MIT Solve

Solution Overview & Team Lead Details

Solution name.

SMART SUSTAINABLE URBAN AGRICULTURE

Provide a one-line summary of your solution.

Auto-soilless farm, a designed product that can grow fresh food anywhere without soil using handheld internet-enabled devices.

What specific problem are you trying to solve?

The world population is expected to increase to 9.5 billion people in the next 40 years. This calls for an increase of over 60% in food production worldwide at least by 2050 to combat the crisis faced by the continuously increasing population Unfortunately, natural resources such as: land meant to sustain food production and meet the demands of such an expected population increase are diminishing coupled with the high cost of the limited existing land. The high rates of urbanization and environmental degradation caused in the last decade have negatively impacted on the quality (nutrient composition and physical characteristics) and quantity of food production. Besides the above challenges, there is a problem of nutrient depleted soils and water scarcity across the globe and these are expected to exacerbate in the face of the increasing population especially in urban areas. Traditional farming is generally faced with problems of weather changes, water pollution, soil degradation and soil infertility.

Food insecurity is on the rise by (25% globally and 21.3% sub-saharan Africa as at 2019 based on SDG reports)

2. High cost of food stuff, with this system plants are grown at home with less cost.

3. And also child malnutrition(according to Oxfam 7 out of 10 Nigerians do not have access to nutritious food).

Due to:

● Security threat, farmers find it hard to go to their farms to grow crops(farmer herders conflict is no longer news).

● Drought, places with limited rainfall find it so hard to cultivate crops. But this system encourages all year round farming.

● Contaminated soil in the Niger delta of Nigeria and other countries which makes the soil unconducive for plant growth.

●Lack of space and time, especially in urban regions.

Climate change, economic crises, and environmental pressure put the food chain stability at risk. Prevailing traditional agricultural methods are not sustainable. Heavy consumption of pesticides, wastewater, emissions, deforestation, and ecosystem disruption are some of its issues.

Elevator pitch

What is your solution?

Africa alone continues to fight the problem of food insecurity where improved yield and sustainability in the agriculture sector can best be achieved through climate smart agriculture (CSA). CSA has been defined as an intervention vital for maintainace of global food security and nutrition through changing and readjusting agricultural practices within the new era of climate change. In order to conserve sustainable crop production systems, there is need to utilize spaces like: non-arable fields that do not support crop cultivation and develop alternative cultivation methods. This justifies the increasing use of various smart agricultural technologies to meet these rising levels of food insecurity.

Soilless farming is one of the growing smart agriculture technologies in which encompasses growing crops with or without a media or using a static/flowing nutrient solution. Using the latest technologies and handheld internet-enabled devices we are poised to impact the production of food, preservation of the climate ecosystem, and cutting down of selling prices of food items to the consumers.

In this project We use an IoT(Internet of Things) system that monitors and controls all parameters of hydroponic system like water level, pH, humidity and temperature through mobile application which was design using kodular module.

GROLOG APPLICATION, the system monitors the information for several different garden systems. It monitors things like room conditions, nutrient solutions, humidity, pH, light settings, and even take photos and notes to track your system’s progress.

The system has employed multiple sensors terminal to real-time acquisition, including air and water temperatures, dissolved oxygen etc. LoRa protocol is suitable for sending small data and the 4G was employed to collect data and send to the cloud platform. Java is used to develop background applications, to access cloud platforms and local data processing.

Who does your solution serve? In what ways will the solution impact their lives?

Overall, this “horn” of the African continent contains a population of 626 million people, and 384 million—or 61 percent—of them are farmers. Roughly 65 percent of Africa's population relies on subsistence farming. Subsistence farming, or smallholder agriculture, is when one family grows only enough to feed themselves.

