Solar Food Dryers to help in food sustainability
The agribusiness landscape is progressively shifting towards value addition as a mean of addressing the post-harvest management crisis that plagues the sector. The emergence of simple homemade solar drying technologies that are not only effective in ensuring that produce has low moisture content but also extending their shelf life is a godsend to fruit and vegetable farmers.
About 1.3 billion tonnes of food, which is around a third of the total food produced globally, goes to waste while 40% is wasted at retail or consumer level. This is worrying taking into account that around 870 million people worldwide are chronically undernourished and methane produced by this rotting food in landfills contributes to global warming.
With solar drying, farmers are able to engage in food processing activities that add value to their produce which were once subjected to spoilage as a result of inept post-harvest storage mechanisms. This helps farmers improve their earnings.
Solar Food Dryer is a technological advancement towards a sustained drying and packaging of fruits and vegetables by rural groups or individuals with less factory investment requirements. It is a solution towards the increasing demand for healthy, low-cost natural foods and the need for sustainable income. It has become one of the best alternatives for preservation and storage of surplus harvest for later use.
A Kenyan company, Africa Natural Products Ltd (ANP) in partnership with Kenya Agribusiness and Agroindustry Alliance (KAAA) has identified the need for solar food dehydrators and has ventured into their fabrication, tapping into the expertise of local artisans and engineers.
“The concept involves construction of solar driers and a well-equipped food processing unit to cater for excess supplies before the produce get spoilt. ANP is an agro food enterprises, our areas of expertise revolve around crop production of herbs, food dehydration, processing of herbal supplements, bulk drying of herbs, spices, fruits and vegetables using a post-harvest technology development in 2009,” said Sam Muchoki the Director of ANP. A basic box-type low-cost solar dryer is made of wire mesh trays in a wooden framework surrounded by a clear plastic sheet.
In the year 2018 ANP fabricated and supplied 22 indirect solar cabinet food dehydrators to World Vision headquarters in Makueni County. The units were distributed to domestic households across the region. With an abundance of traditional leafy greens in the County, households that received the solar dryer have been able to dehydrate and preserve their excess produce.
Penninah a community mobilize, one of the lucky recipients of the food dryers has been able to go further by securing market for her dehydrated traditional leafy greens. From the sale of her traditional leafy greens she has been able to improve her monthly earnings. Furthermore, she has been able to dry and keep her leafy greens for personal consumption, safeguarding the food security of her household in the event of shortages in a food scarce region.
“Besides Penninah, our team has been able to successfully install our hybrid indoor solar assisted dehydrator at Eco Dudu Complex; A Kenyan based startup situated in Juja, Kiambu County. The organization prides itself in the breeding and rearing of Black Soldier Fly (BSF) larvae, a cheaper alternative high protein feed for chicken feeds. Drying of the larvae is a major aspect of the operation. Prior to acquiring the commercial dehydrator, the drying of the BSF was being performed under open sun conditions. Once equipped with the dryer, Eco Dudu has been able to achieve faster drying time for their BSF. Final quality of the dried product has improved, the investment has boosted their yield and earnings, propelling them to be market leaders in the sustainable production of alternative animal feeds,” Sam explained
Solar Food Dryer’s technology takes use of green energy; decarbonising the economy which means creating economic, social and environmental prosperity. Renewable energy technologies are clean sources of energy that have a much lower environmental impact than conventional energy technologies. Most renewable energy investments are spent on materials and workmanship to build and maintain the facilities, rather than on costly energy imports. Renewable energy investments are usually spent within the same country, frequently in the same county, and often in the same town. Other sources of energy are finite and will someday be depleted but renewable energy will not run out, thus it promises more jobs, higher economic growth, cleaner living conditions, improved welfare, and reduced carbon emissions.
Drying food using solar is not a new technology. Traditionally they used to dry the vegetables under trees and their nutrition value retained. Indirect drying is very important for vegetable as they are not exposed to ultraviolet radiation, thus retaining their green colour and no loss of vitamin and nutrition. For tuber crops, drying them directly is okay since their content is high.
There is need to go back to the natural drying of foods to enjoy the many benefits. Dried tomatoes value 5 times as compared to raw. In America they depend on two season which maintain them the whole year, because they are able to preserve.
