Pioneering a low-cost, solar-powered salinity sensor for smallholder shrimp farmers and their families

Odyssey Sensors is delivering innovative solutions that improve the environmental and economic sustainability for smallholder aquaculture farmers in Bangladesh. With the assistance of the Palladium Challenge Fund, Odyssey Sensors delivered an e-traceability platform for the Bangladesh Shrimp and Fish Foundation (BSFF). The platform allows smallholder farmers to unlock the export market by meeting the reporting requirements of the Fish Inspection and Quality Control (FIQC) Rule. Additionally, the data collected helps farmers increase shrimp survivability by optimising the water quality. The platform is currently fielded in one hatchery, 53 smallholder ponds, and an export processing centre. This pilot enabled the farming cluster to effectively sell 153,468 shrimp in the export market as a direct result of the e-traceability platform. The funding supported the development of the cloud-accessible database to store critical data throughout the value chain from the time the shrimp are spawned at a hatchery, grown in a pond, collected at a processing centre and set on ice for export. This database allows transparency within the value chain that adheres to the EU-export standard. The Challenge Fund funding supported the recruitment of engineering/ technical resources that has allowed important growth of the on-ground technical development team, a range of debugging operations and lab and field testing. Odyssey Sensors aims to expand their e-traceability platform and sensor network to the 14,000 shrimp farmers affiliated with the Bangladesh Shrimp and Fish Foundation.

Photo credit: Odyssey Sensors.