Solar Powered Agro-Processing: The optimisation of pioneering productive use solar milling technologies in East Africa

机会：肯尼亚有4000万人依靠农业部门维持生计。他们最重要的主食是玉米，占他们卡路里摄入量的65%以上。负担得起的、可获得的和高质量的碾磨服务是确保和提高撒哈拉以南非洲小农户社区营养价值和经济权能的关键。离网谷物碾磨有可能提高农业效率，增加农民收入，促进粮食安全，但现有的选择使用和操作昂贵，污染严重，主要用户妇女的可及性有限。在肯尼亚，74%的玉米碾磨来自小型的、离网的锤式米尔斯碾磨机。大多数这些poshos米尔斯是柴油动力的，因此具有高资本和运营成本以及潜在的负面环境影响（例如污染和温室气体排放）。此外，柴油米尔斯厂只在较大的社区可行，这意味着较小村庄的人难以获得这些基本服务。将玉米运到最近的磨坊和从磨坊运出是一项体力劳动和令人难以置信的时间消耗;这项任务总是由妇女来完成。解决方案：Agsol为离网农业社区制造领先的太阳能和电网供电农业加工机械。我们的改变生活的机器将最重要的主食转化为可食用和更高价值的食品。它们还促进了更高级别太阳能的获得- 500至1000瓦规模。通过将生产机器与太阳能连接起来，Agsol为离网社区提供了一种新的工具，以提高其农业生产力并获得能源服务。对于城市和电网客户，Agsol提供了一个高效，低运营成本和无污染的收入来源。项目：该项目将对Agsol的最新创新产品--MicroMill进行市场测试和商业化。我们将部署10台MicroMill v1用于初始现场试验。这将测试产品的基本功能和市场反应。该试点的反馈将通知另一个产品设计迭代，以开发MicroMill v2.1s，其中另外10个单元将用于另一个现场试点回合。这些初步现场试验将用于技术和市场测试，以了解机器的任何故障点或问题，以及机组经济性和产品市场适应性如何。他们将为未来的推广和商业化提供有价值的反馈，帮助为东非小保持器农民、城市和城市周边的米莱尔提供一个颠覆性的、但负担得起的、有效的和资源节约型的碾磨解决方案。MicroMill v2.1将部署在肯尼亚和东非的不同配置、环境和客户群中。这些客户群体包括农村农业社区以及城市和城市周边的企业家和潜在企业家，对他们来说，也有一个很大的、可以进入的市场。

Opportunity: 40m people in Kenya depend on the agricultural sector for their livelihoods and subsistence. The most important staple food they depend on is maize, which accounts for over 65% of their calorific intake. Affordable, accessible and quality milling services are key to ensuring and increasing nutritional value and economic empowerment for smallholder farmer communities in sub-Saharan Africa. Off-grid grain milling has the potential to increase farming efficiency, increase farmer revenue, and promote food security, yet incumbent options are expensive to use and operate, are polluting and have limited accessibility for the primary users, women. 74% of maize milled in Kenya comes from small-scale, off-grid 'posho' hammer mills. The majority of these poshos mills are diesel powered and as a result have high capital and operating costs and the potential for negative environmental impacts (e.g. pollution and GHG emissions). Furthermore, diesel mills are only viable in larger communities, meaning people in smaller villages experience hardship accessing these essential services. Transporting maize to and from the nearest mill is physically taxing and incredibly time-consuming; a task invariably handled by women. Solution: Agsol manufactures leading edge, solar powered and grid powered, agro-processing machines for off-grid farming communities. Our life-changing machines convert the most important staple foods into edible and higher value food products. They also catalyse access to higher tier solar energy -- 500 to 1000W scale. By linking productive machines with solar power, Agsol provides off-grid communities with a new tool to improve their agricultural productivity and gain access to energy services. For urban and on-grid customers Agsol provides a highly efficient, low operational cost and non-polluting income generator. Project: The project will market test and commercialise Agsol's latest innovation – the MicroMill. We will deploy 10 MicroMill v1s for the initial field pilot. This will test the basic functionality and market response to the product. The feedback from this pilot will inform another product design iteration to develop the MicroMill v2.1s, of which another 10 units will be manufactured for another field pilot round. These initial field trials will be used for technical and market testing purposes to understand any failure points or issues with the machine, and how the unit economics and product market fit works. They will provide valuable feedback on future roll-out and commercialisation, helping to deliver a disruptive, but affordable, effective and resource-efficient milling solution for East African small holder farmers, urban and peri-urban millers. The MicroMill v2.1s will be deployed in different configurations, environments and customer segments across Kenya and East Africa. These customers segments include rural agricultural communities and urban and peri-urban entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs, for which there is also a large and accessible market.