Afya

Susceptibility to multiple diseases, damaged mental and emotional development, or even death – malnutrition can have severe and long-lasting consequences. The cognitive development of children is especially affected by the lack of nutrients and vitamins, denying them the ability to reach their full learning capability.  

At Afya, we combat this problem with spirulina algae. Spirulina has an extremely high nutritional value in both protein content and vitamins. It can be easily consumed in powder form by mixing it with daily meals. Just three grams per day are sufficient to effectively fight malnutrition.

Our technology is simple but highly effective and allows us to keep costs at a minimum. We produce spirulina locally and sell it to schools, where it will be integrated into daily canteen meals. The simplicity of our model allows us to spread our solution globally and enable children worldwide to reach their full potential. 

About 2 billion people worldwide still suffer from malnutrition to this day. In Uganda, our target region, malnourished people amount to 34.6% of the general population. This is due to the lack of affordable sources of protein and essential vitamins.

Malnutrition is especially dangerous to children: 45% of child deaths in Uganda are caused by malnutrition. And even if the child survives, it can have severe consequences for his or her life, both of physical and of mental nature. About one third of Ugandan children suffer from stunting.  

Stunting can manifest itself in various forms. Many malnourished children have a weakened immune system resulting in a lower life expectancy. Their mental development can be impaired as well, malnourished children can suffer from underdevelopment of the brain and even brain damage, compromising their capability to thrive in their adult life.

Spirulina consists of over 70% of proteins and contains 11 different vitamins, which makes it the perfect cure to malnutrition. Merely one teaspoon per day is enough to provide all essential nutrients and to save a child from malnutrition. In its powder form, spirulina can be easily mixed with meals or drinks, without changing the taste.

Together with our technological partner MINT-Engineering from Dresden we developed our own low-tech solution for spirulina cultivation that includes all key elements from traditional high-tech models but operates at much lower costs and requires much less maintenance.  

Our open pond algae farming system is built from locally available materials and runs on 100% green and sustainable energy. On top of this, our holistic quality assurance process allows us to grow spirulina in a controlled environment and prevents any type of contamination.  

In order to ensure our future growth while still making spirulina accessible to those in need, we will distribute spirulina through two channels. One part will be sold as a lifestyle product at a premium price via pharmacies, gyms and supermarkets to the wealthier population Uganda. The other part will be sold to schools at virtually production cost.

Children in Uganda being malnourished can be attributed to many Ugandan households not having access to or the means to afford a diverse food selection. Additionally, many lack a proper health education. Therefore, they live on an unbalanced diet consisting of only few different foods that are low in protein and lack important key nutrients. 

During our first project trip to Uganda discovered that it is common to be provided with lunch at school, while it is often the children’s only meal in the day. Therefore, it not only requires minimal effort to enhance this food with spirulina, but it also is a very effective method to combat malnutrition. Our first test runs with schools showed great results regarding taste and willingness to try.

After introducing our product to the Ugandan market, we will be working closely with schools through our local partner, who will hold various workshops about the importance of a healthy diet. Additionally, the schools will constantly report directly back to us, which will enable us to ensure the success of our measures. 

In addition, Afya creates new jobs, such as our plant operator – who gets paid triple the amount of the average Ugandan salary.

Spirulina’s exceptional nutritional values as well as its easy way of consumption make it an effective way to balance out a one-sided diet, yielding measurable effects in the fight against malnutrition.

In addition, spirulina grows efficiently and sustainably: it can double its biomass every 24 hours, uses only one 200th of the land and water required for producing a nutrition-wise comparable amount of beef and runs completely on green energy.

Finally, thanks to our innovative business model, we ensure scalability which allows us to widen our impact by making spirulina accessible to school children in need of a nutritious diet.

Several approaches to counter malnutrition already exist. On a global level, the World Food Program distributes a large variety of supplements to treat acute malnutrition. While this is an effective way to treat acute malnutrition, it is not sustainable in the long run, as these supplements are imported.

What makes our solution innovative are two things: a) our revolutionary pond and b) our sustainable business model that enables easy scalability and financial independence.

