Spirulina
Give a man a spirulina and you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to grow spirulina and the man feeds his village every day.
The algea
Our aim: Fight malnutrition in Kenya. Our goal: Spirulina, a microalgae and a superfood. It contains all essential vitamins, a lot of proteins and energy. Spirulina contains, for instance, 6x more proteins than eggs! Small amounts are enough to prevent malnutrition. Besides its excellent nutrient profile, the microalgea has also another advantage: The algea even grows under extreme conditions.Its natural habitat are alkaline salt lakes (pH 9-11), in whichiteven grows at temperatures above 40 °C. That makes it the perfect cultivation product for regions, whereextreme heat and drought periods make conventional agriculture impossible.One of these regions, for example, is Kenya’s north, where starvation and malnutrition are a big problem, even today.
Cultivation
The cultivation of Spirulina is carried out in specially made, space-saving breeding tanks. Remarkable are thedaily harvest, high yields and a low water consumption. And that’s not all- the sppirulina cultivationdoes not only require few ressources, it’s also climate friendly: The microalgea binds 14x more CO2 than the respective area of rain forest.With that, the superfood spirulina is the best weapon against starvation and malnutrition!
Possible applications
However, the algea is not only important for us: Wether as powder or as pills, the usage of spirulina as nutritional supplement is nowadays a widespread habit. But what exactly is hidden behind the new superfood?
Spirulina is a microalgea and, therefore, is not classified as a plant. Just as plants, it needs sunlight to grow. One speciality: Besides the green chlorophyllspirulina uses also the bluish phycocyaninfor photosynthesis, which is whyit is alsocalled „Blue algea“ or „cyanobakteria“. Moreover, the name „Spirulina“comes fromits opticalappearance: A glance through the microscope namely reveals, that the tiny organism (0.3mm) is built in a helical structure.
Another difference to plants is that the microalgea grow much faster and can bind up to 50x more CO2.. Thus, the superfood plays an important role in the regulation of our biosphere and in climate protection.
Spirulina has existed for over 3.5 billion years, making it one of the oldest organisms in existence.Historical records show that the bacterium was consumed in Central Africa and America as early as the 9th century. . It is said that, at times of the Aztecs, the dried algea masses have already been processed to cakes. Also in Africa, for example near Lake Chad, inhabitants have harvested the algea for generations. And not only for humans, but also foranimals surves spirulina as food source: Flamingos in Africa also feed on the algae and scientists assume that the high percentage on beta carotene in spirulina causes the pinkish colour of the flamingo feathers. Nowadays, spirulina is known as superfood and nutritional supplement. The alga is one of the few vegan sources of vitamin B12, which plays an important role in blood formation as well as for the nervous system.
Due to its excellent nutritional profile, we started to grow spirulina in Kenia in 2016.Our on site ponds enable the village people to have constant access to spirulina and, therefore, to a healthier life.