●Total available market: General households, subsistent and commercial farmers(35 million)

●Serviceable available market:

70% of general households, Subsistent and commercial farmers(24.5 million)

●Serviceable obtainable markets:

60% of households and farmers in Abuja, Plateau and Lagos(4.8 million)

The benefits of hydroponics empower farmers to grow more efficiently and effectively. They are able to manage pH and nutrients to make sure plants are getting the exact nutrients they need. The systems are closed and recycle the water that is not used by plants. The ability to grow indoors allows farmers to control temperatures and lighting schedules to improve plant production. Systems can be designed to make use of vertical space and increase planting density. Hydroponics also allows us to create farms in locations where soil conditions are too poor to support farming or space is limited and a farm otherwise couldn’t exist.

When Compared To Traditional Soil-Grown Crop Production, The Benefits Of Hydroponics Includes:

Up to 90% more efficient use of water.

Production increases 3 to 10 times in the same amount of space.

Many crops can be produced twice as fast in a well-managed hydroponic system.

Decreasing the time between harvest and consumption increases the nutritional value of the end product.

Indoor farming in a climate-controlled environment means farms can exist in places where weather and soil conditions are not favorable for traditional food production.

No chemical weed or pest control products are needed when operating a hydroponic system.

How are you and your team well-positioned to deliver this solution?

Nathan El-Nathan (CO-Founder & Technologist) - A Systems Engineer with 3+ years of technical consulting and project management experience in various sectors. Nathan has terrific troubleshooting and good interpersonal skills to assist customers. Nathan possesses a thorough knowledge of computer hardware, software applications and IOT. he has had 4 years of experience working as an IOT developer.

2. Administrative Director - Dr Alfa Meshach

Dr Alfa holds a Ph.D. in Water Resources and Environmental Engineering and teaches/research with the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Jos, Plateau State Nigeria in addition to offering Engineering consultancy. His field of research and expertise cuts across WASH, renewable energy, pollution control, GIS-based Flood risk analysis and mitigation, erosion control and Engineering Hydrologic studies.

3. Agroprenuer- SMART ISRAEL

Smart Israel is a technician in the field of Hydroponics(soilless farming) he has immense skills in Agritech and has 5 working experience as an Agritech expert. Other certificates include Disruptive courses on Agritech from Disaster ready courses.

4. Consultant: Judith James Adams

She is a United Nations Millennium Fellow who advocates for SDGs 2, 3, 12, and 13. Judith James is a thought leader in the hydroponics industry and has spent the last three years working in the circular economy sector. Smart have excellent communication and interpersonal skills. Professional focal points include technology advisement, social entrepreneurship, event coordination, global communications, regulatory adherence, and systems security. Delivering superior administration on the latter areas of expertise requires utilization of effective communication and organizational skills, as well as business acumen.

What steps have you taken to understand the needs of the population you want to serve?

This concept is currently in the pilot stage; we tested its efficacy and practicability in the prototype stage and created a minimum viable product (MVP) that has improved in three different instances. We currently own a 900 square meter hydroponic farm where we use our hydroponic system to grow fresh vegetables. In our market survey of restaurants, hotels, and supermarkets, 30% said they import produce, while the rest said they buy from supermarkets that import or don't use items they can't get on the menu but would like to. All stated the high cost of foodstuff especially vegetables and that foreign exchange is a major issue for them due to the difficulty in obtaining it. Furthermore, by creating a prototype and using it to produce while also engaging in ground planting, we were able to compare yield, duration, water use, and input use. We found that we used 10x less water, 10x less land and still had 15x higher yield. We have worked with an existing organisation who use similar technology, and have gained more knowledge and experience, relating with our users when we first launched the product their testimonials where really positive, our first 10 products where bought almost immediately and had more order, as well as received feedbacks in areas that needed update.

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 your solution’s stage of development?

Pilot: An organization deploying a tested product, service, or business model in at least one community

In what city, town, or region is your solution team located?

Jos, Plateau, Nigeria

Who is the Team Lead for your solution?

NATHAN EL-NATHAN ATA