Local Multi-Crop Thresher to Improve Productivity for All

Jodie Wu of Global Cycle Solutions in Tanzania will evaluate an affordable hand-powered multi-crop thresher to enable smallholder farmers to thresh a variety of crops in a fast and modular way. The thresher significantly increases productivity, works without electricity, and is portable, thereby reducing costs to the individual farmer. It is easy to manufacture from cheap and available parts, and is thus easy to maintain. A prototype, designed in collaboration with local farmers, has already been successfully tested. This has been refined in the laboratory, and they will now field test the final prototype in Tanzania with 25 multi-crop farmers to evaluate capacity and perform engineering adjustments. They will also explore local manufacturability and dissemination strategies, with the aim to expand to other countries.