Our unique and innovative approach is the combination of German high-tech manufacturing knowledge with local resources. We offer a solution that produces locally and thus enables local entrepreneurs to gain an economic advantage. Together with engineers and scientists we developed a method of growing spirulina at a local level in a simple and effective way. The solution is a low-tech algae system, where spirulina is grown in a concrete pond. Everyday harvest generates extensive outcomes and the simple use makes ist highly innovative.

Our business model, which will be explained in more detail in another paragraph, can be described as followed: We sell Spirulina at production price to schools to improve the nutritional value of school meals. In order to be financially independent and to be able to grow sustainably, we will also sell a part of the product with a higher margin to the Ugandan middle-class as a sort of supplement. This product is referred to as a “commercial product”.

We have built a solution around our cost-effective, open-pond algae farming system. The system was developed in cooperation with MINT Engineering, a company specialized in algae farming solutions here in Germany. Our system combines a shallow, open, concrete water basin with a cover to protect against contamination. The ponds can be built with locally available materials in almost every part of the world and additional ponds can be added without much effort. Additional features, such as a solar-powered paddle wheel that increases water movement and makes the system more efficient or sensors that automate part of the quality control process can be easily added later. 

This low-tech, modular, locally adapted approach allows us to produce nutritious micro algae at an affordable price locally in  Uganda. The operation of the system requires little training and the producers can take over responsibility quickly and operate mostly independent. The modular set up of our system allows us to further refine the production at any given point, while the production setup with different ponds increases the resilience of our solution as it serves as a fail-safe in case one algae culture becomes contaminated. In order to guarantee the highest quality standards of our product, the operator can also easily implement quality management measures to make sure the product does not come to harm.

Overall, we believe that our system can empower Ugandans to become entrepreneurs and provide a local alternative to imported nutritional supplements. 

Often referred to as an algae, Spirulina is one of the most ancient bacteria that exist on our planet. It offers one of the best mass to protein ratios ever encountered and is easily cultivated in various regions around the world. That is why WHO referred to Spirulina as “the food of the future”. Spirulina is non-seasonal and grows all year round in water-filled ponds. In comparison to alternatives like beef or other crops, Spirulina  requires  just  a  fraction  of  the  energy  and water, making it not only a more nourishable, but also more economical source of proteins. In optimal conditions, Spirulina can double its mass within 24  hours,  generating  an  immense  potential  as  a  food supplement, which is where we want to engage. Studies show that a tablespoon  a  day  can have a far-reaching impact on the quality of life of malnourished  people,  especially  children. As a reference you might want to check this study on the effect of Spirulina on the nutritional status by Antenna foundation: https://www.antenna.ch/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Spirulina-Assessment-and-Prospects.pdf

The major prerequisite for developing critical learning capabilities and cognitive skills in children is a proper physical development of the brain and the body. This development is highly affected by the nutrient intake through our food. In developed countries the problem of malnutrition - the lack of nutrients and protein intake - is almost non-present. However, on a global scale more than 2 billion people are affected, leading to stunting, impaired mental and physical development, lower attention spans and reduced working memory. Without the necessary intake of nutrition children are not able to reach their full cognitive potential, no matter how good or affordable education might be. 

If we want to reduce inequality on a global scale, we must ensure that every child has the same physical starting position - beginning with nutrition. With Afya we strive to tackle this issue with Spirulina. By selling our product directly to schools, we make sure to reach the ones affected most by malnutrition - children in their early stages of development. Spirulina has been proven to effectively fight acute malnutrition with a dose of as little as 3 grams per day in children. With Spirulina, we provide children with the necessary protein and nutrient intake to fight the problem at its very root - unequal starting positions due to a lack of access to affordable supplements. 

Within the next year, we will impact 135 school children, by providing them with Spirulina as a part of their daily school lunch. The underlying daily intake per child should be 3 gram. Due to the scalable nature of our pond system, we will be able to increase the number of impacted children strongly over the next few years. Our plan is to build three more ponds until the end of 2021. Compared to our current system they will have twice the capacity and will therefore allow us to increase our production output significantly. We will soon be able to cater complete schools with our product.

