Micro Vegetable Processor and Packager for Poor Rural Vegetable and Fruit Farmers in Developing Countries

Operation Hope Foundation/National University of Singapore (NUS) Global, 2010-11

Liaison(s): Robert Kee
Advisor(s): Patrick Little, Dejian Huang (NUS), Philippe Adam (BCF)
Students(s): Erin Partlan (TL-S), Aggie Szymanska (TL-F), Roque Muna (TL-SU), Richard Coronado (S), Nobuhiro Yokote (S), Zhujun Bing (NUS,TL), Hui Ling Chung (NUS), Jing Gao (NUS)

The team has designed a portable vegetable processor and packager to be used in rural Cambodia by small-scale farmers. The purpose of this project is to give vegetable farmers the ability to generate additional income by making ready-to-eat food pouches with a minimum shelf life of six months. This will eliminate their need to sell their vegetables within a week after harvesting and provide an alternative to selling just raw produce. The processor design utilizes a retort to sterilize food that is packaged into heat-sealed pouches. This project is also funded by the Beckman Coulter Foundation, a charitable organization associated with Beckman Coulter, Incorporated.