Warning. This technology has not yet been validated, because it is not yet ready to scale.

LIFE Plant Biostimulants: Approach to produce microbials fertilizers

Bio-stimulant for free smallholders' access to biofertilizers to support enhanced plant yields!

Lactobacillus Serum and Fish Hydrolysate are organic microbial fertilizers that enhance soil health, nutrient absorption, and crop productivity. These biostimulants, rich in amino acids, improve plant growth while being classified differently across countries based on regulatory frameworks.

This technology is not yet validated.

5•6

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 5/9; level of use 6/9

Adults 18 and over: Positive high

By improves crop yields and reduces reliance on expensive chemical fertilizers, leading to higher profits for farmers.

Others: Positive high

Its offer an affordable alternative to expensive chemical fertilizers, which is critical for smallholder farmers, particularly those in low-income households.

Under 18: Positive medium

By engaging in agricultural training programs and gain knowledge about sustainable farming practices, which can lead to skill development in agriculture.

Women: Positive medium

By accessing to new agricultural markets, improving their economic standing and enabling them to reinvest in their communities.

Climate adaptability: Highly adaptable

Plant biostimulants help crops better withstand environmental stresses such as drought, heat, and extreme weather conditions, making agriculture more adaptable to changing climates.

Farmer climate change readiness: Significant improvement

By improving crop resilience and productivity, biostimulants equip farmers to adapt to climate change impacts, such as unpredictable rainfall patterns and temperature fluctuations, which are becoming more frequent with climate change.

Biodiversity: Positive impact on biodiversity

By reducing dependency on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, this technology help preserve natural ecosystems and biodiversity.

Carbon footprint: A bit less carbon released

The use of biostimulants can reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers, which often release nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas.

Environmental health: Greatly improves environmental health

By reducing the reliance on harmful chemicals, which can run off into water sources and harm local ecosystems.

Soil quality: Improves soil health and fertility

By promoting microbial activity, which restores soil organic matter and improves soil structure.

Problem

Limited Access to Soil Fertility Inputs: High inorganic fertilizer prices restrict smallholder farmers’ access to productivity-enhancing soil fertility inputs.
Low Agricultural Productivity: Insufficient fertilizer application contributes to reduced crop productivity and yields in smallholder production systems.
Soil Health Decline: Continuous use of synthetic soil fertility inputs contributes to declining nutrient cycling, soil biodiversity and organic matter and shifts soil pH towards acidity.
Limited Regeneration of Productive Biomass: Continuous harvesting and grazing reduce tree, shrub and pasture biomass, affecting the sustainability of these production systems.
Climate and Abiotic Stress Vulnerability: Increasing drought, floods, temperature extremes and other abiotic stresses expose crops and production systems to yield losses.

Solution

Improved Access to Fertility-Enhancing Inputs: Household-level production using readily available inputs can expand smallholder access to plant biostimulants when supported by training and capacity building.
Improved Agricultural Productivity: By stimulating nutrient availability and acquisition and plant growth, the biostimulants support improved crop performance and yields.
Soil Health Restoration: The technology supports soil organic matter, microbial diversity and nutrient cycling and can help shift soil pH towards neutral conditions.
Regeneration of Productive Biomass: Enhanced regeneration of pastures, branches and other plant biomass supports the sustainability of tree and pasture production systems.
Improved Climate Resilience: Increased tolerance to drought, floods, temperature extremes and other abiotic stresses supports crop performance under adverse environmental conditions.

Key points to design your project

This approach enhances crop productivity, promotes soil health, and strengthens resilience to climate change. By improving soil microbial diversity, restoring soil organic matter, and balancing soil pH, which contributes to long-term soil health and productivity, it improves access to productivity-enhancing inputs for smallholder farmers, especially in regions with limited resources.

