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Kenya Aquaponics
Introducing an innovative from of aqua-agriculture in Nairobi, Kenya
Project started on
1 July 2017
Project ended on:
31 December 2018
Finished
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Project Results:
Kenya Aquaponics
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Introducing an innovative form of aqua agriculture
About
Water is an increasingly scarce commodity in booming Kenya, while vegetables and fish are in high
demand. The project introduced an innovative way of aquaculture: multi-loop aquaponics, tested in a
peri-urban demonstration farm. Live tiliapa fish in a tank produce sludge, which contains many
nutrients. This enriched water is recirculated throughout the system so that it passes through the
hydroponics based grow beds in a green house, where crops are steadily being cultivated. The core
goal was to develop and evaluate the business case for aquaponics and for other low and middle
income countries.
Key results
The demonstration farm of 1,000 m2 convincingly demonstrated the technical feasibility of multi-
loop aquaponics: it is indeed a highly productive, water and nutrient saving technology.
Reduces the need for water by over 90%.
No pesticides needed, far less fertilizers.
No dependency on soil fertility.
The system is expected to be ten times more land-resource use efficient compared to open soil
farming.
Employment creation for 6 permanent and 3-10 casual staff.
Tips for the future
To achieve economies of scale, sufficient production capacity is required for revenues to cover
costs.
The design and production of adapted (scaled-down and simplified) systems for Kenyan farmers
appeared not to be able to compete financially with simple hydroponics systems.
Potential for growth
With additional investments, the demonstration farm will be sustainable and able to scale. It can
continue to provide a learning experience/knowledge platform for everyone interested in aquaponics in
the region. The farm can expand and become a financially sustainable operation in its own right.
Replication of similar (larger) scale by other agripreneurs is possible, if they have identified a specific
niche market that is willing to pay a small premium in order to be financially viable.
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Project partners
Tinder Ltd, WUR, TGS, Developonics
Period
July 2017 - December 2018
Location
Nairobi, Kenya
Last project updates
Aquaponics making a name in Kenya's supermarkets
System operational
RAS system has arrived
DWC basins coming along
Greenhouses are up!
View all updates
Background
Project Plan
Target group
Sustainability
Overview of Goals
Results and indicators
Total budget:
€ 261996.00
Primary pressing needs
Urban Agriculture Water
TGSFunding partnerImplementing partner
Tinder LtdFunding partnerAccountable partner
UPANDE LtdFunding partnerImplementing partner
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VIA WaterFunding partner€ 201339.00
WUR - Biobased Chemistry and TechnologyFunding partnerImplementing partner
Aqua for AllReporting organisation
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