Okullow: It is Possible to Plant Vegetables on Your Balcony Without Soil
This year’s International Youth Day theme was, “Transforming Food Systems: Youth Innovations for Human and Planetary Health,” young people play a huge role in transforming various systems through innovations; Agriculture being one of them.
Emomeri Maryanne
The TechStars Startup Weekend Held in Nairobi from the 23rd to 25th July, saw great ideas brought to the table, and most of them had their applications in the real estate industry. One of them is the idea of growing food using hydroponic technology by Elizabeth Okullow, who was among the first nine participants with the winning ideas. Out of the nine, she was the only female participant. Even though she never made it to the top three, her idea clearly stood out.
Hydroponic system (photo courtesy)
Hydroponic farming involves planting seedlings in water solutions with nutrients rather than soil. In Kenya, most companies specialize in large-scale hydroponic farming but Elizabeth Okullow specializes in hydroponic small-scale farming which enables people to plant vegetables on their balconies, on the kitchen farm and even on the rooftop.
Hydroponic farming produces higher yields, conserves water, produces quality yields and is not affected by unpredictable weather.
She intends to create an internet of things (IoT) hydroponic system that will enhance both small and large-scale hydroponic farming to make such farming more convenient.
Elizabeth is the co-founder and CEO of Aafri Fudi, a startup that works with individuals and farmers to help them grow food using hydroponic technology. The young lady who holds a degree in Microbiology has so far trained more than 1000 people across Africa on Agribusiness and her outstanding work has seen her participate in the Mandela Washington Fellowship and Africa YES Fellowship. Her work has also been featured in Business Day in Nigeria and Daily Nation in Kenya.
Elizabeth believes that Africa can feed herself with the available resources. With a mission to work towards daily food availability through sustainable agriculture and entrepreneurship, Elizabeth is determined to promote food security in Africa and contribute to the achievement of sustainable development goals.
-Edited by Skeeter Imisa
