JUA Group / OTA, OAK™

During sanitary curfew there is an increased need for healthy ad balance food while shopping is not safe. We have designed and experimented an integrated household kit that enable inhabitants to cover their major needs in vegetables and fruits at home.

The design for three sizes of micro-composters pilots is done, process is patented, manufacturing can be started asap. The design of the greenhouse is done for two types of pilots, terrace roof and garden, experimentation had been done during 2 years with real size prototypes, manufacturing can be started asap. Assembly handbook to be written and turn into a video. Agro-ecological handbook shall be assemble and illustrated but technical content has been implemented with pertinent external collaborations. Compost stock exists for the first 100 demonstrative sales. Bio seeds are available.

Food self-sufficiency at household level: In the context of crisis situations involving confinement/ social distancing or food shortages, it is essential that households can produce the required minimum of fresh vegetables to supplement available cereal and canned food rations. This partial food self-sufficiency is all the more important in the long-run given that Mauritius only produces a fifth of the national need and that locally grown fruits and vegetables are often of poor quality due to the overuse of chemical inputs.
Avoidance of social contacts (in periods of lock-down): In addition to the food self-sufficiency, the rooftop or small garden cultivation as a substitute or complement to external cultivated plots of lands will help its users avoid or significantly reduce the need to go out and buy fresh products. This will help improve our social distancing strategies in periods of crisis.
Improvement of health: Given the increase in household production, people will be able to consume the required amount of fruits and vegetables (100 g per adult per day). The intake of quality fresh produce, leafy vegetables, fruit, salads, seeds, etc. significantly improves people's health. Better health, due to the intake of vitamins and fibre fr om products which do not contain chemical residues will lead to better resistance to viruses and pathogens in general.
Introducing simple agroecological know-how: The ability of smallholders in Mauritius to move from horticulture with high chemical inputs to a more organic and sustainable practice depends on the availability of organic inputs, reproducible native seeds, biofertilizers, biological phytosanitary treatments, and the acquisition of know-how in terms of crop rotation, plant care, use of ecological greenhouses. Beyond the objectives of food autonomy, avoiding social contacts and improving consumer health, it is also a question of "sowing" in households the seeds of know-how that can only be learned on the field, in this case on the roof, but which can be replicated on larger surface areas in open fields . But many of small planters also have houses with a rooftops or small garden and even if they do not equip themselves with our kit, one of their neighbours or relatives will do so and the information will circulate.
Lim it the proportion of organic waste to be collected: With organic waste removed from a household’s general waste, the latter will only consist of a small amount of non-compostable papers and cardboard, plastic or glass boxes, bottles and household dust. The resulting bin with its "clean and dry" contents can easily be kept at home for a week or more, which reduces the need for high frequency waste collection and improves treatment by landfilling. In lock-down situation, the less the need for transport and handling of waste, the better. Finally, it is well known that a landfill site with a large amount of biodegradable waste and reduced staff can quickly become a source of viral and bacterial concentration and the starting point for dispersal by insects, birds and rodents.

Mauritius Research and Innovation Council had been solicited for local funding. JUA Group has been awarded Best Agritech / foodtech startup by SASA in 2019.

The kit enables the production of compost and humic boosters while recycling domestic organic waste and includes self assembly micro greenhouses, BIO seeds, compost and handbook for horticulture under agro-ecological protocols.

A lot of low quality and low efficiency composters, some technically competitive but expensive individual greenhouses. Nothing really made in Africa for Africa, nothing as a kit integrally developed to ensure the integration of all components, and nothing organized in a network of users that will allow to increase the efficiency of the agroecological protocols.

The microcomposter within the OAK™ kit is patented by JUA Group (Orga_R™ process)
We have partnership, namely Stellenbosch University in South Africa and INRAE, agroecological research unit in France that collaborate with our staff to produce a very practical and useful agroecological handbook adapted to the small greenhouses context. You can buy all the equipment you want it will not be of any advantage and profit if you really don't know how to cultivate wu=ith organic protocols, easily implemented at home.

OAK's expected sales price is around 1320 USD for the basic kit that encompasses 1 medium size composter (up to 6 inhabitants per one household), two greenhouses of 2 m² each, the initial compost load, a selection of bio seeds, all pertaining integrated equipments and handbooks. This price is for at least 1000 units and includes 25% markup and the recovering of development costs. Expected sales are in Africa around 25000 units the two first years without any sustaining schemes and quite more if grants occur to fund medium income and low income households.

JUA Group is an industrial startup at pre-sales stage which has already built its contractors network to cater for the manufacturing of its core technologies (BioRgas™ anaerobic digester and CompSil™ composting silos). OAK™ project will certainly require that we adapt and extend this network, at now mainly organized in South Africa, but it copes with our core business and our staff capabilities. Distribution network will be implemented on a sales model where Major demonstrative clients heads a network of direct neighboring clients. A largely open network of usres will be sheltered with social networks animated by BEEthic staff to favor sharing agroecological winning practices, seeds yielding and sharing, experiences ...

Producing 2 OAK™ equipments lots
Finishing handbooks, implementing WEB and social network applications
Providing 2 demonstrative households in South Africa with OAK™
Follow-up of the demonstratives households and prospective households invited to visit and appreciate OAK™ on site
Implementing the distribution network
Enhancing and organizing the manufacturing processes and agreements

A SPV will be set to enter the capital of OTA (Organic Tropical Agriculture is one of JUA Group two sister companies)
Amounts to be discussed on the basis of a valorisation exercice still underway

Only middle and high income households will be able to buy OAK™. Even if willingness to buy exits (verified in Mauritius) with low income households a grant scheme is necessary to open the market to this part of the population which is the most fragile in the event of a pandemic.

We have submitted a development stage project to MRIC (Special Call for Proposals Fast-track innovative projects to counter the impacts of COVID-19)

JUA Groupo was elected best startup of the year 2019 in Mauritius by SASA in the field of Agritech / Foodtech

One existing patent already registered and one demand under examination with INPI in France