A 15-year-old Niza Aritha Zulu would be shocked to know she’d become a tech founder, especially since she was afraid of the sciences.
Today, she’s the co-founder of Bio Green Technology, a Zambian startup using AI and IoT to help fish farmers monitor water quality in real time, make data-driven decisions, and increase yields.
What makes her story compelling is that she never pretends to have it all figured out. She started by pitching a rough concept on paper, faced skepticism from farmers, wrestled with imposter syndrome, and kept going.
Today, her solution improves survival rates, shortens production cycles, and is quietly transforming how Zambia approaches aquaculture.
If you’re curious about what it takes to merge tradition with technology, or how a young founder with no tech background ended up patenting an IoT device that could transform a sector, this conversation with Today Africa is worth your time.
Tell us more about yourself
Niza Aritha Zulu pauses, as if weighing where to begin. “Each time I’m asked that question,” she says, “I always think, should I start from the genesis or just basically my entrepreneurial side?”
She decides to start somewhere in the middle. Niza is an entrepreneur based in Zambia, with headquarters in Lusaka, though she’s quick to point out that the team is expanding into the Southern province.
Her love for fish isn’t just a quirk; it’s the heartbeat of her business. Her father was a fish farmer, and the challenges and opportunities she witnessed growing up pulled her into the industry.
“I absolutely adore all businesses, especially female-led businesses,” she says. “I’m hoping that on the African continent we’ll have more entrepreneurs, especially entrepreneurs that are delving into societal problems.”
In short, Niza is a fish-loving, innovation-driven entrepreneur with a vision to reshape agriculture in Zambia and beyond.
Tell us more about Bio Green Technology
Bio Green Technology is where Niza’s love for fish intersects with her fascination with tech.
“We leverage AI and IoT,” she explains, “our innovation, which we call the Intelligent Fish Farm PV Smart Systems, enables fish farmers to monitor their water quality in real time.”
She gestures animatedly as she describes it.
The system is both hardware and software: a device that sits in the water and relays critical metrics, temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, turbidity, and pH directly to a smartphone.
Farmers can immediately respond to problems, like turning on aerators, without waiting for a technician.
But Bio Green isn’t just about the data. The platform has an app that connects farmers with buyers, sellers, and experts. It provides training videos, a feed conversion ratio calculator, and e-extension services for farmers outside urban centers.
“Basically,” she says, “you can be anywhere in Zambia and still access these services in real time, and make necessary changes on your fish farm.”
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Tell us more about your background and how it influenced you to become an entrepreneur
Niza’s path to fish tech wasn’t obvious. She graduated in 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts in Development Studies, minoring in Psychology.
Science had always felt intimidating. Physics, chemistry, math, they were “woo, that’s not really for me,” she admits.
Yet during university, a class on Agriculture and the Environment sparked a revelation. Technology could transform farming, making it more efficient and accessible for smallholder farmers to industrial-scale operations.
Coupled with the experience of watching her father struggle with his small-scale farm in Washa, it became clear: technology was the key to improving livelihoods and food security.
She recalls the limitations of traditional extension services, where officers could only visit farms occasionally due to cost and logistics.
“Remember, you can’t have a fish and an extension service officer on your farm 24/7,” she says.
“With technology, you’re not just creating jobs, you’re maximizing sector potential, providing knowledge and skills to farmers efficiently and affordably.”
How did you merge traditional practices while bringing in technology into fish farming?
Starting, Niza and her co-founder were just students with a bright idea on paper. Their first insights came from research and her father’s practical experience.
She credits a mentor who asked the hard questions: had they really spoken to the farmers? Was this solving an actual societal problem?
That feedback led them back to the farms. They designed in-person training, ensuring the technology wasn’t too advanced but complemented existing traditional practices.
“I do believe tradition holds so much wisdom and so much knowledge,” she says. “With tech, that wisdom and knowledge are then amplified.”
Through these early interactions, Niza learned to harmonize new technology with established practices, making fish farming more sustainable, efficient, and affordable.
How did you handle the farmers who were sceptical about using your system?
Skepticism was natural. Fish farming doesn’t always promise huge profits, and investing in a new system felt risky.
But Niza’s team had support from organizations like the National Science and Technology Council and the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, which helped validate their innovation.
“We had the proof to say, we have the research to show it can improve your yields by 30%,” she says. Patenting the device added another layer of credibility.
To ease adoption, Bio Green introduced payment schedules. Farmers could try the technology without draining their budgets, experiencing tangible benefits like faster growth cycles and increased profits.
“Incorporating payment schedules and collaborating early on,” she explains, “helped tailor our business model to the farmers’ needs.”
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What barriers is Bio Green breaking, and how has it improved fish yields in Zambia?
Niza describes herself as a beacon for young female entrepreneurs. Without a technical background, she’s leading a tech-driven startup.
Imposter syndrome was real at first, but she came to understand that knowledge, research, and proven innovation matter as much as a degree.
Youth-led startups often face skepticism about experience, but Bio Green has thrived over three years, growing steadily.
“Do it scared,” she recalls a mentor telling her, and that philosophy guided them from a concept note to a patented innovation improving lives.
Bio Green’s system helps farmers incorporate data-driven decisions, cutting cycles, reducing waste, and boosting yields. Small-scale farmers are moving from guesswork to informed action.
