East Africa suffers from food insecurity, and part of the problem is that a high percentage of fruit spoils post-harvest due to a lack of proper food supply chain networks and reliable cold chains. In this context, fruit drying is one solution that allows for fruit to be preserved for longer periods of time. Off-season, dried fruits can be distributed, sold, and eaten, decreasing food waste and providing additional income to local entrepreneurs in the region. Additionally, dried fruit also allows for more nutritious meals for children in boarding schools who currently eat a diet constituting of rice and beans for each meal every day.
To address this problem, D-Lab has been working with TEWDI Uganda, an NGO in Soroti, Uganda run by Betty Ikalany and Helen Grace. Betty and Helen currently operate their fruit drying business with a solar dryer. However, the solar is less effective in the rainy season, running from March to May and September to November in Soroti, and limits the quantity of fruit that can be dried during these times.
To approach this problem, we designed a metallic heat exchanger and coupled it with TEWDI’s current solar dryer. This heat exchanger was placed above a biomass stove. When the stove is lit, the heat from the burning briquettes is transferred through the heat exchanger into the solar dryer where fresh fruit is placed on racks to be dried. This is done without allowing smoke from the cookstove to contaminate the fruit.
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