filecoin-project
Fueling Independence in Central African Republic through Solar, Agriculture & Blockchain
Open Grant Proposal: Fueling Independence in Central African Republic through Solar, Agriculture & Blockchain
Project Name: Independence CAR: Clean Energy, Food Security, and Blockchain Access in the Central African Republic
Proposal Category: Storage
Individual or Entity Name: Takumi Tezuka support with AFRIQUE EXCELLENCE
Proposer: ExoticTraveler
Project Repo(s) NA
(Optional) Technical Sponsor: NA
(Optional) Filecoin ecosystem affiliations: NA
Do you agree to open source all work you do on behalf of this RFP under the MIT/Apache-2 dual-license?: Yes
Project Summary
The Central African Republic (CAR) faces a profound lack of infrastructure in electricity, agriculture, and internet access, which continues to limit local development and access to digital opportunities. Our project, Independence Grid, addresses these gaps by building a modular solar-powered infrastructure that enables rural communities to independently produce energy, grow food, and access blockchain-based financial tools.
We will deploy a 10 kW solar microgrid connected to edge compute devices that run validator nodes and support agricultural infrastructure (e.g., irrigation, cold storage). This platform will also offer local blockchain access, enabling remote communities to participate in decentralized finance (DeFi), store data on IPFS/Filecoin, and explore crypto-enabled income streams such as staking or farming. This integration fosters energy independence, food sovereignty, and digital inclusion for regions long left behind.
Impact
This project tackles several interconnected problems: energy poverty, food insecurity, and exclusion from the digital economy. Filecoin's decentralized storage infrastructure can be a critical part of the solution—providing durable, affordable access to storage in places where traditional cloud infrastructure is inaccessible or too expensive. By integrating Filecoin storage with a solar-powered micro-hub, communities can maintain digital identities, save records (like crop yields, certifications), or even host educational content offline.
Getting this right will showcase a replicable model of decentralized development using Filecoin and IPFS in real-world environments. Not getting it right means missing a vital opportunity to demonstrate how blockchain, energy, and agriculture can co-exist to empower the most underserved regions.
In the long term, this will allow even remote communities to securely store and access data for education, governance, agriculture, and finance. This directly contributes to Filecoin’s mission of creating a decentralized, resilient data layer for humanity.
Outcomes
The final deliverables will include: A modular open-source blueprint for the solar-crypto-agriculture hub Firmware and scripts to operate Filecoin/IPFS storage locally on limited energy Integration of validator nodes, edge storage, and community-level wallet onboarding tools Documentation and tutorials in English and French for replication Real deployment in a rural area of CAR with success metrics (uptime, power generated, data stored, farm output, number of people onboarded)
Success Metrics: 1 fully operational prototype site At least 100GB of community-generated data stored on IPFS/Filecoin 300 people impacted via food production or energy access 25+ onboarded users with local wallets and access to Filecoin/DeFi tools 90% uptime of microgrid over 3 months
Adoption, Reach, and Growth Strategies
The target audience includes: Rural communities in CAR (initial deployment) Humanitarian organizations looking for decentralized infrastructure solutions ReFi / Web3 builders and DAOs looking to replicate this model in other regions
Growth will come through: Video/documentary documentation on YouTube Partnerships with local governments and NGOs Integration with education and farmer co-op programs
First 10 users: Local farmers trained to access digital platforms and use solar-powered tools. First 100 users: Through local community events, crypto onboarding, and agriculture workshops.
Development Roadmap
Milestone 1: Solar Infrastructure Setup Functionality Delivered: 10 kW solar system installed with IoT monitoring for power uptime and energy tracking. Team & Roles: 1 solar engineer 2 technicians 1 coordinator (logistics & vendor liaison) Funding Required: $20,000 Timeline: January 5 – February 2, 2026 (4 weeks) 🔹 Milestone 2: Filecoin/IPFS Integration Functionality Delivered: Local IPFS/Filecoin node with offline access and data storage. Community files (e.g. farming guides, training content) pinned and retrievable. Local crypto wallet setup. Team & Roles: 1 blockchain developer 1 network engineer 1 assistant (field testing & localization) Funding Required: $15,000 Timeline: February 5 – February 25, 2026 (3 weeks) 🔹 Milestone 3: Agriculture & Blockchain Tools Functionality Delivered: Solar-powered chicken and fish farm launched. Basic yield tracking stored via Filecoin. Energy integration and crypto wallet functionality active. Team & Roles: 1 agriculture technician 1 local trainer 1 blockchain integrator 1 coordinator (equipment + local ops) Funding Required: $20,000 Timeline: March 2 – April 3, 2026 (5 weeks) 🔹 Milestone 4: Community Onboarding & Documentation Functionality Delivered: Training workshops, printed manuals (EN/FR), public GitHub repo, and documentary video published showing impact and instructions for replication. Team & Roles: 1 media/documentation lead 1 technical writer 1 trainer 1 local event coordinator Funding Required: $15,000 Timeline: April 6 – May 1, 2026 (4 weeks)
Total Budget Requested
Total Budget Requested
| Milestone # | Description | Deliverables | Completion Date | Funding |
| 1 | Solar Infrastructure Setup | 10 kW solar system installed and operational, with basic IoT monitoring | Feb 2, 2026 | $20,000 | | 2 | IPFS/Filecoin Integration | Filecoin/IPFS node live with local data storage and crypto wallet access | Feb 25, 2026 | $15,000 | | 3 | Agriculture & Blockchain Tools | Functional chicken & fish farm powered by solar, connected to storage system | Apr 3, 2026 | $20,000 | | 4 | Community Onboarding & Documentation | Training sessions held, manuals distributed, video published, GitHub open-sourced | May 1, 2026 | $15,000 | | Total | — | — | — | $70,000 |
Maintenance and Upgrade Plans
We will maintain the open-source repositories for at least 12 months post-deployment, including monthly updates and community Q&A sessions. Local partners will be trained to handle hardware and software updates. A feedback loop will be built into our YouTube/documentation platform to engage with global developers and iterate improvements.
Team
Team Members
Takumi Tezuka Mamadou awalou Sali
Team Member LinkedIn Profiles
TBA
Team Website
TBA
Relevant Experience
5+ years in engineering (including international infrastructure projects) Building agriculture models in CAR Proven YouTube documentation and outreach skills
Team code repositories
GitHub: independenceCAR
Additional Information
Through Gitcoin and Filecoin Green ecosystem updates. Contact Email: [email protected]/[email protected] Additional Note: This project is well-documented on YouTube with transparent updates. Video pitch available upon request.
