Project Outcomes
In the 2024 Global Hunger Index, Syria’s hunger level was classified as “serious,” with a score of 30.3. Approximately 12.4 million Syrians, accounting for more than 60% of the country’s population, are starving from the critical food shortages. Severe drought has put Syria’s food supply in jeopardy, leading many Syrian provinces to experience 50% to 70% less annual rainfall.
This project aimed to experimentally prove the winning solution to the International Rescue Committee (IRC) open-innovation challenge “Reducing Fossil Fuel Dependency of Syrian Irrigation Systems”, by creating a detailed design which can be prototyped.
SeaFreight Labs, which is supporting IRC to make this system in reality, aims to reduce Syrian farmers’ dependence on fossil fuels, which rely on proper working infrastructure, contrary to the situation in most parts of Syria. By replacing diesel generators with solar-powered alternatives, the project addresses both climate sustainability and agricultural resilience in conflict-affected regions.
The work included refinement of the design, and creation of a bill of materials and technical drawings, so the prototype can be fabricated and the system can be experimentally validated. The design includes a solar-thermal energy system capable of generating 5kW of clean electrical power to operate deep-well irrigation pumps in off-grid agricultural settings.
The design process started by reviewing the problem statement, previous concept design, Syrian context and supporting research material. It went into extensive design updates, considering design for manufacturing criteria, actual material sourcing, and fabrication constraints.
The test data, gathered from the prototype, will help understand how the system would behave when a scaled-up solution works in the field, and areas of improvement can be further optimized to fit the goals and requirements.
The key deliverables were CAD designs accompanied by design documents such as bill of materials, detailed technical drawings, and instruction documents that will facilitate fabrication, assembly, and testing of the prototype. It also included high-quality renders and animation videos that can be during assembly and as pitch material.
Key technology/tools used: Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Viewer, Fusion 360, KeyShot, Google Suite
Photorealistic render of the fossil-fuel-free irrigation system prototype (by Vincent Muchiri & Oluwatobi Oyeshile)
