Kenya - Startup under 3 years old

Describe your project or startup in a few words

FunctiOly Sustainable Farms produces insects for human consumption and animal feed by use of scientific principles and technology to produce to scale and promote agriculture through cheaper feed and better nutrition through affordable insect protein.

01.01 Describe your startup in more detail

FunctiOly Sustainable Farms idea was birthed in 2021, by Olivia Simiyu, the founder and CEO of the company. This was after completing her bachelor's degree in Agricultural economics and having worked for an insect farming startup in Kenya for two years.

01.02 What is the main problem you are trying to solve?

According to the Association of Feed Manufacturers in Kenya, the price of animal feed increased by 60% in 2021. This led to a drastic increase in chicken, fish and beef prices in the country, making them unaffordable for low income households. This has also led to the reduction of livestock production in Kenya. We offer an alternative to the existing soymeal and fish meal by introducing black soldier fly larvae as a source of affordable protein feed for our livestock. This helps us shift from the use of soymeal which has led to the destruction of rainforests and fishmeal which has led to overfishing. Kenya's demand for animal feed is 55 million metric tonnes annually and is currently producing 40%. We aim at increasing supply. Many Kenyan households unable to reach their nutritional needs, therefore providing an opportunity for us to farm crickets (rich in protein, iron, zinc). They are healthier than conventional protein sources and are more affordable to the general population.

01.03 Tell us the major benefits and/or advantages of using the product/service that your startup provides (at least 3).

Insects have a significantly lower carbon footprint as compared to conventional livestock, and soymeal farming. They require 10% of the land, feed and water required to farm livestock, which means that they exert less pressure on the environment. Our insect farming model helps cater for the inefficiencies in the insect farming practices in Africa by the use of technology to monitor climatic conditions within our facilities in order to prevent losses and offer optimum conditions for optimum output. This enables largescale production which in turn helps in lowering the prices of our produce even further in order to meet the needs of those living in food poverty in our country. The use of scientific principles in our model also helps us produce better quality produce than those produced in greenhouses and helps us identify challenges early enough to prevent colony loss. We are able to produce our insects in uniform quality all year round and this makes us reliable to our clients.

01.04 Please describe who exactly your startup’s product/service is aimed at serving. Who are the targeted beneficiaries?

We aim at selling the black soldier fly larvae to livestock farmers in Kenya. It is a good protein source for fish, poultry and pig farmers. The small scale farmers will be able to increase production given our favorable BSFL prices, thus increasing agricultural production. The frass from the insect farms are a good source of organic fertilizer for horticulture farmers and will sell this as manure to these farmers. This will help in regeneration of the soil. Since the insect industry is fairly new in the country. we aim at creating over 50 employment opportunities for the marginalized groups in the society, whereby women can form the vast majority of our out grower farmers. They will also get the opportunity to start and run retail shops for our produce as well as gain training on food and feed processing to help increase the shelf life. The low income households will reach their nutritional needs by consuming crickets and cure deficiencies of protein, zinc, sulphur and potassium.

01.05 When was your company established?

2024-02-06

01.06 Are you already selling your product/service?

No

01.07 How many other owners are there within your startup?

0

01.08 Among the other owners, how many are female?

0

01.09 Please describe the profile of the other owners within your startup (skills, experience, etc.)

N/A

01.10 If you have a website, a social media page (Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin…), or app, please provide the link(s) here:

https://oliviasimiyu77.wixsite.com/functioly-sustainabl

01.11 Which industry best describes your project?

l) Farming

02.01.01 My startup contributes to the No poverty goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.01.02 No poverty - Justification for my startup

FunctiOly Sustainable farms offers employment opportunities to the youth and women in society, whereby in each farm we set up, there are 4 new employment opportunities. We also aim at creating out grower farms that will help our farm produce more insects to meet the current demand for food and animal feed. This means that there will be more entrepreneurship opportunities thus enabling more people to earn a living. The black soldier fly animal feed will enable small scale farmers to produce more since the cost of feed is significantly lowered by 66.7%, making them earn more profits and are able to grow their ventures.

02.02.01 My startup contributes to the Zero hunger goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.02.02 Zero hunger - Justification for my startup

The main goal of this venture is to promote the goal of zero hunger. We produce cheap, nutritious and readily available insect food in the form of crickets which are rich in macro and micro nutrients such as protein, phosphorous, potassium, sulphur, zinc, iron, magnesium and calcium for the general public. This will help solve food insecurity among the food poor communities and thus help them achieve zero hunger. Producing cheaper animal feed sources also encourages agricultural production meaning that more food will be produced and more productivity will result to more access to nutritious food.

