Imagine growing fish, vegetables, and insects in the middle of a crowded city without needing a huge plot of land or tons of water. This project creates a closed-loop system where waste from one part becomes food for another, like using fish waste to fertilize plants. It's basically a high-tech urban garden that turns city waste into fresh, affordable protein and greens.
African city regions face high food insecurity and a growing organic waste crisis, where only 10% of waste is recycled. Existing food systems are linear and fail to provide affordable animal proteins and vegetables to urban populations.
A suite of circular agri-food technologies including hydroponics, aquaponics, and insect farming, alongside inclusive business models and a digital support platform.
If you are a vertical farming startup dealing with high land and water costs — this project developed soilless farming and aquaponics that reduce the need for land and water. This allows for scalable food production in dense city centers.
If you are an organic waste processor dealing with the fact that only 10% of organic waste is currently recycled — this project developed circular technologies like insect farming to convert waste into animal feed. This turns a waste liability into a sellable product.
If you are a hydroponic system manufacturer dealing with a lack of affordable models for emerging markets — this project developed integrated best-fit technologies for African cities. This provides a blueprint for low-wealth, low-resource equipment deployment.
Based on available project data, specific pricing for the systems is not provided, although the project focuses on technologies that do not require great wealth to implement.
Yes, the project aims for a technological readiness level of TRL-7 and includes a 1,000,000€ Cascade Fund to prove maturity through large-scale demonstrations.
Based on available project data, specific IP or licensing terms are not mentioned, but the project utilizes a digital platform on SmartAgriHubs.eu to support innovation actors.
The project guides policy transformation by adhering to the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact.
The project period runs from 2023-01-01 to 2026-12-31, with the goal of reaching BRL-5 for business models.
The consortium is heavily research-driven with 13 universities and 1 research institute, but it maintains a practical edge with 2 industrial partners and 3 SMEs. With 25 partners across 14 countries, the group has a strong geographical footprint in Africa (6 countries), ensuring that the developed business models are tested in diverse urban environments.
Contact the Universitaet der Bundeswehr Muenchen for technical specifications.
Contact SciTransfer to connect with the INCiTiS-FOOD consortium for licensing urban farming tech.
