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Pitch

Urban aquaponics on every roof, feed everyone in cities. Decrease carbon footprint, crime, alleviate poverty, everyone knows sustainability.


Description

Summary

Increase investment in urban aquaponics from all sources to bring up people in poverty and feed the whole city. There is no point to maintaining sustainable energy if the population isn't sustainable and there are people who are failing at life.

So we utilize every flat rooftop available for micro fish and vegetable farms. Partner with schools, community centers, orphanages and refugee centers, so not just the ecosystem of life is in every curriculum, but how we are replicating this ecosystem to sustain humans is known to all people. 

Even if the world froze over and every human had to live far underground, we will still be using aquaponic systems to feed humans as it is the most sustainable way of growing food. In warmer climates, where most of the human population is, aquaponic farms won't necessarily need greenhouses, so even people in poverty can grow vegetables and fish outside.

Our plan is to micro-finance and lease aquaponic systems, in case people stop taking care of them or stop returning a small amount of the revenues possible, we can take the system elsewhere. For larger rooftops, we can either offer a % of the revenue or pay rent.

Our business model is the Pyramid or Rent, meaning anyone who 'sells' an aquaponic system can get a % of the people they bring into our hierarchy's revenue as well.


What actions do you propose?

Building more aquaponic farms on rooftops, warehouses, courtyards, empty lots, etc, will have a huge impact on oceans and deforestation.

Marketing campaigns, social media, blogs, events, to inform everyone of the damage over-fishing has done, and big agriculture, and help change behavioral norms. The new behavioral norm for the common man will be to know aquaponics and sustainability like men know how to shave. 

Eventually policies will be adapted, such as altering laws that enable farmers to grow in abundance to people who are farming in urban areas, and the government will offer incentives such as they do for solar panel systems.

We will contact as many NPOs out there as possible, community centers, etc, to offer them % of revenues for any systems they help set up, allowing the financial sustainability of many NPOs that rely on donations. We can build beds up on rooftops within greenhouses and offer housing to the homeless, or use abandoned warehouses and turn them into farms and homes.

 


Who will take these actions?

The first people to do this will be volunteers, NPOs, and current urban farmers, sustainability enthusiasts, or aquaponic specialists, and municipalities and students, all at the same time as people in poverty. Building owners can join as they will be benefiting from rent on space they would normally not receive anything, and perhaps spread the word. 

Currently some government agencies are taking action, such as the government of France making a new law stating all new buildings must have a solar panel or garden on the roof, and there is a huge urban agriculture movement worldwide, as well as plenty of NPOs working in the same area in each city worldwide.


Where will these actions be taken?

These will be taken place in every city in the world. There are exponential benefits to urban agriculture, and to aquaponics, so when you combine both there is no doubt lives can be saved everywhere.

People with a small courtyard, or a rooftop, or community centers, orphanages, refugee centers, even the wall of a farm can build some aquaponics and enjoy the benefits.

Even people in conflict zones can build aquaponics to sustain themselves. Though for those without access to financing, they will need access to at least plastic bottles, or the internet for a small Kiva loan of $100, meaning it can be taken place anywhere as there are more cell phones and subscriptions than there are people in the world.

Currently in almost every country in the world there are aquaponic systems, from Gaza to South Africa, Australia to Canada. Some are on rooftops.


What are other key benefits?

There are many key benefits, from within cities to globally.

In cities, there will be a reduction in crime, poverty, urban heat island effect, etc.

For people themselves, more access to synthetic and chemical free food loaded with more nutrients, less CO2 polluting the air, easier access to sustainable knowledge, regardless of socio-economic class, and improve health.

For society, a decrease in over-excessive waste of fuel for transportation or general harvesting/pesticides, less poverty, less slavery, less CO2 in the air, cleaner oceans.

Aquaponic systems use 90% less water and energy compared to conventional agriculture. They also require less 1/4th the time, due to the simplicity of seeding, planting, and harvesting.


What are the proposal’s costs?

For a simple aquaponic system, costs won't be higher than $100 if reusing pallets and PVC pipes.

For small home-size system, cost can be as little as $1,000 up to $10k (if building a greenhouse) that will have a return on investment in 1-2.5 years, and provide enough fish and vegetables to feed the family for life.

For a medium-size rooftop with a greenhouse, costs can run up to $20k at least, and have an ROI 3-4 years depending on costs of local produce.

There are no negative side effects, just challenges that can be overcome.


Time line

The proposed action can begin within 1 month of being funded.

In the short term in 5-15 years, hundreds if not thousands of aquaponic systems can be set up, with hundreds of tons of produce being created sustainably.

Medium and long term there will already be so much significant impact, our organization is recognized on par with Walmart or Uber.


Related proposals

https://www.climatecolab.org/web/guest/plans/-/plans/contestId/1301101/planId/1312601 Vertical Aquaponic and Algae farms on walls/roofs for Exponential benefits: Integrating vertical aquaponic and algae farms in unused walls/roofs, promoting sustainability, creating a community for STEAMS education

https://www.climatecolab.org/web/guest/plans/-/plans/contestId/1301416/planId/1315008 Making healthy nutritious supplements easy even in places where there is no soil or is uncultivable.

 


References

There are over 30 different scholarly articles posted on this page:

http://www.desertaquaponic.org/#!literature-and-links-/c6ur

http://www.jhsph.edu/news/news-releases/2012/aquaponics-project.html

http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/FCIT/PDF/Fact_sheet_on_aquaponics_Final.pdf

http://www.naturalnews.com/aquaponics.html

http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/67227

http://naturalsociety.com/russians-prove-small-scale-organic-can-feed-world

https://water.tallyfox.com/mosaic/text/un-introduces-aquaponics-urban-farming-gaza

http://livingreen.co.il/en/portfolio/ethiopia-aquaponics-fao-un-en