02.03.01 My startup contributes to the Good health and well-being goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.03.02 Good health and well-being - Justification for my startup

Food is at the forefront of good health and wellbeing. Our venture produces safe and nutritious insect food and feed that is beneficial to the health of our consumers since the produce is high in nutrients and low in chemicals. We so not use any medication on our insects and thus the cases of antibiotic resistance caused by food and feed intake is eliminated in our model. There are no chemicals used in our model making our food a major contributor to health and wellness. The insect waste collected from our facilities is also a good source of organic fertilizer and is seen to increase yields by 20%. This is safer for humans and animal consumption since it is free from chemicals and leads to good health and well being.

02.04.01 My startup contributes to the Quality education goal

4

02.04.02 Quality education - Justification for my startup

N/A

02.05.01 My startup contributes to the Gender equality goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.05.02 Gender equality - Justification for my startup

Being founded by a female, FunctiOly Sustainable Farms is at the forefront of promoting gender equality in Kenya. 67% of its staff comprises of females. It further aims at creating at least 50 new employment opportunities within the next 3 years and 70% of these jobs will be given to women. In our program, we acknowledge the impact of women in society and given our previously conducted research on the consumption patterns of Kenyan consumers alongside their attitudes, it was observed that women are mainly in charge of making consumption decisions within their households. We therefore acknowledge the importance of women's influence in driving the needed shift in protein consumption and the embrace of insect food and feed that will enable the company reach its long-term goals.

02.06.01 My startup contributes to the Clean water and sanitation goal

4

02.06.02 Clean water and sanitation - Justification for my startup

N/A

02.07.01 My startup contributes to the Affordable and clean energy goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.07.02 Affordable and clean energy - Justification for my startup

In order to operate our insect facilities, we use solar power energy.

02.08.01 My startup contributes to the Decent work and economic growth

7 - Strongly Agree

02.08.02 Decent work and economic growth - Justification for my startup

The project provides a cheaper alternative for animal feeds, which provides favorable conditions, making livestock farming input more affordable and thus making agriculture viable to low income households. Increased agricultural production leads to economic growth. Given the nature of the project, there are many entrepreneurial gaps to be filled along the insect food and feed value chain that will further offer more decent work to our community and enable people to raise their standards of living.

02.09.01 My startup contributes to the Industry innovation and infrastructure

6

02.09.02 Industry innovation and infrastructure - Justification for my startup

We contribute to industry innovation and infrastructure by coming up with a software that enables us to monitor our insect production facilities remotely, thus reducing the amount of colony losses that have been observed in other farms as. The use of climate controlled facilities enables our innovation to operate optimally as compared to the use of greenhouses that tend to have fluctuating climatic conditions as they are subject to the weather surrounding the area in which the farms are operating. The use of conveyor belts reduces the amount of moving and enables free air circulation within the facilities, this is better than the trays that are currently being used in insect farming which occupy too much space and are not easy to move.

02.10.01 My startup contributes to the Reduced inequalities goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.10.02 Reduced inequalities - Justification for my startup

FunctiOly Sustainable Farms produces healthy, nutritious, reliable and decent insect food and feed at affordable prices to help the households living below the poverty line to access the necessary nutrition easily. Our production is all year round and thus making these products readily available to those who cannot afford the available alternatives. This also encourages more people to take on agriculture since our animal feed alternatives make farming inputs more affordable to the general Kenyan population.

02.11.01 My startup contributes to the Sustainable cities and communities goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.11.02 Sustainable cities and communities - Justification for my startup

Insect farming is sustainable in that it requires 10% of the resources used to produce a particular amount of meat that is used in conventional agriculture to produce the same amount. The use of the farm software also enables us to optimize our resources and further avoid misuse.

02.12.01 My startup contributes to the Responsible consumption and production goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.12.02 Responsible consumption and production - Justification for my startup

Since our insect farms require less space to set up, the available resources are well utilized and not overstretched. Our insects, both the crickets and black soldier flies are fed on biological waste, we are able to keep our environment clean and ensure that nothing goes to waste. We use a circular economy throughout our production process. Our insects recycle up to 75% of biological waste and have a higher feed conversion rate of up to 6 times of beef. This makes our innovation good for the environment. The livestock that are fed on our produce grow faster by 20% to 30% given that our black soldier flies have more protein compared to fat that is found in other feed. Since our insects are made up of up tp 63% protein, one requires less of the insect to formulate a balanced diet for the family and also for their livestock since the protein quantity is higher. This means that both for feed and and food, we require less to achieve the desired results

