Co-op members get together to build a new wet-mill: sweat-equity was a key component in reducing the cash-cost of construction. As such, the design of the components allowed for variations in construction techniques and materials to account for regional diversity.
One of the major challenges that was overcome in this project was the handling of the by-products from the coffee processing. Shown here is the solid pulp from the cherries, harder to see is the sugar-laden waste-water. Through a combination of worm-farming and composting, the solid waste was converted into rich fertilizer that could be used by the farmers to increase their yields. the waste-water was treated using artificial wet-lands, which consumed the sugars and released clean water back into the environment.
A sample layout for a wet-mill built using the tool-kit
gLike
Technoserve Coffee Initiative
I Designed, prototyped and documented a tool-kit for an improved low-cost coffee processing wet-mill system for the Technoserve Coffee Initiative. As a core component of the $45M Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded project, the tool-kit is able to be scaled and customized to suit specific locations by non-technical users. Farmers received between 2 to 5 times the return on their coffee fruit in the first year due to the resulting improvement in bean quality and profit sharing structure. The tool-kit has now been successfully rolled out across East Africa in 123 locations, benefiting 95,483 people
