Public summaries SBIR in Developing Markets Challenge 'Innovations for Resilient Solutions to climate change in Africa'

GreenCAFS is a low-cost, water-efficient fire-suppression system for farmers and rural communities in Africa, where wildfires and farm fires routinely outpace distant municipal services. The 200-litre, low-pressure unit produces stable compressed-air foam that covers 20–50 times more surface area than water, cutting water use by up to 90% and enabling faster first response by the farmers themselves. Built from circular components (reused truck air tanks) and biodegradable, plant-based surfactants from local soap skimmings, GreenCAFS is inexpensive to build and simple to operate from the back of a pickup or quad. GreenCAFS empowers farmers and rural communities to contain fires faster, protecting their future.

Kenya is facing accelerating climate impacts along its coastline - rising sea temperatures and declining fish stocks are threatening traditional livelihoods. Seaweed farming is gaining popularity in Kenya, making coastal communities more resilient and introducing new opportunities for women. Kenyans primarily use the bottom-rope method, which is limited in Kenya due to the tides, heavy transport, and long drying times. The TransWeeder is a locally built vessel that enables seaweed farming in deeper waters and includes onboard drying techniques. Our process will be integrated into the current supply chain, where we will work closely with the Kibuyuni Seaweed Farmers' Cooperative.

CoolBricks develops affordable, nature-based cooling hubs that help smallholder farmers reduce post-harvest food losses by over 60%, extending the shelf life of perishable crops from 2–3 days to more than 10 days. Each hub is built from locally made CoolBricks, utilising agricultural waste, and operates without electricity, maintaining cool and humid conditions for storage. Across five pilot hubs in Machakos and Makueni (Kenya), the system is expected to preserve over 300 tons of produce per year, generating €250,000 in additional farmer income through reduced spoilage and improved market access. CoolCrops demonstrates a scalable, circular solution for climate-resilient food systems in Africa.

AquaFarm turns the problem of invasive water hyacinths into a climate-resilient solution for food production in Ghana. It will develop floating vegetable farms made from harvested hyacinths, enabling year-round cultivation without relying on scarce farmland. Through an innovative franchise model, AquaFarm will empower young people and women to establish sustainable agribusinesses, creating jobs and boosting local incomes. By combining traditional farming practices with smart monitoring technology, the project will restore waterways, improve food security, and strengthen community resilience to climate change, transforming an environmental challenge into an economic opportunity.

Easy Building, together with Habitat for Humanity, is developing Tutajenga – an affordable, climate-resilient housing solution for low-income families in Kenya. Many urbanite families in Kenya are living in substandard housing, leaving them vulnerable to climate change. Tutajenga utilises sustainable timber and innovative design to craft climate-resilient, comfortable, and durable homes that are also affordable. In this project, we will prototype Tutajenga through the engineering and construction of a pilot home and through the development of affordable offtake models, paving the way to provide thousands of families with stronger, greener homes and more secure living conditions across Kenya.

This project develops a locally produced, solar-powered mobile water purification unit, known as the Tuk Tuk Cargo Water Filtration System. Using reverse osmosis, it provides clean drinking water and basic electricity to remote communities around Lake Turkana. Its mobile design allows it to serve multiple villages, respond quickly to emergencies, and relocate when needs change. With lower investment costs than fixed systems, and easy transport and operation by local users, it offers a scalable and sustainable solution. The system aims to enhance health and stimulate local economic growth. A short video of the first field test in Lake Turkana is available.

ReefXycle enhances environmental restoration by providing a self-sustaining business model for reef elements crafted entirely from waste materials. ReefXycle utilises locally available waste streams, including glass, coconut shells, and seaweed. Together with local entrepreneurs and coral reef restoration company REEFolution, we aim to enter the large market of REEF-elements with a locally driven, environmentally friendly and cost-saving alternative. In this project, the technical and economic feasibility of locally sourced production plants, specifically designed for REEFolution, but expandable along the coast of East Africa, will be investigated.

The Spaak and Frifri project aims to become the first producer of sanitary pads for women that are free from any pollutants and supply both women in Europe and Côte d’Ivoire with the same high-quality products. By producing pads from banana fibres into yarns and hydrogel from banana leaves, we create pads that are 100% from organic sources. Through this project, we aim to enhance the hydrogel, increase market traction, and establish a shared production system. Our ultimate goal is to provide safe female hygiene products with a viable business case.

This project develops and tests a sustainable, scalable, and economically viable production model for microalgae in South Africa. Farmers cultivate microalgae in vertical photobioreactors (PBRs), while the harvest is centrally processed via a milk-run logistics system into high-value ingredients for aquafeed (plant-based proteins and omega-3 fatty acids) and cosmetics (natural pigments and antioxidants). The production process utilises residual streams, including industrial CO₂ and saline wastewater, thereby reducing both costs and environmental impact. In phase 2, the PBR technology, drying and processing methods, quality protocols, and market applications will be further refined and validated. The focus is on applications within the aquafeed and cosmetics sectors. The project creates local employment opportunities, strengthens export potential, and contributes to a circular, climate-friendly economy.

This project develops and pilots an innovative food product: nutritious, affordable bread enriched with crickets, produced through a controlled, scalable supply chain in Nigeria. It addresses structural protein and micronutrient deficiencies, creates new income opportunities for smallholder farmers, and reduces reliance on costly imports of wheat and animal proteins.

The abbreviation HARVEST stands for Housing Advancement through Residue Valorization for Environmental Sustainability and Thermal efficiency. The HARVEST project turns Egypt’s rice straw, which is traditionally burned and causes severe air pollution, into a sustainable building material: Rice Straw Ash Compressed Earth Blocks (RSA-CEBs). These low-carbon blocks offer a more sustainable alternative to conventional blocks, providing improved thermal comfort. The innovation addresses a range of environmental, social and economic challenges, including heat stress and Egypt’s huge shortage of high-quality housing. The project brings together Dutch and Egyptian partners to organise rice straw ash production, refine the RSACEB prototype, demonstrate the block in real construction and develop a licensed package to enable scaled local production.    

This project focuses on the design, implementation, and testing of a solar-powered cold storage unit in Senegal for onions and potatoes. The innovation addresses the country’s high post-harvest losses, which significantly undermine food security and reduce farmer income. By providing an affordable, off-grid solution constructed with circular materials, the project aims to extend storage life, optimise market timing, and minimise waste, particularly for smallholder cooperative-based producers.

Eco-Brique, reviving traditional building techniques with the latest knowledge on sustainable construction of the future! Eco-Briques are fully circular bricks for building, repairing, and insulating, and can be directly used in Eco-Dôme’s traditional housing, as well as in the broader building industry. Instead of using primary materials, Eco-Brique uses local soil abundantly present at the housing locations to produce fully circular and high-performance bricks. In this project, the technical and economic feasibility of a fully mobile Eco-Brique production plant will be investigated by combining the latest advancements in building with waste streams (NETICS) with the large-scale restoration of Moroccan and African patrimony (Eco-Dôme).

CoolCement replaces conventional cement with a biological, circular binder that will be produced locally and applied in three production lines: binder, mortar and plaster. It will be developed for low-rise buildings up to three storeys, where conventional cement is often over-specified and too costly. CoolCement will be 20-30% cheaper than cement, and it will lower CO2 emissions by 60–90%. In Phase 1, it was demonstrated that the product is both technically and economically feasible, with compressive strengths ranging from 4 to 7 MPa and excellent workability. In Phase 2, CoolBrick will focus on scaling up and introducing this innovation as a climate-friendly and affordable alternative for urban and rural housing construction in East Africa.