02.13.01 My startup contributes to the Climate action goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.13.02 Climate action - Justification for my startup

FunctiOly Sustainable Farms attempts to undo the harm that has been caused by human beings that has contributed to climate change. Deforestation has for a long time been practiced in order to create room for human settlement and farming activities. FunctiOly Sustainable Farms employs vertical farming that enables farming activities to be carried out in small spaces within existing human settlements to prevent further destruction of forests. We are also producing Black Soldier flies to replace soymeal that has led to a lot of destruction on the rainforests. Overfishing has been a major challenge to the preservation of marine life. FunctiOly produces an alternative to fishmeal thus reducing over fishing for the purpose of providing animal feed. We prevent soil degradation due to extensive agricultural practices by producing insect frass that is good for the soil and will help revitalize. Greenhouse gas emissions are high in livestock farms, insect farming reduces it 10 to 100 times.

02.14.01 My startup contributes to the Life below water goal

5

02.14.02 Life below water - Justification for my startup

Our project aims at reducing and eventually putting an end to overfishing which has been observed in the production of livestock feed that comprise of fish meal. We therefor provide black soldier fly larvae that are a better alternative to fishmeal thus protecting the life below water level from destruction through human activity.

02.15.01 My startup contributes to the Life on land goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.15.02 Life on land - Justification for my startup

At FSF, our insects are produced in isolation from those in the wild and the two do not interact at any point in order for us to avoid interfering with the ecological balance. We do not pick any insects from the wild. We grow our insects inside our structures in a vertical model in order to use as little land as possible. In this case, we do not continue cutting down trees in order to set up our farms, we instead set up our structures in already existing human settlements. In order to produce a kg of insect feed/food, we require 10% of the water, land and feed required to produce the same amount of beef, making our venture environmentally friendly.

02.16.01 My startup contributes to the Peace Justice and Strong Institutions goal

3

02.16.02 Peace Justice and Strong Institutions- Justification for my startup

N/A

02.17.01 My startup contributes to the Partnerships for the goal

6

02.17.02 Partnerships for the goal - Justification for my startup

At FSF, we believe strongly in working together with other institutions. We are currently working together with the Cambridge University ReachSci Society in order to access better technology and research materials to enable us to improve our procedures and products daily by making use of their world-class facilities. We have joined an incubation program with the African Impact Initiative in order to create a network with a greater pool of like-minded individuals in the industry and beyond so as to exchange ideas as we learn from one another

06.01 There are a large number of customers who already use a product/service very similar to the product/service we envision creating.

5

06.02 The product/service represents an entirely new type of product/service.

5

06.03 The product/service could be described as a new technology.

6

06.04 The product/service is an improvement on an existing product or service.

7 - Strongly Agree

06.05 The product/service could be described as an extension of a range of products or services.

5

06.06 The product/service responds to a demand or need that has not been satisfied by other products/services.

7 - Strongly Agree

06.07 The product/service is a new version of an old product/service.

2

06.08 Justification for my startup

There is a large number of consumers ready to purchase my products, from a research carried out in 2023, out of 1045 respondents, 73% were willing to purchase insect food from us and 93% of the 160 farmers interviewed were willing to purchase black soldier flies. Yes it is a new type of product that has not yet been incorporated to the mainstream food and feed market in Kenya. It is a new innovation that makes use of new technology to optimize operations, reduce losses and enable the effective use of resources. Yes, the product responds to a need that has not been satisfied by other products whereby the demand for animal feed in Kenya is 55million metric tonnes per year. The country is only able to produce 40% of this and therefore, our insect feed will help increase this percentage. As population increase, the demand for food increases and therefore, crickets will help increase the supply of food.

06.09 Competitive Analysis

Our main competitors are InsectiPro Kenya Limited and Sanergy Kenya who also produce insect food and feed and are hoping to grow to scale. They are however unable to grow to scale or meet the current demand due to lack of proper technology, labor intensive harvesting and the use of low quality structures and attack by pests and predators. We have conducted intensive market research and have been able to come up with the best technology for monitoring the facilities and harvesting, we have more reliable and controlled permanent structures that are not affected by weather and our substrate is well treated to prevent pests and diseases.

11.05 Are you initiating actions within your community to promote the role of female entrepreneurs?

Yes, being a female entrepreneur in a relatively new market where we sell insect food and feed, I create great opportunities for other female entrepreneurs along the value chain. Our middle persons as well as our out grower farmers are female owned entities.