Nut Sheller Project

From Ni Wiki

During the summer of 2007, UNC's chapter of Nourish International (NI) organized a service-learning trip in Uganda with the Full Belly Project (FBP). FBP is a non-profit organization that designs and delivers simple agricultural machines made of common materials to people in developing countries around the world. It was started by Jock Brandis, who, when traveling through Mali, was told by local women that a mechanical peanut sheller would be an incredible boon.

Driven by the image of these women spending many hours painfully shelling peanuts by hand, Jock came home and built a sheller himself out of cement, an inexpensive material that is widely available and has a very long service life. The machine he created costs only $75 and can be made almost anywhere in the world. Furthermore, it shells peanuts (and other shellable nuts) forty times faster than by hand.

This difference in shelling efficiency could enable villagers to grow peanuts, which are the main source of protein for over half a million people in the world, as a cash crop. The peanuts would not only nourish families, but also they would enable communities to generate increased disposable income and replenish the soil with nitrogen.

An additional exciting aspect is that multi-national cement companies are expressing great interest in buying peanut shells to fuel their factories in Africa (in an effort to reduce emissions to meet the Kyoto Protocol). In fact, LAFARGE CEMENT CO (The largest in the world) recently told FBP that they are interested in a potential strategic alliance. It would work as follows: Ugandan communities would shell peanuts, eat some of them, and sell the others as a cash crop. Then LaFarge would by the leftover peanut shells from the communities to use them for fuel and sell cement to FBP’s production plant.

NI’S summer project is investing in the construction, materials, and staff needed to start a regional peanut-sheller production facility in Uganda. The production facility would provide both peanut shellers to hundreds of communities in the area and many steady jobs for local Ugandans. Ugandans would be employed to build the cement peanut shellers in mass quantities, and then sell them throughout southern Uganda, and eventually northern Uganda and Southern Sudan.

While in Uganda, NI’s students would be involved in many aspects of the production facility’s construction. For example, as the company tries to find employees, students would spend time actually building the machines themselves. Then, students would travel to different villages with machines in order to conduct training sessions on how to use them. Students would also investigate the efficacy of the machines in villages where FBP has already introduced the shellers.

ADDITIONAL LOGISTICS:

   * The trip lasted 5 weeks
   * Local Organizations would be able to provide guest houses for students
   * (Most Ugandans speak English) Airfare varies, so look online. (~ $2,000)
   * NI at UNC will contribute around $10,000 towards the facility and will send between 4 and 8 students
   * o Students will be from other schools as well, such as Duke, NCSU, Vanderbilt, and Ohio State Students usually find their own funding for these projects.

Many apply for and receive university grants to travel and work with us. For information about UNC grant opportunities, look online at http://www.unc.edu/depts/europe/major/funding.htm or contact Maggie Salinger at salinger@email.unc.edu

CONTACT INFO: FBP Outreach Coordinator Roey Rosenblith 910-266-1107 roey82@gmail.com