Umoya Dryers is a technology company that promotes innovative solutions for rural development in southern Africa
- We are seriously committed to environmental and social sustainability and real impact
- In our approach we relentlessly design 0-Waste solutions along value chains that maximize farmer income.
- That means we enable the farmer to use his resources (e.g. sunshine, land, labor) and minimize costs to the farmer (e.g. transport, storage, losses).
Post-harvest-processing enables income and improves livelyhoods
Farm profit can be maximized, if we overcome the challenges and risks of marketing fresh products:
- Fresh products have a short shelf live – much gets lost before it can be sold
- Seasonal products face strong competition in the market – in season prices are low
- Fruits and vegetables are heavy, bulky and fragile - transport is expensive and risky
Drying fruit and veg at the farm is a clever way to turn risk into opportunity
Using Umoya Solar Dryers, the farm uses its available sunshine, labor and space to make a better product that is:
- Shelf stable for over 6 months and is easy to store - now there is enough time to sell at full price
- Light weight and not bulky - now transport is affordable
- High in value - now there is good profit to make