Womanwise Agro-aquaculture Technology

Our team is committed to solve: the lack of affordable and high nutritious food for children, the lack of eco-efficiency and sustainability in food production systems, the scarce involvement of women in aquaculture and agriculture industries, and the lack of new systems that successfully produce food in arid regions. To address them all, we developed a new biotechnological approach to ensure the sustainable and eco-efficient production of freshwater fish and high nutraceutical value vegetables without using antibiotics, GMOs, hormones or pesticides; by hybridizing the biofloc and nutrient film technologies that work independently, but are connected, through the flux of water and nutrients. This technology was developed with the creation of the concept Woman wise Aquaculture Technology (WAT) that includes protocols and technological adaptations that allow the system to be operated by women; thus, self-empowered mothers work together to produce high nutritious food to fight malnutrition in children under vulnerable conditions.

In Latin America there are around 42.5 million people that suffer from hunger, moreover undernourishment has increased from 4.0 to 5.5% (FAO, 2019). At the same time 4 million children suffer from obesity; 700,000 from nutrition related issues and 4.8 million children have growth and developmental problems related to malnutrition (UNO, 2020). In Mexico, the level of malnutrition and chronic-related diseases affects more than 40 million people (uneducated population, especially in indigenous communities), mainly women and children. Therefore, the challenge we chose is Sustainable Food Systems in order to fight against malnutrition in children and mothers and contribute to gender equity. As a solution we aim to include and support small-scale female producers in charge of children nutrition providing them access to new technologies and technical support to become producers of high nutraceutical-value vegetables and high-quality protein in desertic areas with limited access to water, electricity, technology, agricultural industry, fertilizers and land. We will accomplish this through the teamwork of our research group together with an international organization (ICF) and a local social organization (BCS-FSA) to empower women without prior knowledge in primary production to achieve food security by using a sustainable, eco-efficient and biosafe integrated agriculture-aquaculture system.

The integrated aquaculture and hydroponic system that we are piloting was developed over the last eight years by a team of researchers from CIBNOR (www.cibnor.gob.mx), in conjunction with the Bashan Institute of Science to produce high-quality, nutrient rich food in urban areas with limited access to arable land and freshwater. We call our production units “decoupled BFT-NFT systems” where the BFT (Biofloc Technology) grows Oreochromis niloticus (Tilapia) fed on microalgae, and the NFT (Nutrient Film Hydroponic Technology) yields an abundant diversity of vegetables. These systems were designed to be affordable, streamlined, resource efficient, and relatively simple to operate. Our goal is that these units can be operated and maintained by a single person, preferably women with no previous technical training. Our team has developed a training process to prepare women who run community kitchens to become certified technicians. The cultivated fish using this integrated system, have been proven to be healthier (better fatty acid and amino acid profile), less stressed and of higher culinary value (better taste and texture) than traditionally harvested tilapia. Unlike aquaponic systems, this technology can produce a greater diversity of vegetables (basil, lettuce, cucumber, tomato, peppers, spinach) avoiding the use of pesticides, antibiotics, hormones and GMOs.

The main recipient of our technology is the group of volunteer cooks who serve in the community kitchens currently providing take-away meals for the impoverished people both in La Paz and Los Cabos municipalities of the Baja California Sur State. Through the Community Kitchens we serve vulnerable groups consisting mayorly of children and elders, who benefit from healthy food. Specifically, children get support for their physical and mental development while attending school. For the transferring of this technology, the BCS-FSA (Food Security Alliance in Baja California Sur, México) is playing an important role as a social agent that promotes community organization for the solution of their own problems and needs. BCS Food Security Alliance has been working together with Southern Baja Communities for seven and a half years now, aiming to eliminate issues of hunger, while ensuring sustainable food production systems and implementing resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, maintain ecosystems and strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change. BCS Food Security Alliance methodology is the participative planning of the community, in addressing their own problems according to community constructed solutions.

