportunity to showcase our business concept to the network of Solve partners or program sponsors also as we grow as a company so we are always seeking guidance on how to improve our systems and business plan so Solve mentoring can help us to overcome business challenges by guiding us through best practices to breaking into new markets. Additionally, by participating in the resilient ecosystems it’s an extraordinary opportunity to meet other young people working at the forefront on ecosystems, enlarging my network with other like-minded professionals and innovators from which to learn, from whom to draw inspiration, and with whom to cooperate in the future.

AgriLife is seeking a mentorship program that can help us to overcome the business challenges by guiding us through best practices to breaking into new markets, maintain products quality, methods or suggestion on ways to reduce start-up costs, exposure to recent trends in the food systems as well as the best ways to create good partners. AgriLife is further developing artificial intelligent data analytics tech solutions to interact with farmers and manage bigger supply chains, support, and contacts to a person experienced in mobile tech development would be highly beneficial.   Finally, access to the fund would be a significant boost to our project, which would allow us to further invest in the scaling of our solution.

AgriLife believes that we can only make a change together. In looking at the current Solvers Map there are several that we could partner with to achieve our goals. Specifically, AgriLife is interested in the work that SmartFish Mexico is doing as we are in the process of working with smallholder fish farmers.

Livestock consumes roughly 20% of global proteins and competes with humans for ocean fish stocks, water, land, and soil resources, 30% of the fish catch is diverted from human consumption to make fish-meal and oil a source of protein for animal feeds (FAO, 2016). Fishmeal is currently produced using wild-caught forage fish such as anchovies, but due to increased demand and strict catch quotas designed to address overfishing, fishmeal prices have risen to $1,000 per ton in Tanzania – four times as expensive as cheaper plant-based proteins. However, plant proteins such as soybean are deficient in key amino acids needed for carnivorous fish diets and contain anti-nutritional factors that limit digestibility and increase disease risk. The industry needs a sustainable, high quality feed alternative.

AgriLife Solution replacing traditional fish-based diets with insect-based protein, we can offset the growing competition for the ocean fish stock required to be able to feed nearly 10 billion by 2050. This further serves to reduce fish, water, and soil depletion, as well as agriculture's 25% share of global greenhouse gas emissions. 

Insects are part of a natural diet for fish, birds and some mammals; they contain high levels of essential proteins and nutrients, which are optimal for animal growth. Today, the feed given to farmed animals does not include this sustainable protein. With insect farming, we are creating a new and highly sustainable agri-food industry, backed by extremely innovative tried-and-tested production facilities.