MEGA Environment and Agri Products Ltd

MEGA Environment & Agri Products Gulu Limited (MEGA Environment) is a start-up located in Gulu City, Northern Uganda that was founded in 2020.

The youth-founded and youth-led start-up seeks to sustainably tackle the solid waste challenge facing Gulu City by utilizing the black-soldier-fly (BSF) technology.

With the use of this technology, the company has two products; the first being the black-soldier-fly larvae. The highly nutritious larvae that consist of 60% protein and 40% fat serve as live or dry animal feeds particularly for poultry and fish. The second product is pure organic and nutrient-rich compost for crops which is the excreta of the BSF larvae feeding on organic wastes.

Living in a country with one of the youngest populations worldwide and rapid population growth rates, there is an ever-increasing demand for food particularly animal products. Throughout the world, sustainable solid waste management is a huge problem and as a country where over 70% of the population are farmers, the challenge is bigger. The demand for animal feeds such as so and fish meal is high and this causes increased prices for such products thereby increasing the costs of production for animal farmers. Subsequently, the rate of deforestation is going up and at the moment we live in the district with the highest levels of deforestation in order to create more farmland for crops like soy. Such activities escalate the levels of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane (from decomposing waste).

MEGA Environment and Agric Products Limited will use Black Soldier Flies, as a sustainable solution. The highly nutritious larvae serve as animal feeds. The competitively priced yet extremely valuable larvae are an affordable feed alternative to the ever-increasing prices of processed animal protein feeds that are mainly sourced from outside of Gulu City. To keep up with the demand of the fast-growing population within the city, more farms are being set up to ensure a continuous supply of high-quality animal products to the city dwellers. We are currently focusing on breeding the flies to produce our own larvae and cut the production costs of having to expensively buy eggs/larvae from outside of Gulu City. The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the lives of people and left a good number of people in vulnerable states unable to provide basic needs particularly food security. To cope with the effects of the disease, innovations around urban farming have exceedingly taken off. From kitchen farms to backyard farms, the citizens of Gulu City are actively involved in this mode of farming. Mega Environment & Agri Products Gulu Limited will harness this opportunity by supplying the most organic soil/manure to these farmers at an affordable price.

The solution targets mainly animal farmers, whose biggest production challenge is a reliable source of nutrient-rich feeds as the most commonly available feeds are industry processed seeds; fish meal, and soy whose prices keep on increasing every now and then.

To better understand the severity of the challenge, contacts were made and are continuing to be made with farmers to find out the challenges related to finding feeds for their animals. The issues raised included the high costs of feeds but also the fact of the feeds being outsourced from other regions within the country. To have them part of the solution, farmers are being informed of the existence of a more valuable feed source and as well supporting the production by supplying organic wastes. The larvae produced will provide a nutritious alternative to organic animal feeds.

The solution also benefits crop farmers by providing affordable manure and demonstration farms are set up at the site to showcase the effectiveness of the organic manure which will supplement the highly depleted soils in the region and ensure safer food production by deterring farmers from excessive use of inorganic fertilizers. 

Lastly, partnerships are being initiated with other local and youth-led waste management initiatives such as Yugi Wa waste collection company to supply us with sorted organic wastes. As we expand, we shall be able to offer more job opportunities to vulnerable groups like women and youth in the community. Once expansion occurs, we shall be able to consume 10,000 tons of the city's waste per month and thus provide a clean, safer, and convenient environment to the city dwellers.

Black soldier fly technology offers a number of ecosystem benefits; one being releasing pressure on land by reducing the land needed to cultivate animal feeds such as soy. The breakdown of tones of organic wastes by the larvae reduces the amount of ozone-depleting gases like CO2 and methane when natural decomposition takes place. The use of organic wastes generated by the BSF will reduce on indiscriminate use of inorganic fertilizers thereby reducing contamination of land and water sources through run-off from agricultural fields. And the entire solution uses low-level technology and high potential for sustainability.

Being at the prototype stage, we have not made any sales of any products to the market and have thus not generated any revenue. We have secured a location for production and have purchased some equipment such as nets, basins, and two shelves. We also purchased 400g of eggs that hatched to larvae, currently, we are at the point where the flies are laying eggs. To save on costs of production, our main aim is to produce our own eggs from those purchased initially and thus had no intentions of doing sales.

Marketing is also being done to establish a list of buyers for the larvae and as well signing contracts with other waste management initiatives that will supply sorted organic wastes. At the prototype stage, we are only four staff and this comprises majorly of the founder, co-founder, an operations officer and a chief development officer.

We are innovative because we shall be the first company in Northern Uganda to venture into BSF technology and also using insects to respond to challenges of food security as well as sustainable organic waste management.

To add on, we use the simplest and low-technologies readily local companies and shall have contracts with other waste collection companies and as well hope to expand in and become a knowledge hub giving opportunities to share the technology and its adoption in various learning institutions and research centres.

At the prototype level now, we are able to only employ three people in total and have not yet reached out to the market with products.

However, once we have secured enough eggs and equipment, we shall be able to expand in a year and employ at least 15 people who will work directly for the company. We shall also be able to positively impact the entire district as we reduce the amount of wastes but also lower the cost of meat products for the consumers.

Number of employees, especially number of women and youth

Amount of protein feed produced

Number of farmers used

Amount of organic waste consumed

Full-time staff: 3

Part-time staff: 2

Adrupio Scovia; Scovia is the chief development officer in the company. She holds a bachelor’s degree in agriculture with a focus on crop production from Gulu University and has practical experience in vocational training project management. From an academic background and working in an academic institution, Scovia has good skills in proposal writing, effective communication and as well as computer skills in MS office suite. She also has a strong community attachment through her voluntary work in rotary enabling her to have exceptional leadership skills.

Opiyo Paul Isaac; Paul serves as the company secretary. He holds a diploma in computer science from Gulu University and has practical experience as head of drivers for a local driving company and thus significant experience in record keeping, monitoring and coordination.  H also has advanced skills in MS office suite, data entry and analysis using statistical packages, maintenance and repair of computer hardware.

Olanya Richard; Richard is the chief operations officer. He holds a diploma in agricultural engineering. He holds a diploma in agricultural engineering from Busitema University. He has significant practical experience in mechanization, farm management, crop production and outreach.

Being a small team of youths gives us the energy, ability to learn, innovate and  have time to invest into our solution to push it forward. We further have strong teamwork, joint decision making and passion to change the community and contribute to sustainable waste management and support the food chain.  

We work with a team from different ethnic backgrounds, giving equal opportunity irrespective of race, gender, or religion. The current team includes a capable female serving as the chief development officer, a position that the community considers for males. And as well as a male secretary, a position the community considers should be female. Our goal is to break such myths and inequalities in the community through leading by doing and succeeding. We strongly stand for diversity in the workspace as this allows uniqueness in the team and gives chance for each team member to offer their special skills irrespective of race, religion, sex, and financial background.