The University of Colorado, Colorado Springs team was tasked with creating a food storage facility for the Entusi Resort and Retreat Center operated by Global Livingston Institute located in the Lake Bunyonyi region of Uganda. The original task was to specifically create a design for GLI’s Entusi.
Summary
After a research trip was conducted, the approach and solution changed. The local farmers in the Lake Bunyonyi region are currently keeping their crops on the floor of their homes. In extreme cases, some farmers even stored crops in the same room they sleep in. This can become a dangerous issue due to the fumes that a potato excretes once it begins to rot. During the rotting process, potatoes give off a noxious solanine gas that can make a person unconscious if they inhale enough. The team was able to visit the location and learn from the local farmer’s agricultural practices. The approach to GLI’s problem changed and a food storage facility was designed for the farmers. The team designed a facility equipped with lighting, ventilation, cooling, drainage, storage shelves, and insulation aspects. The team was tasked to ensure the food storage facility was made with only local materials with the ability to be built using only hand-powered tools. In Uganda, the team was able to visit GLI’s model farm located on a peninsula of Lake Bunyonyi. This model farm allows farmers to see various GLI agricultural systems and structures so that they may implement the ideas on their farms. The same concept will be used for this design. The food storage facility was designed to be built at GLI’s model farm. Local farmers will then be able to observe the crop storage facility and discuss with GLI’s Farming Cooperative staff about various aspects of the design. This will give them an understanding of the purpose of every piece of the design and build their own food storage facility as they best see fit. The overall design includes a 10ft by 10ft by 7ft structure consisting of wood which will be built within a hill. The hill will have a portion dug out to allow for the structure to fit. The roof of the facility will be made of tin sheets with wooden crossbeams underneath. There will be a black plastic tarp placed in between the dirt and the main structure. This tarp was included to prevent water damage and allow water to flow to the drainage system implemented. The drainage system replicates a French drain design. It uses PVC pipes buried in gravel to drain water out of the facility. Due to the size and cost the team did not feel the need to implement actual lighting. Instead, the small size of the facility allows for lighting to solely come from sunlight through an open door. Inside the storage facility pallets on the ground will be used to store sacks of potatoes that are too heavy to carry far off the ground. There will also be a table incorporated inside that will contain a lip so that individual potatoes could be stored before they are placed in sacks. The team has included a bill of materials as well as a detailed procedure for the GLI staff and local farmers to be able to build the design on the model farm.
Background
The University of Colorado, Colorado Springs (UCCS) provides a mandatory course for the seniors in mechanical engineering titled Engineering Design. This is a two-semester course in which students are tasked with solving a problem for a company or professor. Students are given the initial problem and are then asked to determine their advisor or customer's parameters and requirements. Once those are identified the team can begin creating conceptual designs, one of which will then become the final design. Afterward, if applicable, they can begin testing and prototyping the finalized design to create a final report. The final presentation of the design is showcased and presented to the other teams and sponsors. This report is regarding the project completed by five UCCS students, Denzil Afriyie, Charlie Kieffer, Krystall Corbaley, Katerina Reynolds, and Joseph Behrend. The team worked with Global Livingston Institute for two semesters to provide them with a design for the problem tasked.
Global Livingston Institute (GLI), named after Johnston R. Livingston is a non-profit organization that began in 2009. While working out of various locations globally, GLI’s main office is located in Denver, Colorado. Johnston is a visionary entrepreneur and philanthropist from Colorado. His idea was to get students and the community to strategize and rethink how the population approaches international development. Their main goal is to work with locals in Uganda to create jobs, education, and community development as well as to engage students and community leaders in their efforts. GLI is currently operating out of the Entusi Resort & Retreat Center on Lake Bunyonyi in Uganda, about two hours southeast of Kabale. The average temperature for the year is 21.1°C with the high being 21.8°C and the low being 20.2°C. The average amount of rainfall is 1155 mm a year. While there is no humidity data for the lake, the nearest city of Kabale has an average humidity of 78% for the year.
Currently, GLI’s Farming program has given local farmers loans to create more economic productivity. These loans are intended to help farmers increase their crop output. GLI collects these crops and brings them to a larger market outside of the area. This is done because most farmers cannot transport their crops to larger markets due to transportation issues. Also, GLI’s transportation of the farmer’s crops protect them from middlemen that may exploit them. Due to an increase of crop productivity, GLI is looking for a crop storage facility that will allow them to store crops before bringing them to the market. Hence, the farmers will be able to sell the crops when their market value is higher, approximately a month or two after harvest.
Objectives
The objective of this project was to design a food storage facility given the requirements listed below. As mentioned previously, the facility will be placed on the model farm where local farmers will visit and determine the parts of the design they would like to incorporate in their storage facility. Originally the team was tasked with designing a food storage facility for the resort, but this changed once the team visited Uganda and spoke to the locals. The team was able to better understand the project and, thus, it was decided that the storage facility would be placed on the model farm. The resort would then follow the same procedure as the farmers and use the facility as a preliminary concept. Once they have made modifications as they deem necessary, they will have the locals and those working at Entusi construct the storage facility which may include other products besides crops. As demand grows, they will build onto the facility to allow for more food storage.
The farmers living in the rural areas of Kabale have seen the need to innovate and improve the quality of their lives. Most of the population rely on farming as their main source of income. This comes with some challenges in terms of sustainability and cost of living. Issues such as modern sustainable farming processes, ergonomics, food transportation, and food storage are just a few. The storage facility allows the farmers to have a centralized location to keep their crops so that they are not stored on the dirt or in their homes. This will create a healthier living environment and prolong crop storage, allowing for better economic return.