To successfully incorporate this approach into your project, the following activities and requirements should be considered:

Training farmers on the correct use and application of biostimulants, including foliar spraying, seed soaking, and root drenching techniques.
Demonstrating the benefits of biostimulants on crop productivity, plant stress resilience, and soil health.
Mapping of soil health and plant growth improvements following the application of biostimulants.
Building local capacity through the Training of Trainers (ToTs) model to empower farmers to produce biostimulants at the household level using local resources.
Developing communication materials to raise awareness about the benefits of biostimulants, including flyers, videos, and radio broadcasts.
Establishing partnerships with local agricultural organizations, extension services, and input suppliers to support widespread adoption.

In tandem with this technology, accompanying solutions include:

Resilient crop varieties that are more tolerant to environmental stresses and improve the effectiveness of biostimulant applications.
Soil fertility enhancement practices such as composting and organic farming to further boost soil regeneration and productivity alongside biostimulant use.

By incorporating these activities, Lifeworks Global's biostimulants technology can drive significant improvements in farm productivity, soil health, and climate resilience, contributing to sustainable agriculture and food security in smallholder farming systems.

IP

No formal IP rights

Scaling Readiness describes how complete a technology's development is and its ability to be scaled. It produces a score that measures a technology's readiness along two axes: the level of maturity of the idea itself, and the level to which the technology has been used so far.

Each axis goes from 0 to 9 where 9 is the “ready-to-scale” status. For each technology profile in the e-catalogs we have documented the scaling readiness status from evidence given by the technology providers. The e-catalogs only showcase technologies for which the scaling readiness score is at least 8 for maturity of the idea and 7 for the level of use.

The graph below represents visually the scaling readiness status for this technology, you can see the label of each level by hovering your mouse cursor on the number.

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 5 out of 9

Controlled environment: model or early prototype

Level of use 6 out of 9

Used by some projects NOT connected to technology provider

Maturity of the idea										Level of use
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Kenya	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Malawi	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Nigeria	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Zambia	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.

Agro-ecological zones where this technology can be used
AEZ	Subtropic - warm	Subtropic - cool	Tropic - warm	Tropic - cool
Arid		–		–
Semiarid		–		–
Subhumid			–
Humid	–	–	–	–

Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.

Goal 2: zero hunger

By improving crop productivity, enhancing soil health, and increasing resilience to environmental stresses, it contribute to higher agricultural yields and food security, particularly in smallholder farming systems.

Goal 12: responsible production and consumption

By reducing reliance on chemical fertilizers and promoting more sustainable farming practices, which can reduce the environmental impact of agriculture, such as soil degradation and chemical runoff.

Goal 13: climate action

By helping crops adapt to changing environmental conditions, such as droughts and heat, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions through decreased reliance on synthetic fertilizers.

Dilution: Mix 1 part of the biostimulant with 500 parts of water (1:500 ratio).
Seed Treatment: Soak seeds in the diluted biostimulant solution for 12 hours before planting to enhance germination.
Foliar Application:
- Spray the diluted solution on plants during key growth stages:
- Seed germination.
- Vegetative growth.
- Flowering.
- Fruiting.
Root Drenching: Apply the diluted solution directly to the roots of plants.
Application Frequency:
- Reapply every 14–19 days.
- For crops where leaves are economically important (e.g., vegetables, pastures, tea), use a 14-day interval.
Shelf Life: Store the hydrolyzed animal protein biostimulant properly; it remains effective for up to 3 years after manufacturing.

Last updated on Sep 30, 2026

Lifeworks Global
Paul Manweiler

Commodities

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Sustainable Development Goals Details ›

Subcategory

Fertilizer

Value chain step

Production

Solution to

Low Productivity Soil Degradation Limited Access to Inputs & Services

Toolkits

Promising Technologies

Tested/adopted in Details ›

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Where it can be used Details ›

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones.

Target groups

Farmers Manufacturers

Promising Technologies

LIFE Plant Biostimulants: Approach to produce microbials fertilizers

Problem

Solution

Key points to design your project

IP