Engaging women in food production may not improve household children's food security or nutrition unless attention is given to the species grown, women's empowerment, control over production, their knowledge in health and nutrition, and access to production technologies; thus, gender equality must be mainstreamed and considered. Our group has developed a new solution to provide knowledge and technological access to mothers already inserted in food security programs to migrate from food providers to producers through a sustainable integrated agro-aquaculture system operated by women in desert regions, to produce freshwater fish and highly nutraceutical vegetables: Woman wise Aquaculture Technology.

Integration of aquaculture and agriculture is not new. There has been a lot of attempts  trying to integrate them, however this has been very difficult due to fish feeds price, the amount of equipment/electricity needed, the need to use antibiotics/hormones for fish or pesticides for plants, the low variety of plants that can grow with fish wastewater, the system complexity, the initial investment and the skills needed to operate it. Also, the fish and plant species usually cultivated in traditional systems, are the ones with a good global market which is not necessarily related to nutrition or to benefit low-income families. As consequence we have been working for 10 years to develop a system that have solved most of the problems listed above, by changing completely the configuration of traditional systems and by coupling an hyperintensive biofloc technology to grow freshwater fish (by using microbial consortia and microalgae) with an independent hydroponic system (nutrient film technology). Our technology focuses on food production based on its nutritional value vs market value and on its design, which allows the system to be fully operated by women. Thanks to the strong alliance established with social organizations, we were able to develop a model to use our systems for community kitchens currently run by mothers; hence, our project will provide knowledge and technological access to those potential female operators. The idea is that every community kitchen could have its own greenhouse with different production modules to generate quality food improving children’s health and nutrition. 

In order to achieve the production of fish and high nutritious vegetables by women (mothers), we developed a new system that integrates aquaculture technology with hydroponics in a strategic manner to solve problems such as: cost of fish feeds and aeration (90% of total cost of fish production), water recycling, production of biofertilizers in situ to achieve an hyperintensive system (more than 90 fish/m3), the reduction of the amount of tanks, pumps and airlines (de-scalation of traditional aquaponic systems), to increase the diversity of vegetables vs traditional aquaponic systems and avoid the use of antibiotics, hormones, GMOs and pesticides. Finally, we had to design a manageable and easy-to-handle system that could be run by female operators with no prior experience in food production (the social reality of vulnerable families). In order to do so, we had to completely change the traditional aquaponic system turning it into a hybrid system built in modules inside a greenhouse; this system feature prevents the recirculation of water between fish and plants. Instead the fish are grown independently in a bioreactor containing specific microbial consortiums and microalgae to produce a high-quality biofertilizer, then the water is transferred into the hydroponic system, where is balanced and enhanced to achieve the best nutrition for the plants, allowing to increase the diversity of plant species that can be grown with the fish residuals.

1) Fimbres-Acedo, Y.E., Garza-Torres, R., Masato, E., Servin-Villegas, R., Fitzsimmons, K.M., Emerenciano, M.G.C., Magallón-Barajas, F.J. Performance of Oreochromis niloticus in recirculating aquaculture systems at different levels of daily protein intake. Aquac Res. 2019; 50: 3326– 3342. https://doi.org/10.1111/are.14291

2) Fimbres‐Acedo, YE, Magallón‐Servín, P, Garza‐Torres, R, et al. Oreochromis niloticus aquaculture with biofloc technology, photoautotrophic conditions and Chlorella microalgae. Aquac Res. 2020; 00: 1– 24. https://doi.org/10.1111/are.14668

3) Fimbres-Acedo, 2019. Acuicultura de Oreochromis niloticus en SAR y TBF integrada con horticultura hidropónica en sistemas sin recirculación. Tesis Doctoral. CIBNOR.

