The Ferment Feed
A Tanzanian biotech startup turns rotting market fruit into protein-rich fish feed using a 72-hour bacterial fermentation — 30% cheaper than imports, with a fertilizer byproduct that makes the whole loop profitable.
Photo: Disrupt Africa
Fish feed eats 70% of an aquaculture farmer's budget in East Africa, and most of it is imported. Tanzania produces just 4% of its own fish — constrained less by water or demand than by feed costs.
NovFeed, founded in 2020 by microbiologist Diana Orembe in Dar es Salaam, ferments discarded market fruit using five bacterial strains in a 72-hour process. Because the feedstock is free urban waste, the ingredient sells at $1.30/kg — 30% below imports — while still delivering 70%+ protein and a 30% margin. Farmers report 40% lower feed costs and 45% higher yields; a fertilizer byproduct at $3/litre makes the whole operation self-financing.
NovFeed scaled from 30 tonnes/month to over 20 tonnes/day, reaching 2,000+ farmers through 125 distributors. Revenue hit $420,000 in 2024, projected to exceed $1 million in 2026, backed by $1.3 million in prizes — including the 2025 Africa's Business Heroes grand prize. Expansion into Kenya and Uganda targets 100,000 farmers by 2030.
Our take
This is cost compression through circular inputs. When feed accounts for 70% of a fish farmer's costs and the raw material is free urban waste, the economics flip: the bottleneck isn't production technology, it's waste logistics. NovFeed's model suggests that the next generation of affordable aquaculture feed in Africa won't come from cheaper imports — it will come from local waste streams processed through low-energy biotech. Funders backing aquaculture in East Africa should look at feed supply chains, not just pond infrastructure.
What to do with this
Audit feed supply chains in East African portfolios — local biotech feed at $1.30/kg with 30% margins may outperform imported fishmeal on both cost and reliability.
Pilot waste-to-feed programs in cities with large informal markets — Dar es Salaam generates 9,000 tonnes of organic waste daily, and most African cities have similar untapped feedstock.
Partner with biotech processors to divert organic market waste from landfills — NovFeed's model turns a waste management cost into a feed supply chain input.
Go deeper
Related innovations
Daily intelligence
One named innovation per day. Free.
Sourced across health, climate, education, governance, and more — delivered in 2 minutes.