In addition, we provide a safe and fair workplace for our employees in Uganda. Currently, we have one employee, operating our Kampala production site. He profits from a stable working environment and above-average salary. As our production will increase, we will hire new employees.

Also, we will sell our commercial product to roughly 100 individuals from the Ugandan middle-class within the next year. This number will grow to the same extent as the number of school children served due to the nature of our business model. The income from these sales will allow us to further increase production facilities and impact even more lives over the course of the next five years.

Thanks to the scalable nature of our business model and our unique easy-to-build cultivation system, our strategy is to grow and expand within the Ugandan market. Therefore, we will build a great number of new ponds over the next few years. Our plan for the next two years is to build an additional 3 ponds, which will have twice the capacity of our current pond each. This will allow us to target malnutrition all over Uganda, including rural areas which are especially exposed to it. Our vision is to become the largest provider of Spirulina supplements in Uganda, creating a lasting change on the way people treat malnutrition.  This will not end with the production and distribution of Spirulina. We will also do educational work on the causes and effects of malnutrition at schools. In addition, we will use our contacts at the national agencies to further promote healthcare as an important issue.

In order to become financially sustainable and to be able to grow, we will establish a brand for our commercial product within the next year. By constantly testing and certifying our product, we will make sure that Afya is both trustworthy and effective. And by selecting the right sellers, we will make our Spirulina a hot new product within Uganda’s middle-class. This will allow us to grow even further and possibly target new markets in the future.

Our proof of product required approximately 5.000 EUR initial capital that we were able to raise by participating in pitch competitions. However, to grow our vision and sustainably build a social enterprise, we need larger amounts of seed capital. Currently, raising funds for our venture requires a substantial part of our time that could be invested better into product development, customer relations or impact measurement.  

The second issue we are currently facing is the legal establishment as a firm. As we are a pioneer in the local production of Spirulina in Uganda, we work closely with the responsible National Bureau of Standards to create a certification guideline, that will ensure a high Quality product and will guarantee our customers a safe product. We have made considerable progress already and are very positive that this will be done soon, and we can launch our product. This will be another major milestone reached on our journey to provide children with the necessary protein and nutrient intake to fight malnutrition.

Another issue that is currently affecting our work is the coronavirus. Due to international restrictions we do not have the chance to travel to Uganda and work on ongoing topics. Also, it affects all our local partners due to extremely strict curfew. This ranges from local authorities certifying our product to everyone involved in the production process. However, the situation has been a good exercise for and has taught us quite a bit on how to further improve communication channels.

As a part of Enactus Germany e. V. we can rely on a network of highly motivated and knowledgeable people from all over the world that can help with both understanding the underlying issues and finding innovative ways to overcome any obstacles. Also, we have met a great number of locals, that help us grow our project even further. These include people in different steps of the production as well as the distribution cycle, as well as third party people that show significant interest in our product.

This has allowed us to work out concepts for both the legal establishment, as well as the certifying process. We know the steps necessary and will continue to work on making our dream happen. We always strive to expand our network and to get as much knowledge as possible, in order to overcome any obstacles in our way.

When it comes to financial aspects, we will rely on the income from competitions as well as business partners and donations to further build our production facilities in the short run. In the long run, the nature of our business model will allow us to reinvest profits made from the sale of our commercial product into further investments, as well as into everyday business. We want to become a social startup that operates fully sustainable and independent.

Our solution team is one of seven start-ups of the registered non-profit organization, Enactus Mannheim. We are in the process of founding Afya as a start-up of its own in Uganda to be able to receive the certification for our products from the Ugandan National Bureau of Standards. Afya will then establish itself as a local limited from which Enactus Mannheim will be one of two shareholders. The other shareholder is a local that is interested in bringing spirulina to the Ugandan population. The profits generated will be merely invested in reproducing the Afya solution in other countries and regions.

