Ugandan entrepreneurs cook up eco-friendly dryer to 削減（する） food waste
By John Okot
KAMPALA, July 28 (Thomson Reuters 創立／基礎) - At their workshop in a Kampala 郊外, Lawrence Okettayot and his 商売／仕事 partner, both in their 中央の-20s, 演習d 穴を開けるs and screws into a steel-lined, green 木造の box designed to 乾燥した，日照りの food in an eco-friendly way.
Their 発明, a low-tech thermal dehydrator, can be used to 過程 fruits like mango, 白人指導者べったりの東洋人 and pineapple, 同様に as vegetables such as okra and eggplant, to stop them spoiling.
It uses heat from briquettes made of discarded paper and other natural 構成要素s, 含むing garden waste.
Food waste is a big challenge in Africa, with about half of 刈るs lost 予定 to poor 収穫ing techniques and 扱うing afterwards, によれば the U.N. Food and 農業 Organization.
Okettayot had a light-bulb moment in 2016 when his uncle decided to やめる farming out of 失望／欲求不満 over his produce going to waste because he could not find a ready market.
Having grown up in northern Uganda, where a two-１０年間 暴動 by the Lord´s 抵抗 Army (LRA), a 残虐な 反逆者／反逆する group, 原因（となる）d 普及した food 不足s, Okettayot thought hard about a 解答.
After 完全にするing their 熟考する／考慮するs in mechanical 工学, he and his childhood friend, Morris Opiyo, 乗る，着手するd on making their first dryer to 保存する food. It worked 井戸／弁護士席 and was "a good inspiration", Okettayot said.
Since then, the pair have made 43 dryers and sold them across Uganda, Rwanda, Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso to individual 農業者s. They now have 計画（する）s to ship some to Central African 共和国 and Mauritius.
The "sparky dryer" has a 議会 which is lined with steel and 絶縁するd with a 厚い 層 of 支持を得ようと努めるd to minimise heat loss. A fan on 最高の，を越す 許すs 空気／公表する to flow into the heating 議会 so that few briquettes need to be 燃やすd to keep it hot.
The heat is transferred to the 乾燥した，日照りのing zone where the sliced foodstuff is stacked on 棚上げにするs.
A catalytic converter also 妨げるs har mful gases from escaping, 減ずるing 有毒な by-製品s like 一酸化炭素 from the smoke-解放する／自由な briquettes and enabling the dryer to operate with 無 惑星-warming 放出／発行s.
Two kilogrammes (4.4 lb) of briquettes are needed to 乾燥した，日照りの 10 kg of mangoes in five hours.
CASH-STRAPPED GOVERNMENT
In Uganda alone, 30 パーセント of 刈るs are lost every year after 収穫, with fruits and 穀物s most 影響する／感情d, said Solomon Kalema, a 広報担当者 for the 省 of 農業.
The East African country has few food 過程ing 中心s, but Kalema said 政府 計画（する）s to 任命する／導入する them at a 地域の level had not been 器具／実施するd 予定 to 限られた／立憲的な 基金s.
In most 事例／患者s, Ugandan 農業者s prefer to sun-乾燥した，日照りの their leafy vegetables, as they 含む／封じ込める little moisture and are quick to 乾燥した，日照りの, he 公式文書，認めるd.
But fruits take longer out in the open, 特に in the wet season, so most 農業者s 結局最後にはーなる leaving them to rot.
"This 影響する／感情s the 質 of 商品／必需品s and also 農業者s´ 収入s," Kalema said.
The 政府 relies on 拡張 労働者s to train 農業者s to keep their produce in good 条件, but the number of スパイ／執行官s is stretched thin 予定 to 財政上の 強制s, he 追加するd.
In 2010, Uganda had one 拡張 労働者 per 1,000 農業者s but now each スパイ／執行官 must serve 15,000.
Samalie Namukose, a 原則 nutritionist at the 省 of Health, believes the 政府 should 投資する in cheaper dryers, like those made by Okettayot, to support 地元の 農業者s.
"It´s something new to many, and there is need for more publicity about it," she told the Thomson Reuters 創立／基礎.
In general, food dryers - which are mostly solar-力／強力にするd - are expensive and beyond the means of low-収入 農業者s, even though they are cost-効果的な, she said.
On the Ugandan market, a typical small solar-力／強力にするd dryer costs more than 2 million Ugandan shillings ($542), while a large model can 最高の，を越す 9 million shillings.
But Okettayot is 目的（とする）ing for something more affordable - his small 乾燥した，日照りの rs are 定価つきの at 450,000 shillings each and a big one is 二塁打 that.
NO CHARCOAL
The machine （人命などを）奪う，主張するs to be eco-friendly, partly because it does not make heat from charcoal, the most ありふれた source of energy in Uganda, with 90 パーセント of the 全住民 still using it for cooking.
Pader 地区 in northern Uganda, where Okettayot´s home town is 位置を示すd, has become a 中心 for 商業の charcoal 生産／産物, which is made by smouldering 支持を得ようと努めるd.
The 燃料 has an 環境の cost, 与える／捧げるing to Uganda's 63% loss of forest cover in the last 25 years, によれば the 国家の 植林学 当局.
Okettayot and Opiyo hope their dryers can help 保護する forests by 申し込む／申し出ing an 代案／選択肢.
The briquettes they use are made of waste paper and other 構成要素s, 含むing fruit peel, sawdust and clay 国／地域. The 成分s are mixed with water and moulded into balls, then 乾燥した，日照りのd to make the briquettes.
The dryers also heat up more slowly than with charcoal, 減ずるing the 危険 of 燃やすing food, Opiyo said.
CLUBBING TOGETHER
Christine Anek, a Pader 居住（者）, was trained by Okettayot to make briquettes from garden waste at an outreach 開会／開廷／会期.
The 農業者, also a nurse, now sells 乾燥した，日照りのd fruit 軽食s to 補足（する） her daily income.
Okettayot and Opiyo are planning to fight food waste at the village level through a system to help 農業者s afford a dryer.
農業者s will form into groups and receive a 部隊 on credit, 支払う／賃金ing for it in instalments.
But before the pair can really 拡大する their 商売／仕事, they need more 技術d 労働.
"Our goal is to open up an 学院 where we can train many 青年s, but this will 要求する time and 準備," Okettayot said. ($1 = 3,690.0000 Ugandan shillings) (報告（する）／憶測ing by John Okot; editing by Megan Rowling. Please credit the Thomson Reuters 創立／基礎, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers 人道的な news, 気候 change, resilience, women's 権利s, trafficking and 所有物／資産／財産 権利s. Visit http://news .信用.org/気候)
