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Phase: Ideas Missions: Storage and Processing

Fresh Fruit and vegetable value chain development through provision of cold storage facilities in Masaka District- Uganda

I would like to provide cold storage facilities for small holders farmers involved in the production of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Photo of Godfrey Bukenya
7 2

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EXPLAIN YOUR IDEA

My Idea is to assist small holder farmers be in position to save their fresh produce by having access to cold storage facilities since most of them have been forced to sell their produce at give away prices or see them rot due to lack of storage facilities. My idea shall solve the problem of low income earning from sale of their fresh produce since they will be able to get better income and be assured of a better livelihood.

WHO BENEFITS?

This venture shall benefit 5000 small holder farmers in masaka district

WHERE WILL YOUR IDEA BE IMPLEMENTED?

In Uganda

ARE YOU IMPLEMENTING IN AN ELIGIBLE COUNTRY?

  • Yes

EXPERTISE IN SECTOR

  • I’ve worked in a sector related to my idea for over a year

EXPERIENCE IN IMPLEMENTATION COUNTRY(IES)

  • Yes, for more than one year.

Fresh fruit and vegetable farmers in Masaka District losses 40% of their produce before they reach the market due to lack of cold storage facilities for their fresh produce. I want to establish  small cold storage facilities at every collecting center and a big  cold storage facility in Masaka town which will serve as a warehouse and processing plant for all perishable fruits and vegetables. This will save farmers from losing their fresh produce and at the same time get better prices since their should be assured of a prolonged shelf life of their fresh produce

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7 comments

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Photo of GreenPath Team
Team

Godfrey Bukenya Our organization has established a low-cost cold store in Ethiopia using a great tool called a CoolBot. www.storeitcold.com If you are exploring different ideas for development cold facilitiesm I'd suggest you try it out. Their website has fantastic resources.

With your idea I was a little confused with the business model. Do you (a) intend to lease space in the cold store for farmers to store their own produce, (b) intend to purchase the produce and store it there yourself, or (c) something else? 

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Photo of Godfrey Bukenya
Team

thank you very much for your comment. I think we need to try out you cold facility it may  work for us.
about the business model, the company shall be co-owned by the farmers so that they own the cold  facility and who  ever stores his/her produce pays for its maintenance.

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Photo of Godfrey Bukenya
Team

Hi Brent, thank you for your comment. You idea is superb we need drying of the fruits to reduce food wastage. my initial idea was to store food before it reaches the market to reduce wastage mainly fresh fruits. but if i can get this technology and we go into food processing then its better. I need to explore more and see how we can get the funds to get the equipment.

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Photo of Brent Saulic
Team

That is a great idea you have, but is processing the food worth the effort if the farmer waits to long to get it to your facility? Who would pay for the transportation? How would the farmer know the time appropriate to seek you out for all they are not selling? I like your idea of being a company that could take any produce and process it quickly, but could your business realistically do this for all commodities (would require alot of specialized machines) wouldn't you need to choose specific produce you would cater too?

 I think I know an alternative solution. I think the most widely useful food processing method which may be cheap to do and work on all or most produce would be "food drying", which would greatly increase the storage life of the food, especially if it was vacuumed seal as well. Food drying is a method of food preservation in which food is dried (dehydrated or desiccated). Drying inhibits the growth of bacteria, yeasts, and mold through the removal of water. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_drying

I think you could doubly add efficiency if you provided the equipment for small farmers to dry and vacuum the themselves before shipping to you to distribute, so the food can be processed as early as possible and the farmer can wait longer.  You should focus on a business that rents this technology to farmers or helps them build their own simple large cheap versions on their farms. Or a food drying machine that can be transported around,  one you can bring to the farmer.

Industrial Food Dehydrator:
https://www.google.com/search?q=Rotating+Food+Dehydrator+EFD-1010&espv=2&biw=1088&bih=534&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwijhL-5-7fMAhXClIMKHYzSD80Q_AUICCgD#tbm=isch&q=industrial+Food+Dehydrator

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Photo of OpenIDEO
Team

Hi Godfrey, interesting post! Any chance you could find an image to go along with it? Images help grab attention and tell a story with higher impact. You should be able to use the Edit Contribution button on the top of your post and follow the instructions to add images from there. Looking forward to seeing more of your inspiring insights on OpenIDEO.

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Photo of OpenIDEO
Team

Also, great to have you onboard! We notice your post is currently unpublished. Was this your intention? We'd love to have it included on the challenge. If you decide you'd like it included, you can publish it by hitting the Publish Entry up there at the top of your post. Or update it first by hitting the Edit Contribution button. Looking forward to seeing more of you on conversations across this challenge...

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Photo of Shane Zhao
Team

Hi Godfrey, there are only a few more days left before the Ideas phase closes. It'd be great to have this be included in the final collection of published ideas. You can follow the tips in the previous comment to publish this idea!

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