4) Eduardo A. Toyes-Vargas, Christopher C. Parrish, María Teresa Viana, Laura Carreón-Palau, Paola Magallón-Servín, Francisco J. Magallón-Barajas. 2020. Replacement of fish oil with camelina (Camelina sativa) oil in diets for juvenile tilapia (var. GIFT Oreochromis niloticus) and its effect on growth, feed utilization and muscle lipid composition. Aquaculture. Volume 523. 735177. ISSN 0044-8486. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2020.735177

We have a vision to improve food security, nutrition and lives of children and women who are in vulnerable conditions. Since we started developing our solution, we knew this was our main objective. Females encounter many equality-related problems, and their integration in the aquaculture and agriculture industry has been complicated specially, in Latin America. At the same time girls in vulnerable conditions are mostly uneducated and face abuse (physical and psychological) by their partners or relatives. In parallel, we wanted to close the gap between families and food to achieve food security for children. As a consequence, we developed a sustainable food production system adapted to be operated by women and all the necessary protocols to achieve what we call Woman wise aquaculture technology. WAT is more than just protocols since we had to change all the system engineering and carefully selected the species to grow for their nutraceutical value (antioxidants, microelements, pigments, anti-inflammatory phytochemicals and protein quality) instead of just their economic value within the global market. However, we faced another challenge: how can we successfully transfer the technology to our target population? To achieve this, we looked for new partners in this adventure, different social organizations that already had mothers working in community kitchens to guarantee the nutrition of their children (10-20 mothers per kitchen). These associations help around 38 kitchens in BCS, Mexico, a place with scarce access to freshwater, land, fertilizers, fish stock or investors to help them produce food. Therefore, we developed a model where each community kitchen will have its own greenhouse with 12 modules to produce fish and 12 more to produce vegetables; besides, female operators will be trained to run the system independently. By doing this, we avoid transferring technology to their own homes, where relatives could affect their commitment or damage the infrastructure. We have been evaluating the system for more than 10 complete cycles and concluded that it is ready and female operators are ready to be trained too, besides the system is so flexible that within a few years, it could be established anywhere else in the world.

We are currently assisting two community kitchens with each of the pilot systems (tilapia and vegetable production) that serve healthy food to 200 people. In one year, we can expand our model to five more community kitchens to promote the productive system functionality amongst them and serve healthy food to 500 people more. In five years, we will be implementing our agro-aquaculture model in most of the community kitchens we work with, our goal is to facilitate our model to 20 more kitchens that will provide healthy food to 2,100 people.

Our goal next year is to implement our solution (sustainable food system) in as many community kitchens as possible located in the most arid part of the country, where food access is complicated due to economic issues or availability. Especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, where all the community kitchens are currently suffering from lack of access to food. Also, we want to start a series of courses to train potential female operators regarding themes like: fish nutrition, post-harvest techniques, biosecurity, vegetable nutrition, aquaculture procedures, humanitarian protocols to handle the fish, child nutrition, health and emotional tools to achieve successful teamwork and economy and climate actions in aquaculture. Within the next five years, we want to replicate our model in other countries that also have problems with access to land, freshwater, fertilizers, fish stock and electricity. The solution we propose is very flexible, since Oreochromis niloticus (Tilapia) has already been cultured worldwide and the type of vegetables can change depending on the nutritional needs and environmental conditions of a specific area. This has been possible by coupling biofloc technology with hydroponics which has allowed us to manage the residuals of the fish culture (if necessary) making a pliable and easy to adapt system. In addition, here in Mexico within the next five years will be implementing our agro-aquaculture model in most of the community kitchens we work with, our goal is to facilitate our model to 20 more kitchens that will provide healthy food to 2,100 people.

One of the main barriers that we have is financial, we have been trying to obtain public funding for our project, however, due to the global economy and the current situation regarding to COVID-19 pandemic, it has been even harder to obtain grants or any kind of funding. So far, we have applied more than four times to obtain monetary resources with no positive results yet. Nevertheless, by our own means we have funded the 10-year research and that, is already done but we really need to fund community kitchens in order to provide women their own sustainable food production system as well as, teach them how to become their own healthy and highly nutritious food suppliers so they can achieve the food security for themselves and their children that they need so much. Another relevant challenge that we might face is the cultural barrier, so far in Latin America women have very little representation in the agri-food industry (as farm owners or full-time farm operators), this situation is culture-related. However, women with children or even single mothers, already working at the community kitchens, will be motivated to learn how to achieve food security for their families regardless of their cultural background or, if so, the violence that they might face.

