Efficient modular & integrated vertical fish farm(EMIVF)

EMIVF are cost-effective integrated fish-farms which enable coastal communities dependent on fisheries to be most productive with minimal resources .

We live in the coastal Niger Delta region,precisely Port Harcourt,which has one of the costliest real estates in Nigeria. So there is a challenge of minimal land for aquaculture/agricultural use as well as  associated high rental/purchasing cost.Worst still,due to the environmental pollution amassed from years of irresponsible crude oil exploration in the region,it is even harder to farm or fish in our waters.

Hence our innovation of operating integrated fish farm.Our full model is runing  poultry-catfish-vegetables  vertically integrated farms.However having no money nor land  to bankroll our intended venture,we  still needed to  start so we approached a local cable television channel which has some space in it’s transmission base and they allowed us use their space. Due to the constraint of this current location,for now we can only run integrated farming of fish and vegetable done horizontally using intermediate bulk container(IBC)to  construct   fish ponds and grow fish commercially since  there is an abundance of IBC,used to move  chemicals for the oil industry so we convert  these. We then run off(recycle)the pond water to grow vegetables–fluted pumpkin  and spinach without applying fertilizer.We started with one pond and 500 fingerlings but today have 21 ponds which can hold 6,000 smoking-sized fishes and just made down payment for  standardized smoking kiln.

As aforementioned,our full model is having a poultry-catfish-vegetables  vertically integrated farm.While the droppings(excreta)from the poultry which contains 70% of  the nutrients from the poultry feed is utilized to subsided the pelleted feed given to the fish,water from the ponds are  run  off via drip/sprinkler  irrigation to grow vegetables/exotic-fruits(i.e. lettuce,tomatoes,cucumber,strawberries,raspberries)also vertically in  layers in a  green house beneath. Solar panels are used to power lights to keep the birds warm and to operate the pumping machine so that we are not dependent on the elliptic power supply.

.This enables us to conserve space  and recycle waste.This farming structure is modular in the sense that is built to be dismantled   and moved around from location to location if need be.This units of farm structure(With or without the green house, poultry-fish etc) can be increased or decreased pending on available space.It  can be  replicated anywhere such as at backyards, borrowed land etc decreasing the pressure that  is being put on our water bodies to provide fish which is staple food in  the region.

Our innovative solution-a sort of compact aquaponics system

-Enables people to grow much more on whatever little available  land/resources

-Lessens fertilization of our waters from pollution by the accumulation of fish waste and uneaten food beneath open ocean/water fish-farming pens

-Protects biodiversity of our waters and oceans as there won’t be overfishing

-Fosters a circular economy by minimizing waste thus engendering sustainable consumption and production as agriculture/aquaculture contributes to the chunk of world’s environmental degradation.

-Expands the research for low-tech vertical farm especially for fish-farming which is virgin in this part of the world thereby ensuring food security,cost effectiveness and improving efficiency for smallholder farmers thus breaking the vicious cycle of poverty which is prevalent amongst them.

Even though we are haven’t created a new technology,we are utilizing  new application of existing technologies and processes for our innovation.Usually existing vertical farming systems currently being built are  high-tech and largely haven’t been adapted to the peculiarities of the African Agricultural landscape.We are rewriting this narrative.Beyond deploying IBC to grow fish in commercial quantities which is rare,we are also pioneering  vertical multilayered fish ponds  in Nigeria/Africa which is integrated  with other forms of farming.Then recycling pond waste water to do horticulture  in commercial quantity and  poultry-waste to subsidize fish-feed cost are also new in our clime.

-The structural arrangement for our farming system relies on building technologies to account for forces of thrust,vibration and weight of the multi-layered farming units.

-The pulley system designed to move equipment/farm produce  through the  structure .

-The greenhouse with drip/sprinkler irrigation.

-Testing kits for ammonia/nitrogen concentration,turbidity etc in the ponds

-Smoking kiln with dampers to filter off carcinogenic Poly Aromatic Hydrocarbons present it in smoked-fish  

-Solar panels to power the lightening in the poultry pen, the LED(fluorescent)in the greenhouse if need be and pump/circulate water   

-Biotechnology i.e. Catfish-Hybridization to get optimal yield within shorter  time-span

So far despite limited resource(i.e. land),We have ascertained that catfishes can be grown  in commercially quantities  in IBC.So also  are market grade vegetables with  pond waste-water  without adding fertilizers.

Our next goal would be acquire/lease 100x100m piece of land.Then enact the full blueprint of our vertically integrated farm model..

Then duplicate this structure severally within our farm-space and besides us,get other 500 smallholder farmers/fishermen(i.e. youth,women)to rent units e.g. ponds    .

Afterwards deploy our smoking kiln in unit rationed amongst farmers to add value to the fish to command premium prices

Then source for bulk-buyers to mop up produce.

Our vision is to become the largest providers of vertically-integrated modular fish-farms which are low-cost/low-tech,designed for Africa/the  developing-world to maximize scare resources.

We intend

Building  atleast two(5)models-farms each,in all 9 states of  the costal  Niger-Delta region of Nigeria

Deploying our technology to(5)West-African coastal countries(Ghana,Senegal,Cape-verde,Liberia,Sierra-lone).

