Potaringa: A Sustainable & Nutritious Therapeutic Food
Inventor
Potaringa Paste is an immediate source of nutrition in the form of a paste to help refugees and homeless people in Malaysia to restore nutrition and continue their lives. This is made from oversupplied vegetables in Malaysia. Cabbage, lettuce, spinach, cauliflower, and many more vegetables are among those that are most overproduced in Malaysia. These vegetables are in high demand due to their ease of production and ability to be produced in large quantities. For our first product, we decided to use potatoes and moringa leaves from local farmers. Producers, farmers, and wholesalers often dump vegetables as they are cheaper and have a short lifespan. An estimated 1.2 million tonnes of agricultural waste were produced in Malaysia in 2020. All phases of agricultural production, including harvest, processing, transportation, and consumption, produce this waste.The two main causes of agricultural waste in Malaysia are oversupply and ugly vegetables. Oversupply is a significant issue in Malaysia's agriculture industry. Agriculture waste results from farmers producing more food than can be consumed. Certain vegetables are just not seen as being attractive enough to sell is another significant factor contributing to agricultural waste in Malaysia. This frequently occurs with veggies that are not precisely the right size or form. Despite being completely edible, these veggies are frequently thrown. Potaringa Paste will provide nutrition values containing vitamins C, A, K, E, beta-carotene, folate, B1, B2, B3, B5, and B6, as well as minerals such as iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc, calcium, phosphorus, and sodium. It is also low in fat and contains no harmful cholesterol. Potatoes are known as a good source of carbohydrates while moringa leaves contain many important vitamins and minerals. The ingredients contained in this paste will both fill the stomachs of the homeless and refugees and satisfy their nutritional needs. Our main strategy is to gather excess veggies from farmers, turn them into a paste, package them, and distribute them.This is a low-cost, low-margin, perishable business with complex operations and logistics, so we need to build warehouse, inventory, and logistical management systems from the ground up. We are focusing on and empathizing with one disability which is refugees and homeless people. Refugees are people who are outside of their country of origin due to feared persecution, conflict, widespread violence, or other situations that have significantly disrupted public order and need international protection. As per statistics from UHNCR, at the end of March 2023, there were about 185,760 refugees registered in Malaysia. Men total 66% of refugees, while women make up 34%. There are around 49,380 kids under the age of 18. Next is the homeless people who lack a consistent, suitable place to call home at night. As we can see, those in the KL area will sleep on the streets. There are numerous circumstances, such as poverty, unemployment, domestic abuse, mental illness, and drug addiction that cause homelessness. As per statistics, there are between 1,300 to 2,000 homeless people around Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur, the nation's capital, is home to the bulk of homeless people.
