Prototyping Students Invent an Almost-there Device to Cut Food Waste

At the on-going Tech Camp 2020, Ivan and his prototyping teammates drill holes and screws into a wood-lined device to keep perishable foods fresh.

Eight groups are each to design a comprehensive solution for problems for their community’s poor.

Ivan’s team is designing the “Keep Cool” device, to help vendors of perishables food stuff keep their sales possible for a longer time and avoid huge loses.

The group traveled to the Gulu Main Market in the center of Gulu Town during the initial days of the Teach Camp, to observe the problems the business people are facing as they carry out their trade.

They found that a number of vendors were having loses and their fruits and vegetables wrinkle and wither under extreme heat, making them unsellable.

The group is now in the middle of inventing the Keep Cool device, to lessen their loss.

“Our device can be used to keep fruits like oranges, bananas, watermelons and other vegetables cool and fresh for longer,” said Ivan, a member in a group of five students.

“The device is made of wood which is painted white, to reflect heat and fitted with an automatic fan that turns itself on and off depending on the temperature.”

Food waste is a challenge in Uganda and the whole of Africa. According to the UN Food and Agricultural Organization, about half of food items are lost due to extreme temperatures, poor harvesting methods and post-harvest handling.

Joshua, a group member, said she had a light-bulb moment when his neighbor quit her frui and vegetable business out of frustration, as her stock kept going to waste because she could not afford a fridge to keep them fresh. She had to sell her household items to off-set the loan she acquired to boost the business.

After about a week of ideation and building, the teams are making final touches on their other prototypes such as; the Chiki machine, used to reduce mobility of chicks during transportation for sale, the Smart Drop, an automated trash can design to reduce soil damage by non-biodegradable wastes, and the So-Safe, a water filter that cleans dirty or used water, making it safe for use or reuse.

The above prototypes and five others, are being built to help the students understand what direction to pursue next, and what ideas to preserve and refine for their useable innovations.

The students will, on the closing day of the Tech Camp, demonstrate the functionality of each prototype before parents and other community members at Gulu High School, where the Camp is taking place.