2022 Solv[ED] Youth Innovation Challenge
Bio-pesticides and Bio-fertilizer Dispensing Machines
One-line solution summary.
Solar Powered Automated Bio-pesticides/Bio-fertilizer Dispensing Machines, the digital machine used to deliver bio-pesticides/bio-fertilizer to small holder famers on time, on credit, on site and at lowest cost while conserving environment.
Elevator pitch
What is your solution?
We have innovated solar powered automated bio-pesticides and bio-fertilizer dispensing machines used to deliver high bio-pesticides and bio-fertilizer to small holder famers on credit, on site, on time and at lowest cost replacing the use of small containers/packages. The Dispensing Machines are connected with prepaid meters allowing farmers to pay for the product using mobile money services and electronic cards; thus ensuring availability and accessibility of bio-pesticides and bio-fertilizer to small holder farmers at a lowest price while conserving the environment by rejecting the use of packages/bottles. Machines are installed at highly potential identified one stop agribusiness centers with high farming activities and large number of farmers eliminating transport cost and saves time therefore, helping small holder farmers increasing yields and income while conserving the environment by rejecting the use of chemicals and small empty pesticide containers dropped in farm land and water sources.
What specific problem are you trying to solve?
Poor and manual Agro-Input distribution system causes high cost, late delivery and proliferation of fake Agro-Inputs (Fertilizer, Pesticides) leading to low yields and income causing more than 70% of small holder farmers from Developing Countries live under $ 2 per Day. (FAO, AFDB, 2019).
Who does your solution serve? In what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Small holder farmers who are vegetable and cotton growers aged 18 to 45 years living in rural areas under $2 per day. 70% of these small holder farmers are women. The solution helps small holder farmers who 70% are women to access bio-pesticides on credit, at lowest price on time and onsite paying using mobile money and electronic card services. The Dispensing machines are installed around the farms replacing the use containers saving time and cuts transport cost therefore lowering crop production cost resulting to increase in income and yields from one ton to two ton per hector. In general we are helping small holder farmers improving their living standard shifting from living under $2 to $5 per day while conserving the climate/environment by replacing pesticides/fertilizer containers with Automated Solar Powered Bio-pesticides and Bio-fertilizer Dispensing Machines
What steps have you taken to understand the needs of the population you want to serve?
Apart from working with my parents who are peasants, In 20018,I volunteered for six month working with Upendo Farmers Group (UFG) doing Vegetable and Cotton farming on small pieces of land with low investment capital averagely 250USD for the whole group. Through UFG group I got Interacted and connected with other 10 groups of small holder farmers getting a chance to observe as well as conducting interview collecting data, designing, recommendation, idea improvement from the pool of small holder farmers who are real beneficiaries. Then after I developed my Bio-pesticides and Bio-fertilizer Dispensing Machines using the combination of the tools mentioned above that I obtained from 11 groups of small holder farmers who I worked with them for almost six months.
Which aspects of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?
Other: Addressing an unmet social, environmental, or economic need not covered in the four dimensions above
What is the unmet need that your solution tried to address? Why is it important?
Small holder farmers need good wealth through lowering production cost while increasing yields and income. This is important because small holder farmers wants good life of living over $5 per day instead of the current situation of living under $2 per day. The situation which will make them to cover their living cost and being able to raise their children in a standard life.
Our solution's stage of development:
Pilot: An organization deploying a tested product, service, or business model in at least one communityExplain why you selected this stage of development for your solution—in other words, what have you accomplished to date?
We are testing the product with 20,000 organic cotton farmers who are under the Organic Cotton Program Organized by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in Lake zone of Tanzania.
Where our solution team is headquartered or located:
Kibaha, TanzaniaTeam Lead:
Edmond Ng'walago
Which of the following categories best describes your solution?
A new technologyDescribe the core technology that powers your solution.
Solar powered Bio-pesticides and Bio-fertilizer Dispensing Machines connected with prepaid meters delivering high quality bio-pesticide and bio-fertilizer on credit, onsite, on time and at lowest cost to small holders farmers. The payment is through mobile money or electronic cards. Before allowing the flow of bio-pesticides/bio-fertilizer to farmer’s sprayer, the system generates a print out used as bio-pesticides/bio-fertilizer user instruction/training manual.
