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High quality compost from agricultural and animal waste

Opportunity Description: Organic fertilizer (compost) - packed in 50kg packets or loose non-packed according to the preference of the client. Aerobic decomposition allows a control and tuning of the quality of the product, competitive edge in quality and pricing as compared to chemical fertilizers.
PRODUCT: Organic fertilizer / compost
Sector: Renewable Energy, Waste Management, Sustainable Agriculture and Food Processing
Market: Agriculture, Residential
Initial Investment Required: EGP 383,000
Details Available: Opportunity Study
Market Potential: Farms in general that could replace part of the dose of chemical fertilizers with compost, and organic farms that fully rely on the compost. First step can be to develop a product with the proper mix of animal and agriculture residue, then adding natural minerals, then later upgrading using controlled microorganism additives, which translates to higher quality and price . In the future, company could apply sifting/screening and pack product for higher quality (this adds about 50 EGP per ton sold and increases demand).
Supply: Agriculture residual (with focus on banana residue for high potassium content for instance), animal bedding, animal manure, – from animal farms - mineral and microorganism additives; from local suppliers and research centers. For this study, the assumption is that the feedstock is primarily a mix of sugar cane, corn stalk and poultry waste, which are abundant in Luxor/Qena, and Upper Egypt in general.
Process: Collection, pressing, shredding, laying and creation of piles, selection of additives, mixing (possibly manual, loader, adapted tractors, or mixing machine), aerobic digestion, loading for sale or packing.
Human Resources: Technical and Business Development Manager – 1
Operations and Maintenance – 2
Manual Labor for handling waste – 2
Financial: CAPEX required EGP 320,000
3-month OPEX required EGP 63,000
IRR expected is 52%.
Payback period around 2.3 years
Risk: Requires technical knowledge to be able to reach the mix of types of feedstock (type and ration of various feedstock) matched with proper mineral and micro-organism additive.
Risk - Variation of weather conditions and type of feedstock could change the quality, the possibility of contamination due to variability of the process steps. Mitigation measures - continuous quality monitoring and control through laboratory testing, as well as simple testing on site and proper statistical selection for sampling.
Risk - seasonality of agriculture waste. Mitigation measures - proper selection of type of feedstock in season as well as keeping a planned inventory.
Risk - Lack of awareness. Mitigation measures - marketing through samples, agriculture consultation and awareness raising of doses, benefits and uses.
IMPACT: Environmental - Provides a sustainable source of energy and organic fertilizers.
Social - Increase return on breeding activities and reduce cost of livestock production and agriculture activities.