We will be able to overcome the financial barrier expanding our network and submitting our proposal to different international actors interested in children nutrition, women empowerment, food security, in fighting hunger and taking climate action. In fact, we do a lot of networking in which several organizations, allied with us in the BCS-FSA (Food Security Alliance, Baja California Sur, Mexico), provide assistance, assets and complimentary activities of their ongoing programs to address community needs. We also consider that learning how to look for additional resources can lead us to achieve our goals. The cultural barrier that we might encounter regarding to women inclusion in the agri-food sector, can be overcome through education and empowerment, teaching them how a healthy diet can improve their nutrition and help them overcome chronic diseases as well as understanding that having economic knowledge can increase their chances of having a better life for themselves and their children.

Our team is located at La Paz, Baja California Sur, México. We form a network of four main teams the ICF (International Community Foundation, https://icfdn.org/), the BCS-FSA (Food Security Alliance, Baja California Sur, Mexico) and us, the Environmental Microbiology Group (Bashan Institute of Sciences-CIBNOR, http://www.bashanis.org/, US, Alabama) and the Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture team both located in the research center CIBNOR (www.cibnor.gob.mx).

We are 10 full-time staff from the different organizations mentioned above.

Our team represents all the main actors needed to apply the solution, our research group has been working on aquaculture, agriculture, environmental sciences and microbiology for more than 20 years. We have the infrastructure needed to support the project and also the human resources to give all the training and courses. We are aware of the technical problems that the female operators might face when running the system since we already scaled it up and have a pilot system that has been working for a long time, thanks to that we will have no problem teaching them how to solve those technical obstacles. In our team, we are specialists in aquaculture technology, microbiology, fish and plant nutrition, biosecurity and immunonutrition. Together with ICF (International Community Foundation) and BCS-FSA (Food Security Alliance, BCS, Mexico), we have formed a strong and diverse network of 92 committed volunteers representing 60 non-governmental, governmental, academic, and private sector organizations. The Alliance leverages members resources, skills, and activities in order to combine efforts and achieve the greatest impact for the community. Skills within the BSC-FSA leadership and members include; extensive business and non-profit acumen, 10 years of experience and connection with community feeding kitchens in La Paz and Cabo, BCS, Mexico.

We form a network of four main teams: the ICF (International Community Foundation, https://icfdn.org/), the BCS-FSA (Food Security Alliance, Baja California Sur, Mexico) and us, the Environmental Microbiology Group (Bashan Institute of Sciences-CIBNOR, http://www.bashanis.org/, US, Alabama) and the Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture team both located in the research center CIBNOR (www.cibnor.gob.mx). Basically, we have been working on the vertical and horizontal transfer of the technology to ICF and BCS-FSA to train, give courses and to have all the infrastructure in the community kitchens that they are running. 

In our business model, the main beneficiary of the technology will be the communitary kitchens organized by the BCS-FSA, which is supported by multi-sector investment and their funding comes from international foundations, individual donors, alliance members contribute volunteer hours, as well as financially to the initiative. Academic institutions in the U.S. and Mexico bring technology and training. Nonprofits, business and government programs offer entrepreneurship skill training. The BCS-FSA target annual operating budget is $70,400 USD. Kitchens members often pay a symbolic fee of $.25 to $.75 cents per meal to help off-set the cost of gas and other expenses, and/or assist the kitchen in other ways. These kitchens are often run by mothers who volunteer their time and in return, can provide food for their families. By integrating a greenhouse with agro-aquaculture modules ($1,600 USD/ module and $600 USD for operation/module/year) there is a better chance to achieve food access. The primary intention is to feed the community with the fish and vegetables they harvest, however, the production also has commercial value, but we need to get funds in order to achieve this. Since the system is sustainable and chemical-free all the products qualify for value-added production. Our mainstream strategy to achieve the economical revenue inside the kitchens to continue to work with the sustainable food system is to consider the sale of the surplus production to the private sector, to organize fund-raising events through beneficiary dinners and to start community-supported agriculture programs.

