Pastor Emmanuel climbs a tall wooden ladder up into his oldest tree, leaving his shoes behind. He gives one of its branches a good shake, and avocados the size of grapefruits tumble to the ground beneath him.
Avocados are plentiful, but often wasted in Leguruki, a rural community just north of Arusha, Tanzania where Pastor Emmanuel and other avocado farmers live.
The Challenge
Up until a few weeks ago, Pastor Emmanuel thought of avocados as a crop with little value. Avocado farmers in Leguruki estimate that more than half of their crop goes to waste, fed to livestock or not used at all.
But now, a technology developed by a team of innovators and avocado farmers could change all of that.
The team, which was brought together by the USAID-funded International Development Innovation Network (IDIN), built several versions of an avocado oil press at this year’s International Development Design Summit (IDDS).
IDDS brings together designers, inventors, and visionaries from around the world together in a developing country to work closely with communities to co-create a prototype that improves the lives of people living in poverty.
The Team
At the heart of IDDS is the idea that innovation thrives when diverse minds meet.
And that was exactly the case when an American mechanical engineer, a Tanzanian community organizer, a Kenyan schoolteacher, an Indian mechanical engineer, and a Tanzanian bricklayer from Leguruki put their heads together to find a way to put avocados to good use in Tanzania.
After two weeks of initial design training at IDDS, the team visited Leguruki and Pastor Emmanuel for the first time to learn more about the community’s avocado value chain, farming techniques, and the potential for processing.
The Idea
Dozens of interviews and sketch models later, the team had an idea.
What if, they asked themselves, we could empower farmers to generate real income by creating oil from the previously-wasted avocado crop?
A versatile and high-value product, avocado oil would be a cost-efficient alternative to other cooking oils, and could be sold to cosmetic companies for use in shampoos, soap, and lotions.
Conversations with community members in Leguruki made it clear: An avocado oil press could be game-changing for their avocado farmers.
The Prototypes
The team headed back to Arusha, Tanzania to put their hands to work at Twende-AISE, an IDIN innovation center which houses a workshop and technical staff.
With the support of their design facilitator, innovation center staff, and the materials available in Arusha, four distinct avocado oil presses began to take shape.
“Like A Diamond”
The team returned to Leguruki to share their newly-built, working prototypes—a standing press, a hammer press, and a jack press — with Pastor Emmanuel and his friends.
They also shared avocado oil made using their press, asking for feedback on the prototypes and the product. The farmers’ eyes lit up, taking turns sharing their excitement, and their own insightful ideas on how to improve the prototypes.
“(This oil) is a like a diamond,” one farmer exclaimed, with Pastor Emmanuel’s wife nodding in agreeement.
Families in Leguruki and nearby villages typically spend close to $100 on cooking oil each year—$100 that could better spent on health, education, or other family needs.
Despite the farmer’s excitement, the team still had a major roadblock to overcome. Drying avocado, a necessary first step in the oil pressing process, was proving a challenge.
Drying Challenges
Before a farmer can use an avocado oil press, the avocado must be properly dried. This step in the process presented numerous challenges for the team and community.
From boiling to tarp drying, the team tried countless methods of applying heat to dry their avocado. Despite being thwarted by everything from wild dogs eating the avocado to the short daylight hours that are a part of winters in Leguruki, the team pressed on.
Solar drying seemed the most promising method, but would require adjustments to traditional solar drying prototypes to optimize conditions for drying avocado.
The Next Chapter
As IDDS came to a close, the team and community members reflected on a challenging, but rewarding month of work rethinking value-added avocado processing and the difference technology may make for farmers in Leguruki.
Community members including Pastor Emmanuel are dedicated to moving the project forward. Three of five team members currently live in Arusha and continue to work with the community, local IDIN partners, and the innovation center to explore next steps.
Together, the team and community hope to select one or two of the best prototypes for further development, continue to explore drying methods, and contact local manufacturers who may be interested in large-scale production of the press. Farmers in Leguruki are also interested in creating avocado farmers’ groups or cooperatives, which currently do not exist in the region.
You can learn more about the International Development Innovation Network by visiting www.idin.org. IDIN empowers a network of innovators to design, develop, and disseminate low-cost technologies to improve the lives of people living in poverty. IDIN is generously funded by the USAID U.S. Global Development Lab.
