Aquaeroponic food security

A sustainable system composed of an air-water generator and aquaponics to ensure food security in Wayuu communities.

As a holistic solution to ensure food security, water access, and promoting economic development in rural Wayuu communities of Colombia, we propose a sustainable system composed of three processes.

The first one collected the energy for other subsystems from a solar power module (photovoltaic technology) which generates up to 30000W per day. The second one is where water is gathered from the air by enabling the air to move fast into a recent and patented technology. This technology works with a minimum of 20% of humidity relative to the air, and it uses condensation and UV filters for producing over 900 liters of fresh water daily. And, the final stage consists of an aquaponic system of 1200 gallons that puts together hydroponic cultivation and aquaculture production to provide enough food, up to 600 lbs of fish, and 4500 plants, each trimester for the Wayuu people. Here, a percentage of the energy and water accumulated in the previous stages will be used. The remaining services will be implemented to supply, partially, the lack of water and electricity in the community. In addition, a part of the food production will be distributed into the community and the other one will be commercialized.

Climate change increases the odds of worsening drought in numerous parts of the world. Arid regions are where droughts are expected to appear more periodic and severe. Climate change contributes to drought because altering the timing of water availability and producing higher temperatures enhance evapotranspiration.

La Guajira, a department localized in the north of Colombia, is characterized by being a place with an arid climatic classification according to the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology, and Environmental Studies of Colombia. Its annual rainfall (less than 500 mm/year), its elevated evapotranspiration values (over 1600 mm/year), and its low humidity relative generate water shortages. It causes one of the main problems for the indigenous Wayuu communities settled there, who represent 19.42% of the indigenous population of Colombia (over 270 thousand Colombian people).

For indigenous communities, knowledge about their territory is a product of the interaction that they have established with the environment over the years. Therefore, indigenous groups in arid zones with limited access to water have used their human wisdom and the transfer of tacit knowledge to develop comprehensive management systems within their territories. Climate change disturbs this understanding of the environment leaving without sufficient tools to face the scarcity of water. 

Taking into consideration the aforementioned, and the elevated level of political corruption, 89.9% Wayuu population has an extreme deficit in supplying basic human needs in the rural areas. Hence, they have the highest degree of poverty, child malnutrition, and starvation in Colombia.

Today, there are 694 ranches in the Guajira with around 7794 families where live the rural Wayuu communities as reported by the Colombian Government. However, according to the indigenous, this value represents just 50% of the Wayuu communities in the rural areas. 

Over the years, Wayuu communities have suffered from State abandonment worsening their situation. Historically, funding for these communities has been a deficit because of political corruption. For instance, approximately 500 thousand U.S. dollars destined for humanitarian aid were affected by political corruption in 2021. Nowadays, there are severe humanitarian crises that affect these people. For example, around 90% of Wayuu families can not supply basic human needs daily and have the highest levels of child malnutrition in Colombia (284 infants have died from starvation in the last three years). 

Our solution addresses this alimentary crisis through a sustainable system. It produces a significant number of plants and fish to feed and promote economic growth in at least one Wayuu community. As the pilot phase, we are planning to implement the system proposed, for the first time, in the Wayuu-Ishipa community localized in the rural areas of Manaure, the Guajira, where 132 families will be benefited. Furthermore, lone mothers from this community will be trained in the project and will be in charge of the resultant entrepreneurship to assure food security and economic development in the zone. Finally, the water generator and the solar power module will likely benefit other communities due to their portability.

Currently, we have experience volunteering with the Wayuu-Ishipa community for one year. Generally, we have volunteered with the "Del Laboratorio al campo" organization (https://labalcampo.org/) developing projects for vulnerable communities in the north of Colombia such as San Andres and Providencia Islands, and in the Guajira department. 

In previous projects with the "Del Laboratorio al campo" organization and other non-profit Colombian organizations where we worked directly with the Wayuu people, we have identified that all problems in these communities are due to the abandonment by the State, droughts, and starvation. Social investment programs are deeply influenced by political corruption, and environmental factors worsening the situation. Hence, there is not enough money, food, and water to supply basic needs in these communities. 

This background on the problem allows us to identify our solution as a viable idea for combating starvation and poverty in rural-arid areas. Furthermore, the system proposed was consulted with the community and was accepted by them and the indigenous leaders.

Aquaeroponic food security aims to ensure food security and potable water accessibility to the Wayuu community which is one of most affected Indigenous communities by the abandonment of the Colombian State. Our solution addresses an alimentary crisis caused by climate change in their arid territories and corruption authorities through a sustainable system. This system will produce a significant number of fresh water, traditional plants, and fish to feed and promote economic growth in rural Wayuu communities. In addition, our strategy for the implementation offers possibilities of educational entrepreneurship, leadership, and political spaces for Wayuu women. Aquaeroponic food security is important because safe water and food access is a fundamental right for any human. Nonetheless, in these unserved communities are dying Indigenous people for food and water shortages and we can serve to avoid it. On the other hand, we offer a solution based on converging technologies and ancestral methods that is potentially scalable to be implemented in any arid zone to achieve food security in a sustainable way.

At the moment, we have the concept/design of our system. Mainly, we have identified the capability of production, the configuration of the subsystems, the requirements of electricity and water, subsystem quotes, needs of funding, business model, the number of people/families benefit from the pilot, and we found a Wayuu community that accepted to implement our pilot. Furthermore, we have an alliance with a non-profit organization that will help us in the implementation of the project. And, finally, we are in the process of getting funding to execute the pilot in the Ishipa-Wayuu community. 

