Reem Nassrat | MEL Candidate | Dec 17, 2021
Mentors: Anastasia Kaschenko and Acacia Leaky, Majik Water/TBI
ABSTRACT
This study proposes the framework to develop an off-grid permaculture pilot in Kenya’s driest most remote community. The proposed project aims to provide a design for a hydroponics system using water collected from the atmosphere powered by a solar PV system. This is system aims to harvest 2T of vegetables annually, it will be set up on the Turkwell campus of the Turkana Basin Institute (TBI) located in Turkana, Kenya.
Introduction
People all across the world are suffering from food and water insecurities. Agriculture consumes nearly 70% of the freshwater on the planet today (Maucieri 78). With the worlds’ expanding population, innovative solutions in growing food and collecting water need to be designed to fulfill the demand. The proposed project aims to provide a design for a hydroponics system using water collected from the atmosphere powered by solar photovoltaics (PV). This project will be set up on the Turkwell campus of the Turkana Basin Institute (TBI) located in Turkana, Kenya. This project is in partnership with Majik water, an organization that specializes in atmospheric water generation in Kenya and TBI.
Objective
- Research and design framework for a pilot food and water system in Turkana, Kenya. This involves alternative hydroponic setups which are also listed and may be used in other setups where no power is available.
- A layout for the proposed off-grid food and water system.
- A Proposal for a power system that utilizes existing devices and upgrades some components.
- Risks and mitigations guidelines.
- Monitoring and evaluation suggestions.
- Recommendations for future projects.
Design
The power shed will house the super capacitors and the inverters. This will be used to power the Majik Water device which will be set up on a stand at an elevation using gravity to dispense into a 500L tank. The pumps connected to both the AWG tank and the hydroponics nutrient film system. The pump will dispense water into the hydroponics system when needed and also to the campus for drinking. The hydroponics pump is submersible and will push back both nutrients and the recycled water back into the system once it has been filtered.
Conclusion
This project proposes a pilot program that provides a food, water and power system to the Lokichar community in Turkana, who have a population of under 1,000 people. This pilot program will be located in the TBI campus but the community will have access to it. This system will supply 2T of vegetables (spinach, tomatoes, onions) and 500L/day of clean drinking water to the community. This pilot program will provide a space for the community to learn and implement this within their own smaller villages. TBI will be returning excess water to the community and provide them with the resources needed to implement these gardens in either a small scale within someone’s home or a large scale entrepreneurial opportunity. This will provide independence to this small community and relieve them from their dependence on unstable weekly rations from nearby towns. In addition both TBI and Majik Water have an international reach. Both organizations have been mentioned in worldwide publications, this project has potential to be implemented all over the world. Specifically in coastal regions.
Recomendations
The first recommendation is to add an aquaculture tank to the garden, to add tilapia to the food portfolio. The tanks should be built within the fenced garden area to prevent pests from entering. Aquaponics utilizes hydroponic farming and aquaculture farming of fish production. It is a farming technique that involves nutrient and waste recycling. Nitrogen and other nutrients are provided to the plants from the aqua waste materials . Nutrients in aquaponics come mostly from the fish feed and water inputs into the system. The fish consume a large portion of the feed, which is either used for development and metabolism or expelled as soluble and solid feces, with the remainder decaying in the tanks (Maucieri 80). While liquid excretions are immediately available to plants, solid feces must be mineralised by microbes before their nutrient content can be absorbed by plants (“Nutrient Cycling in Aquaponics Systems” 78). It is proposed to have a system where fish are fed pellets consisting of various nutrients such as proteins and fats. The fish digest the pellets and excrete waste products such as ammonia and nitrogen. In water, the ammonia (NH4+) is converted to NH3+ and H+. The NH3+ is converted to nitrates by bacteria inside bio filters (“Nutrient Cycling in Aquaponics Systems” 78).
Next there needs to be a concerted effort to support agricultural development activities that build the capacity of smallholder farmers to generate a sustainable income. The local government needs to create a new policy framework to make the agricultural sector more profitable, competitive and sustainable. Whilst providing access to these new off grid farming techniques that can be installed anywhere in Kenya. This includes a focus on integrated programming, which includes natural resource management, resilience building and food security that also reinforces disaster risk reduction, preparedness and response measures, including continued support for improved early warning systems.
Contact
Reem Nassrat
Lead Engineer – Majik Water
Rnassrat@gmail.com