Social Impact Project for Mechanical/Electrical Engineer to Support Rural Women with Food Processor
Project Description and Impact
We are a not for profit organisation set up to assist victims of the conflict in Southern Cameroons.
Background: Pounded cocoyam, yam, banana and plantain are staple meals in much of West and Central Africa. Traditionally, this food is prepared by pounding boiled cocoyams, cassava, plantain and yam in a mortar and pestle. The process is labor intensive and time consuming. It can take up to 2 hours to pound this food. In 2020, mothers in rural areas still use the traditional manual method of pounding the cocoyam using a mortar and pestle. Preparing the food takes enormous amounts of time from women in performing other productive activities.
To assist women in preparing this food, we have designed a simple and affordable manual machine to use to process the food. The machine is designed specifically for women in the villages with no electricity, but could also be used by people in the cities that have road side restaurant that sell the food.
We have developed a prototype, and we have received advice from small business development advisors on some design changes to reduce the cost of the machine.
We need the assistance of a mechanical engineer to help us modify the prototype to accommodate for these design changes.
Learning Opportunity
Learn the drudgery that mothers in rural Africa go through to prepare staple meals for their families.
Virtual
This project accepts virtual experteers.
About the Hosting Organization
Victoria Relief Foundation is a Non-profit working on Workforce & Vocational Training, Agriculture & Food Security.