We decided to apply to SOLVE-MIT because it is a great platform based on the MIT-network that can provide us support. Also, it is a platform that could help us get funding, giving us the possibility to transfer our solution to our target population (women and children). By working with the SOLVE-MIT we can scale/expand our work even take it overseas, so other countries can use our sustainable technology to produce healthy and highly nutritious food. In addition, over the past three years, the SOLVE team and members have helped fund a lot of projects with social application, which is very hard to get within the scientific community or public funds. Also, we strongly believe that by working with SOLVE´s network we will get the mentorship that we need to make our solution, financially sustainable and affordable. SOLVE, seems to be the best platform for us because it is a marketplace for social impact innovation trying to solve the most common problems in the world, especially since it has one of the most important core values: human-centered solutions and inclusive technology. We are trying to bring our biotechnology to women who have no experience in managing food production systems and we need more than good will to accomplish this. The new strategies that we need are: 1) find funding, 2) transfer the technology, 3) give adequate and successful training, 4) develop awareness of the relevance of producing highly nutritious food in a sustainable manner, and 5) to continue to improve.

We represent a talented team that works together and very hard, to pierce the barrier that avoids low-income mothers and children to achieve food security in a sustainable and eco-efficient manner. However, we recognize that we do not have a lot of experience in building business models, finding funding and getting enough exposure to our project to achieve its primary goal: produce high nutraceutical food by using a new technology that helps us to recycle water, electricity, nutrients and land. As a consequence, we strongly believe that the SOLVE-MIT team can provide us experience, can be a partner of our project and can help us to achieve the scale-up of our solution throughout Mexico and overseas.

We partner with four main teams: The ICF (International Community Foundation, https://icfdn.org/), the BCS-FSA (Food Security Alliance, BCS, Mexico) and us, the Environmental Microbiology Group (Bashan Institute of Sciences-CIBNOR, http://www.bashanis.org/, US, Alabama) as well as the Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture team both, located in CIBNOR (www.cibnor.gob.mx). Basically, we are working on the vertical and horizontal transfer of the technology to ICF and BCS-FSA to train, give courses and to have all the infrastructure in the community kitchens that they are already managing. The Baja California Sur Food Security Alliance is a vibrant coalition of committed organizations and individuals which catalyzes action towards increasing and sustaining equitable access to, and education around, healthy and sustainable food systems for the most vulnerable populations of BCS, Mexico. We do this by: 1) stabilizing year-round access to sustainably harvested, healthy protein and vegetable sources via neighborhood-driven integrated agro-aquaculture systems, 2) connecting restaurants, hotels and farms with feeding kitchens and diverting food waste from landfills, and 3) fostering a culture of empowerment, collaboration and wellness in community kitchens via teaching/learning healthy cooking, entrepreneurial, teambuilding and leadership skills. However, we require more partners to help us find the funds needed to make real, the proposed solution and also, to help us build a smart network to reach out to other countries that can profit from our system. We do not have specific names in mind, but we are open to articulate the collaboration with the MIT Faculty or other initiative.

Our solution was designed to integrate women and girls into the aquaculture and agriculture sectors. In those sectors, women are generally in charge of tasks related to harvest or product management, there are few exceptions where women can be leaders in using new sustainable biotechnology to become more competitive, to be empowered and to acquire new skills that will let them achieve food security for their families.The challenge we selected in the SOLVE-MIT program was sustainable food producing systems, however we took another approach by developing all the technology specifically for women, we took into account the time that they can spend in the system (generally most of them are mothers), the systems size and all the necessary protocols to become certified operators within a few months of training. The training program includes technological management, aquaculture, biosecurity, post-havest regulation, COVID-19 biosafety protocols, fish and plant nutrition, microbiology, economy and coaching courses to become leaders. Here in Mexico, most women do not have opportunities for education and independence, we want to change this. We might start little by little but we know for sure that inside those women that face huge challenges to feed their families, there is an enormous resilience and strength to produce the food they need to improve the nutrition and education for themselves and their families.