Our solution uses three processes that involve different technologies. The first and the second processes use portable subsystems that work as a solar plant module and a plant of water obtained from the air. The third process integrates an aquaponic system which is a food production system. This one combines biotechnology principles with aquaculture and hydroponics that are ancestral production techniques. Commonly, these technologies are used in arid or rural areas, separately, because of their versatility in solving specific problems in these kinds of places. Nonetheless, when we put them together, we created a system able to supply the basic needs of food, water, and electricity in unserved communities of arid and rural areas. 

First, the mobile solar plant module uses photovoltaic materials to obtain electricity from solar light. Next, in the process of water generation is used a new and patented technology that condenses air humidity with a hydrophilic polymer coating and heat exchangers. This technology is suitable for a wide range of climate conditions: starting from 15°C and 20% humidity. The produced water is purified by micron filters, UV lamps, and mineralization. Finally, the aquaponic system is based on the food introduced for fish. As fish eat this food, they transform it into urine and fecal matter with traces of ammonia. It flows together with uneaten food and decaying, from the fish tank into a biofilter where bacteria break everything down into organic nutrient solutions for growing plants.

We have not launched our solution yet. However, we will implement the pilot phase of the system proposed in the Wayuu-Ishipa community this 2022 year. In this community localized in the rural areas of Manaure, the Guajira, we will benefit 132 families (over 500 people) and dozens of lone mothers from this stage. For assuring the social appropriation of new technologies, women such as lone mothers from this community will receive training in the installation, operation, and maintenance of the system. Furthermore, they will focus on entrepreneurship because we planned that one percent of the food production will be commercialized to promote economic growth in the community. Nonetheless, the community will have access to a reasonable quantity of generated food and water. Wayuu-Ishipa women will be in charge when the system is installed and operating. In addition, we designed the solar and water plant as portable machines for aiding other communities close to the Wayuu-Ishipa one in the future.

By 01/2023, our principal impact goal is to implement a pilot of a system able to produce over 32.000 liters of water, 800 lbs of fish, and 6.400 vegetables per year to ensure food security for 500 Wayuu people in their unserved community. We are seeking funding through Colombian government programs and organizations committed to eradicating starvation in the world. Hence, in collaboration with non-profit organizations such as the "Del Laboratorio al campo" organization (https://labalcampo.org/) will buy, transport, and install subsystems in the Wayuu-Ishipa domains. On the other hand, another impact goal is to assure social appropriation and economic development in the zone through entrepreneurship training and workshops, in the native language (Wayuu dialect) and Spanish, on the project, the operation, and maintenance of the system to the Wayuu people. For that, women from the community such as volunteer lone mothers will train in the system operation and entrepreneurship talks, and we will offer general workshops on technical and scientific fundamentals about the project, to all families in the community. These workshops will be on the processes, subsystems, among others.

To measure the impact goals, we will use the following indicators. 

Indicators related to implementing the pilot of the system: 

1. Number of subsystems that, by 01/2023, have been bought and transported to the Guajira. Target value: 3 subsystems.
2. Number of subsystems that, by 01/2023, have been installed in the community area. Target value: 3 subsystems.
3. Number of subsystems that, by 01/2023, have been operated. Target value: 3 subsystems.
4. Liters of water that, by 01/2023, have been generated. Target value: 90.000 liters.
5. Number of (a) vegetables and (b) lbs of fish that, by 01/2023, have been produced for assuring food security in the community. Target value: 800 plants and 200 lbs of fish.

Indicators related to social appropriation: 

1. Number of lone mothers that, by 01/2023, have been trained to operate the system. Target value: 12 people.
2. Number of workshops that, by 01/2023, have been run in the community area, in Spanish. Target value: 7 workshops.
3. Number of workshops that, by 01/2023, have been run in the community area, in Wayyu dialect. Target value: 7 workshops.

Currently, funding is the only barrier to launching the solution. We have the design of the system, prices of the technologies, authorization from the Wayuu-Ishipa community to implement the pilot in their territories, among others.

Gabriel Cardenas-Chirivi, the team lead, is a physicist and chemical engineer who has worked in innovation and materials science projects in rural and urban areas designing and developing techniques based on converging technologies. Cristina Sanchez-Gutierrez is a biologist who had extended experience in rural communities in the Pacific Colombian. She has worked on biotechnology projects such as bioremediation, identification of parasites in water sources, and other projects for improving the quality of life in these communities. Those experiences taught us that there are a vast number of opportunities to improve their quality of life from science, and made us resilient to look for alliances. Furthermore, as we have said before, we have volunteered with the Wayuu-Ishipa community, and conceived projects for other unserved communities in Colombia. Our background with the Wayuu-Ishipa community allows us to identify the main problems of unsatisfied basic needs and death by starvation in this part of Colombia, for that we want to do our best for improving their lives. Finally, our future members in the implementation of the project are from the communities that we serve. They have the expertise of educators, community organizers, farmers, and Indigenous authorities. For that, their familiarity with the community will create social appropriation and knowledge exchanges with all the community.

Today, we partnered with the "Del Laboratorio al campo" organization (https://labalcampo.org/) in the pilot of this project. Furthermore, we work at Universidad de Los Andes (https://uniandes.edu.co/en), the Universidad Central (https://www.ucentral.edu.co/), and the University of Quindío (https://www.uniquindio.edu.co/) in research projects with converging technologies for improving the quality of life in vulnerable communities of Colombia.

Does not apply

Aquaeroponic food security addresses environmental, social, and economical needs of Wayuu communities in Colombia and is potentially scalable in multiple areas in the world with the same social and environmental conditions. Furthermore, its implementation offers possibilities of educational entrepreneurship, leadership, and political spaces for Wayuu women for improving their quality of life. We are committed to doing our best to offer useful tools to vulnerable communities for solving their needs. For that, we are sure that this project will be a remarkable option to achieve it.