Finding other ways of waste-conversion i.e.poultry-waste to Maggots to feed the fishes.

Innovating beyond catfish,to integrate other aquaculture-practices such as tilapia,shrimps,prawns

Exploring low-cost automation Aquaculture-systems,using Internet-of-things(IOT)that can be monitored using mobile-phones

Overtly,our improved-technologies/efficient system  would have helped cumutivaley,atleast 50,000 smallholder-farmers and would-have-been artisanal fishermen/women  earn more,thus escape poverty,helping quell prevalent restiveness/armed-conflict in the region.

We already have a database of market mammies(fish-sellers)that  buy our fish.So also  wholesalers/families that subscribe weekly  for  our vegetables.

 Ask for more referrals.Then reach out to potential customers i.e supermarkets,retail chain,restaurants,export markets  as our  supply-capacity grows.

Being unique,our model is already create buzz/ publicity.Hone in more on this.Open up  our farm as a demo farm.  

Engage groups such as smallholder-farmers that do not have  enough resources(i.e. land)  to  take up slots in our farm-model structures.

Through Social media channels and online marketplace on our website 

Ultimately offer quality products ,adhere to best practices,keep improving  and guarantee customers’ satisfaction.

50   market mammies-women who buy our fish at wholesale price and resell at the market,

20  women that buy vegetable to resell at the market.

5 families that subscribe for fresh vegetables on weekly basis.

Normally  table sized  catfish grows out in upwards of 9 months  but because of hybridization   our catfish grows out in 4 months.This saves us time and money while cutting  cost for the fish sellers as well as poor families who  depend on our alternate protein source . Likewise our vegetables are healthier because of no additives.

In 12 months,we would have engaged about 1000smallholder-farmers and erstwhile-artisanal fisherman/women turned fish-farmers who would be producing  agricultural-produce consumed by atleast 20,000people.These farmers would be those that rent modular-units in our model-facility,consulted for to  setup modular farming-structures in their own  spaces and  those who just followed our documented open-sourced design to build themselves.In 3years we have grown our capacity geometrically,to engage 30,000smallholder-farmers that would be producing agricultural-produce consumed by atleast half a million people.

The population being impacted are indigent youth/women of Nigeria’s costal Niger-delta region,who are susceptible to violence/restiveness/armed-conflict because of the region’s environmental-pollution,which adversely  affects  fish-farming/fishing.

Our core team comprises a mechanical engineer as well smallholder fish-farmer, an architect,a PhD holder in landscape architecture who works with hydroponics/aquaponics systems and a gifted technical  expert who helped develop a hand-wash system used to curtail the ebola virus in Nigeria.

We have also been privileged to attend various entrepreneurial trainings such as those organised by the Enterprise Development Centre(EDC)Pan Atlantic University Lagos, British Council Business Acceleration Bootcamp,Africa Management Initiative and University of Bocconi’s Italy,Adansonia Project.

All these skills acquired from these trainings and experience  arm us with the hard and soft skills to attract resources.

Sales of our Agricultural produce-catfish,other acquaculture-produce,vegetables, exotic fruits . 

Through renting/leasing/selling modular units to others in our integrated model- farms

Even though we intend making our designs open-source to engender faster geometric-impact,we will still provide paid-for  consultancy services for setting up farms  and maintaining them for those who request.

We are positioned for long-term sustainability/profitability/expansion because

Of Massive perennial flood problems in the Niger-Delta region,Nigeria–making it more precarious to farm/fish in open-waters and conventional earthen-ponds

High urbanisation rate in Africa means the continent needs it own version of vertical-farms i.e. considering elliptic-power

Africa’s population isexploding,thus needs to be fed

we are also developing  input-linkage,financing-linkage,knowledge/technical support,market access enabling purchase of farm-produce at farm-gate,such that we offer erstwhile artisanal fishermen/women and smallholder-farmers who embraces our technology/scheme all needed support.

Our Design  limits risk for smallholder-farmers and are Adaptable/adjustable.i.e. more floors up on our model Farms,Adding/removing more modular-units which can be deployed  in any space despite how big or small.

Our facility is built with value-adding/processing/preservation in mind-Currently has certified smoking-kiln,Beyond,other add-ons  as solar-powered Cold-storage  for  gutted,cleaned  fish,thus empowering smallholder-farmers to earn more

Our model being integrated,cuts waste,thus reduces cost.

Finally,our team is fully-vested to make this succeed

We are applying to Solve because we need all the expertise and network that we can garner to better our work and build out scalable cost-effective solution.What we are developing has hardly been done for Africa.What is in existence are usually high-tech high-cost vertical farms built for developed countries.And the minimal vertical farms  functional in Africa are usually mono-plant based,not integrated and not for aquaculture.Ours integrates  livestock,aquaculture and horticulture,thus minimizes waste.So we need  technical expertise as well as funding as we create this unique offering especially considering that we have minimal available  technical competencies in Nigeria.

Lack of a similar model to glean and learn from in the local context.

Lack of well researched source of technical assistance in the local context.

Finance to fully pilot , iterate, make changes if need be and then  scale intervention.

Solve can help us address these as it affords us the platform to network  with its well resourced community and  create possible  partnerships to address our lacking competencies as well as cross pollinate and adapt ideas on what is already working well.