What is the biggest challenge you are overcoming in scaling Bio Green Technology?
Expanding has been the toughest hurdle. Early marketing efforts assumed fish farmers would be online, but many aren’t active on social media.
Connectivity issues and traditional communication preferences slowed adoption.
The solution came in collaboration. Partnering with organizations already embedded in local markets allowed Bio Green to reach farmers effectively.
“The biggest barrier was expanding, but expanding within our marketing budget,” she says, “and ensuring we reach our entire target market.”
How does your system help small-scale farmers move from guesswork to data-driven decisions?
The device monitors pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature, salinity, turbidity, and water level, sending real-time data to the farmer’s phone.
Farmers learn when to feed, aerate, or harvest, avoiding overfeeding and water contamination.
Niza emphasizes the financial impact: “Through this data, fish farmers save money, increase survival rates, and shorten growth cycles.
Subscription models make it accessible without depleting their resources, helping them increase income while farming smarter.”
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Don’t you think the feed producers will be offended that your product is reducing the rate at which they sell?
“Not at all,” she says. To her, the innovation she built doesn’t shrink the market; it makes it smarter.
She explains how overfeeding is quietly sabotaging fish farmers, driving many out of the industry because high mortality rates devastate their profits.
“Some fish farmers only have one pond,” she says, and if feed is wasted there, their business stalls.
Her solution flips the script: less feed, used efficiently, means the same farmer can double their fingerlings, expand to more ponds, and ultimately buy more feed.
Efficiency, she insists, actually creates demand.
She paints the picture clearly. Overfeeding contaminates water, slows growth, and frustrates farmers. With her system, they feed on a schedule, conserve feed, and grow fish faster, fish that reach 500 grams instead of 300.
“You’re not doing guesswork,” she says. Her platform calculates exactly how much to feed, when, and how often. The app tracks each pond in real time, turning data into actionable insight that transforms everyday farm work.
Her excitement is contagious. She’s not just talking about numbers; she’s talking about transforming livelihoods.
What’s one metric that tells you that your solution is working for these fish farmers?
“Survival rates,” she says without hesitation. When fish that would have died reach maturity, the difference isn’t just economic, it’s social.
A jump from 60% to 85% survival, she explains, represents food security, income, and hope multiplied. Growth rates tell another story: fish reach their weight targets faster, shortening cycles and maximizing profit.
Every data point on her platform reflects more than efficiency; it represents impact, the kind of transformation that ripples outward, touching both the farm and the wider community.
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How did you assemble your team and what qualities do you consider?
Niza’s story is rooted in collaboration. “We were attached to the University of Zambia Computer Science Department,” she recalls, where she and her co-founder were in the same research group, tackling a project on agriculture.
Her co-founder’s idea, a real-time water monitoring device, sparked her interest.
At that time, there was no ChatGPT or quick AI to confirm possibilities. They had to dig through research, manually, and test concepts themselves.
From those early days of paper concept notes to actual prototypes, the team grew organically. A university blog drew an app developer into the fold.
Sales and marketing joined after careful recruitment. Those who now appear on their patent were chosen because of mutual belief in the project’s potential to revolutionize Zambian aquaculture.
Drive, curiosity, and a desire to make a difference were the litmus tests.
What would you say to a young innovator who is afraid to start small?
“Start,” she says simply, but her voice carries urgency. Start scared, start unsure, start with a single problem at a time.
Niza’s own journey began as a university idea, and she never applied for a traditional job. She urges young people to find passion projects in their communities.
She knows someone who co-founded a food bank with someone who saw him sweeping markets and helping neighbours. That kind of initiative, she believes, fuels change.
Africa, she insists, doesn’t need waiting for outside capital or a massive budget. It needs bold, committed people willing to act now.
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Where do you see Bio Green Technology in the past 5 years?
Expansion. Niza envisions 20,000 “smart points” across Africa, supported by youth technicians and data-driven farmers. She imagines integrating AI to predict disease outbreaks, optimize feed, and shorten growth cycles.
The dream is sustainable aquaculture, starting with Southern Africa, Zimbabwe first, and gradually reaching West Africa. Interest is already coming from other countries, proof that her vision resonates.
What lesson have you learned in your journey as an entrepreneur?
Patience over perfection, community over competition, and purpose over profit.
Early challenges tested her resolve: hardware failures, offline devices, and battery drain forced problem-solving that couldn’t be rushed.
She recalls checking how their devices were doing in ponds, learning to adapt, to iterate, and to collaborate even with those she might have seen as competitors.
Profit alone never drove her; impact did. “When you focus on solving a real problem in your community,” she says, “growth just comes naturally.”
What advice would you give to others who want to start their business?
“Just start. Do it scared,” she repeats, a mantra at this point. Start with what you have, even if uncertain. Africa’s challenges are opportunities waiting for people willing to act.
The Africa she imagines, vibrant, self-sufficient, driven by its own entrepreneurs, is within reach.
Niza’s final words linger like a charge to action: grasp that opportunity, make the change, and build the Africa you want to see.
Niza Aritha Zulu’s story, rooted in data, determination, and hope, leaves a clear message: innovation isn’t about perfection or fear, it’s about beginning, acting, and seeing impact multiply, one pond at a time.
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