Although I have a deep interest in technology I also have this project that I"ve been sitting on for about a year now. And seeing the encouragement for more engagement I decided to put this one on the table to see if anyone is interested or can offer suggestions. I have several project for which I"m looking for business development expertise/partnerships but I'll start with this one.
This is an example of how I am pushing the boundaries of what is art...this project is considered one of my artworks in progress, so to my heart I seek collaborating artist from specific disciplines to contribute missing ingredients from the realm of business :-)
I have an agri-business model we've been interested in developing. Initially it grew from a new client inquiry about how to develop a slave plantation for a business venture in Zimbabwe. After convincing this person there were better ways that could take a more positive and progressive approach to reducing operational costs i had a reason to explore what had previously been a vague idea. The concept was originally inspired by my work in community development when i was working on intergenerational programs as part of an advocacy/empowerment program but it lacked the scope of the one i'm discussing here.
My approach integrates insights from permaculture, aquapoinic systems and integration of renewable energy. The goal being to develop a model that was part of solutions to address reduction of water contamination, water conservation, alternatives to deforestation, economic development that enhances social and environmental ecosystems and reducing operating cost, promoting transparency, maximizing efficiency, as well as utilizing/promoting renewable energy .
When I started the interest was in a specific plant for biofuel but since then I have learned about even better alternatives where jatropha could be one crop but integrating others to address regional/national needs for food production.
I had a contact who connected me with BioAfrica a company that market/sales essential oils. I was interested in these plants as part of a research project for malaria prevention---alternatives to DDT and other hazardous chemical. BioAfrica expressed an interest in purchasing from the project and helping to market those products.
While I have some contacts in the in the biofuel industry who expressed some interest if we were able to produce product or develop a model that they could benefit from...nothing can move forward until there is a pilot project.
So my question is, does anyone have expertise or insights that might help move this from concept to implementation? I would like to find a company with the right expertise to develop this as a licensable model that could be replicated and expanded for a variety of crops.
Ideas anyone?
Forgot to mention what i already have....I have a team of people that have already submitted resumes and expressed an interest in working on this in terms of "in the field" development and periodic monitoring on location.
This team includes jatropha growing experience, social scientist (researcher to develop studies and manuals), hydroponic and permaculture, as well as expertise in developing business/community hubs. What we don't have is the business development and deep industry expertise.
