This archive report was first published on 16 October 2019.
As the world marks World Food Day, a Laikipia County resident has come up with an innovative solution to help farmers reduce losses due to poorly dried grains. David Burii, a technician from Laikipia, designed a simple yet effective maize drying machine that can dry between 30 to 50 bags of maize per day to the recommended moisture level of below 13.5 per cent.
Burii's machine, powered by a small petrol engine that consumes just one litre a day, dries six bags of maize in about two hours, depending on the moisture content. The machine is suited for large-scale maize farmers as well as those who grow the crop on a small scale.
According to Burii, the erratic weather conditions in Laikipia County motivated him to design the maize drying machine two years ago. He used simple materials to assemble the drier, including black iron sheet, square tubes pipes, angle line bars, pulleys, a petrol engine, and canvas.
“Sometimes the rains go beyond the harvesting period, thus leading to huge losses for farmers since the maize starts to rot in farms before harvest, this made me think of a way of lifting the burden of drying maize,” Burii said at his workshop in Mwireri village in Umande location.
Laikipia County Governor Ndiritu Muriithi has pledged to support Burii's innovation, providing training, funding from the Laikipia Enterprise Fund, certification from Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), and assistance in acquiring copyright for his innovation.
“We are also facilitating them with product promotion through various marketing platforms such as media, trade fairs, exhibitions, and social media,” said Muriithi.