Currently a total of ten students are working on the Afya solution. Our team is composed of students from various areas between process engineering to business administration and psychology. We subdivided our work into three main resorts: One takes care of everything concerning our production site and the quality assurance process of our product. The second resort is responsible for marketing and the financials of our start-up. The third resort that covers all legal issues arising and currently the founding of or start-up in Uganda. team-member responsible for impact measurement. Two other team-members are responsible for strategy and impact measurement.

As a team of 10 motivated students we bring the Afya solution into reality. 

Through our partnership with MINT Engineering and the simplicity of our solution, we have perfect conditions to achieve our goals and revolutionize the Ugandan food market. As we are a team of ten motivated students from the renounced university of Mannheim in cooperation with locals that have an extreme understanding of the Ugandan needs, the local market and the business culture, Afya works in a highly efficient manner

In addition, being a part of Enactus Mannheim and the worldwide Enactus community allows us to gain the knowledge and experience we need to perform at a high level and fulfill highest standards in all respects. This is also what distinguishes us from our competitors on the Ugandan market: As we are key-stakeholders in the development process of the quality standards in Uganda for Spirulina algae, Afya is going to be the product available on the Ugandan market and still being the most affordable in this quality range

Our technical partner, Mint Engineering, is a german company that develops and sells systems for the cultivation and processing of spirulina algae. Together with them we developed our current system, making the production of spirulina low tech but maintaining the core elements that allow for high quality spirulina.

Secondly we cooperate with a local NGO, GoSmile Uganda, who has been our path to Ugandan culture and people.

Furthermore last year we acquired one of our most important partners, a local entrepreneur who is interested in  introducing spirulina into the Ugandan market and helping its community by establishing a social business with our support.

We are going to sell our product via two different sales channels:

Our main target group are children, since they are the ones to suffer most from malnutrition. In order to reach as many children as possible, we are focusing on schools as our main distribution channel where we sell our spirulina powders at cost price. Schools and NGOs can buy our product at a price of 10€ per 500 grams and enrich about 170 meals with this amount of Spirulina.

Yet, in order to guarantee financial sustainability and the growth of our start-up, we are going to sell spirulina as a dietary supplement in local pharmacies gyms and supermarkets to the upper- and middle class. For about 10€ per 75 grams, 50% of our produced Spirulina will be sold there. This leaves us with an 85% profit margin.

With a current production capacity of around 3.8 kg a month, we will be able to sell 25 units of our “commercial product” and 4 units of our “social product”.

Afya wants to ensure that children from communities where families cannot easily afford a balanced diet receive the nutrients they need to fully develop physically and mentally. Solve stands for making the world a little bit better, and specifically in this challenge for the development and introduction of sustainable food systems, and Afya achieves just that. After two project trips, the development of a partner network and our first pond we are almost ready to launch or product. Once we achieve the certification from the Ugandan National Bureau of Standards and finish the foundation process of the company on site, our aim to enhance school meals in Uganda by adding spirulina will become a reality. We also plan to use the information from the proof of concept to soon go beyond its dimensions and to gain further insights through further ponds to increase our capacities and thus ensure the financial sustainability of the project. Through the idealistic and financial support of MIT, Afya can turn this start-up into an establishment and make a balanced lunch for malnourished children possible in Ugandan schools. 

Several studies throughout the globe have shown the incredible results of spirulina in the fight against malnutrition. In order to monitor and control the actual impact of our work aisnd our product we will establish an information system that will allow us to receive information from the school about the health indicators of the children. The measurement of such indicators is limited by the capabilities of the schools and therefore only possible to a certain degree. With cooperation and funding directed to the health indicators measurement we will further develop this system and gain more specific information on the improvement of the children’s health.

Currently we are working on a cooperation with the university of Maastricht to establish a pilot project in intensive measurement of the effects of spirulina-intake in children over several months. Furthermore, we plan on developing a cooperation with other local and international NGOs and governmental institutions, especially the ministries of health and education of Uganda to help us scale the impact of our solution through funding and bring spirulina to more children by expanding our cooperation network and therefore the reach of Afya.