Description
Amba Farmers Voice is seeking a solution to help small farmers in developing countries, specifically Nigeria and Southern Cameroon, preserve food effectively and consistently. This causes an excess of supply during peak harvesting seasons and drives prices of crops down at local markets. Solar dryers enable farmers to preserve their harvest for longer and sell out of season for a premium; up to 30x the cost in rural Africa. However, current methods can be unsanitary, cause fruits and veggies to lose color and nutritional value, or they are not useful during rainy weather or at night; this causes one batch to take from 3 to 7 days to dehydrate, which is plenty of time for bacteria and other pathogens to cultivate. The goal is to create a proof of concept and blueprint so that individual farmers in Southern Cameroon and Nigeria can build the solar dryer using local materials and tools. Active components such as solar panels, batteries, and fans can be added as supplementary modules to decrease drying times further once profits warrant an upgrade. Developing a better low-cost food dryer will help increase the throughput of dried crops and profit margins of individual farmers, which is over half of the population in Cameroon, and improve the quality of the products.
Department Mechanical Engineering
Sponsor Amba Farmers Voice
Advisor Dr. Richard Simmons
Primary Email Contact Tarafahy@gatech.edu
Table # Y10

Members

Name Major Hometown
Benjamin Crowe ME Newnan, GA
Devin Raun ME Marlborough, MA
Jose Antonio Majluf Suares ME Lima, Peru
Lauren Tapp ME Charleston, SC
Michael Dinh ME Hapeville
Tara Fahy ME Park Ridge, NJ