The problem:
The rural agricultural sector is ruled by production and supply-chain limitations. Post-harvest loss is one of its most challenging features.
Moreover, food security and suitability is affected by the fact that food is not grown where it is consumed and subject to route-to-market limitations.
Proposed solution:
The implementation of on-farm solar drying technology will steer the agricultural sector towards a more sustainable, integrated and efficient food supply system.
Vegetable and fruit dehydration is one of the oldest preservation methods that can be combined with the newest technologies, to allow high quality and well marketable products, that additionally are natural and healthy foods.
Tunnel solar dryers on-farm or at easy-to-reach aggregation points are a feasible, scalable, sustainable and high impact opportunity in the agro-processing industry.
We believe it is a key enabling technology that connects farmers in the most rural areas to highly developed markets, while minimizing waste at all stages of the food supply chain.
Hence, our proposed solution addresses the challenge as it is meant for rural and remote communities to create sustainable value-added local products with local inputs, to reduce waste and to shorten supply chains.
Sun dried fruit and vegetables are equitable and affordable sources of healthy, low-carbon emission food, that can approach the issue of extreme hunger and malnutrition.
Benefit of on-farm drying:
By drying directly on the farm, all harvest is processed immediately and in situ, without being subject to storage and transport damage or loss on its way to a processing factory or a consumer market.
Drying removes up to 80% of the water contained in crops which proportionally reduces its weight and volume hence the cost to transport it to local, regional and international markets.
The removal of water at source also simplifies the storage and handling restrictions otherwise present in fresh goods (cold storage, fragile products) along the entire value chain.
This benefit intrinsically eliminates costs and hurdles that currently prevent linking rural agricultural production and consumer markets.
Dried products have an extended shelf life hence more time available to reach distant markets and to be consumed before their best before date (which on its own represents a further food waste reduction outcome both in retail trade and households).
As a result of on-farm drying, the biggest waste generating activities along a fresh products value chain are addressed and lean and efficient logistics between farmers and consumers are enabled.
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