Please select the technologies currently used in your solution:
In which countries do you currently operate?
How many people does your solution currently serve, and how many do you plan to serve in the next year? If you haven’t yet launched your solution, tell us how many people you plan to serve in the next year.
1. We have helped 5,000 small holder farmers from Tanzania and Burundi increasing yields and income shifting from living under $ 2 to over $ 5 per day while conserving their environment and climate change.
2. In 2022 we plan to help 50,000 small holder farmers as far as we believe to get support from programs that support social entrepreneurs like MIT Solve.
What are your impact goals for the next year, and how will you achieve them?
Next year Goals:
1. Manufacturing of 20 Automated Solar Powered Bio-pesticides and Bio-fertilizer and doing installation of them around agriculture potential areas ensuring success to
1. Helping 50,000 small holder farmers from Tanzania, Kenya and Burundi cutting production cost (Transport cost, time) and offering on credit service making bio-pesticides and bio-fertilizer accessible and affordable to small holder farmers resulting to increasing yields and income shifting from living under $ 2 to over $ 5 per day while conserving their environment and climate change
2. Created 50 professional and non professional employment including industrial jobs based in Agriculture sector therefore reducing unemployment problem by 30%.
Strategy to achieve our goals:
1. We are running awareness program to small holder farmers.
2. We are providing free bio-pesticide/bio-fertilizer to first users of our product received from our Agro-input Dispensing Machines.
3. We have agreed to form partnership with International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, a global renewed research institute with more than fifty years operating in more than 30 African countries helping small holder farmers increasing yields and income therefore escaping from poverty.
How are you measuring your progress or planning to measure your progress toward your impact goals?
1. Quantity of yields per hector. The standard measurement is 2 tons of crop yields per acre.
2. Living standard of $5per day
3.100% Reduction of empty pesticides and fertilizer containers dumped in soil and water by small holder farmers.
What barriers currently exist for you to accomplish your goals in the next year?
1. Technology Challenge although we are struggling to have partnership with mobile and software world technological companies such as telecom companies (Vodacom, Tigo, Airtel) and Banks which could facilitate payment systems as our customers who are small holder farmers do purchase bio-pesticides/bio-fertilizer from our Dispensing machines using mobile money services and electronic cards.
2. Finance Challenge although we struggling to raise capital by applying for financial support from different organizations and programs such as MIT Solve that supports social entrepreneurs.
How many people work on your solution team?
Total 16, 10 full time and 6 part time
How long have you been working on your solution?
2 years
How are you and your team well-positioned to deliver this solution?
Edmond Ng’walago. He is among international outstanding group always driven with passion as in 2016; he rejected two employment offers in transport sector and joined Youth Agripreneur Incubation at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Tanzania fulfilling his Agribusiness passion.
Dr. Nteranya Saginga is our business advisor and General Director of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture. He is among outstanding group of International Directors with 10 years of experience as a global mentor in agribusiness and more than 30 years of experience in Agriculture Research.
Ms. Roseline Nandi Okoma is a director of operations a young researcher with passion in the field of Organic agriculture and agro ecology. Driven towards advocating and empowering the society in Organic Agriculture, sustainable biodiversity conservation and agro ecological practices in strengthening the resilience of agricultural business, fostering long-term and sustainable profitability and also training farmers on the socio-economic importance of agro ecology.
Dr. Elibariki Nsami is a Director of Research and Development Department. He had worked as a Secretary of Bio control Agents Subcommittee for over 20 years.
KarimuKhatwabi Agro-input software programmer and information communication technology specialist. He has three years of experience in agribusiness data engineering working at International Institute of Tropical Agriculture Youth Agribusines Incubation.
Engineer Chanda Chalwe is a Quality Control Manger. She has Master of Science in Energy Policy from Pan African University in Algeria. She has 3 years of experience in Renewable Energy for Sustainable Agriculture and 2 years of experience in Agro-Input infrastructure development.
What organizations do you currently partner with, if any? How are you working with them?
We are working with Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH) supporting us financially and providing us with innovation knowledge and skills through entrepreneurship training.
Solution Team
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Edmond Ng'walago Founder, Ng’wala Inventions Company
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Solution Name
Bio-pesticides and Bio-fertilizer Dispensing Machines