The dairy industry in Eastern Africa is emerging, providing not only a significant contribution to the countries’ GDP, but also supporting the livelihoods of more than two million small-scale farmers. However, lacking cooling facilities hamper its further development, as many farmers live simply too far away from the market to deliver their (evening) milk before it spoils. The resulting ‘milk losses’ at farm level are estimated at 30-40% (FAO, 2003). This limits the supply of raw milk to the milk processors; while there is a growing domestic demand and milk processing plants are operating at low utilization rates due to shortages in milk supply. The solution lies in off-grid milk cooling at small-scale farms using a reliable and renewable energy source: biogas produced from cow manure.
Biogas-Powered Milk Chiller for Small-Scale Dairy Farmers in Eastern Africa
Increase income of small-scale dairy farmers in Eastern Africa by eliminating milk spoilage using a biogas-powered milk chiller.
EXPLAIN YOUR IDEA












WHO BENEFITS?






WHERE WILL YOUR IDEA BE IMPLEMENTED?
The idea will be implemented in Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia by the end of this year. At a later stage, after customer feedback is integrated into a new product iteration, expansion to Rwanda will follow.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.
TELL US MORE ABOUT YOU!
SimGas is a design and production company that focuses on clean, affordable and high quality energy and sanitation solutions. Our teams are based in The Netherlands, Kenya and Tanzania. In collaboration with SNV, Mueller, and BoP Inc we develop, design and market the Biogas Milk Chiller.IS THIS IDEA NEW FOR YOU OR YOUR ORGANIZATION?




HOW IS YOUR IDEA UNIQUE?
The product’s innovation lies in applying a proven absorption cooling technology to a new off-grid market, scale-down its usual capacity to 10 liters tailored to the needs of small-scale dairy farmers, and change its source of energy to a renewable energy source: biogas. We think that small-scale dairy farmers will prefer the biogas-powered milk chiller compared to other raw milk preservation options, because: · It will be the first product commercially available that enables small holder dairy farmers to preserve milk according to standards accepted by international milk buyers (from 35°C to 4°C within three hours time); · It preserves milk using an freely available and reliable source of energy: as long as cow manure is available, milk can be cooled; · It enables preservation of milk at the source of production and thereby maintains the highest possible quality of milk; · Its installation is fast and easy, only a gaspipe needs to be connected from the bio-digester; there is no need for construction on site; · Our partnership with SNV and Mueller guarantees a good product-market fit in target countries and demands compliance with Mueller’s highest product quality standards.WHO WILL IMPLEMENT THIS IDEA?
Consortium: SimGas (www.simgas.org): R&D, sales and servicing of biogas systems in East Africa. Roles: product design, field testing, commercialization. SNV (www.snvworld.com): installed > 550,000 biogas systems worldwide. Roles: market analysis, training, promotion. Mueller BV (www.uk.paulmueller.com): market leader in milk chilling equipment. Roles: knowledge provider, sector expertise, commercialization. BoPInc (www.bopinc.org): BoP strategy, MNC collaboration. Roles: business strategy.HOW HAS YOUR IDEA CHANGED BECAUSE OF BENEFICIARY FEEDBACK?




In May of this year, we went back to visit two dairy farmers that have tested our Biogas Milk Chiller prototypes last year to ask them for feedback on our new design.





WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR UNANSWERED QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS IDEA?
1. How to keep the rise of temperature of milk during delivery to a minimum? 2. How to make the Biogas Milk Chiller easier to use than not to use? 3. How to make the process for customers to acquire lease-to-own financing care-free? 4. What is the best training that is to be given to the customers? 5. To what extent is our existing customer service center capable of assisting customers with Biogas Milk Chillers? 6. How to best demonstrate the Biogas Milk Chiller in a crowd? 7. How to best design promotion material such that target customers respond to it? See attached Prototype Worksheet to see how we might test these questions and how we've already made a first prototype for no.1!WHY DO YOU THINK THE PROBLEM YOUR IDEA SOLVES FOR HASN'T BEEN SOLVED YET?
The approach in the dairy industry is top-down instead of bottom up: processors focus on cooling facilities for the top of the cold chain, the processors and the collection centers, instead of the bottom, the dairy farmers. The reasons: 1) Low awareness of milk supply shortages originating at the bottom of the chain; 50% of produced milk in East Africa is not delivered to the collection centers (FAO, 2013); 2) Market mismatch: the available products for cooling are large scale and not suitable for smallholder dairy farmers; 3) The development of an effective cooling solution that is off-grid, efficient and affordable demands a consortium with a complementary skill set and a shared vision.WHAT WOULD YOU ULTIMATELY LIKE TO ACHIEVE WITH THIS IDEA? WHAT IS YOUR NEXT STEP TO GET THERE?



MEMBERS OF MY TEAM HAVE BEEN WORKING TOGETHER FOR:
- More than a year
MY INTENDED BENEFICIARIES ARE:
- Within 50 km of where our team does most of its work
MY ORGANIZATION'S OPERATING BUDGET FOR 2015 WAS:
- Between $100,000 and $500,000

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