The question we asked ourselves: what if?
- 1. Their are very few sustainable products available for producing the solar dryer.
- 2. The locals are not satisfied with the final design of the solar dryer.
- 3. The locals don’t like the dried food.
There are very few sustainable products available for producing the solar dryer
One of the requires of the assignment is to design a sustainable solar dryer, in terms of building it with locally available products. But what if the locally available products are not useful for our project? Or the quality is too bad? In that case, we will discuss the problem with our client. There are 3 solutions; don’t build a solar dryer and try to find another way to extend the expiration date, look for new building materials that we can introduce to the market or build a solar dryer with imported materials. The last solution will not fit in this sustainable minor, but if we can save lives, we might can make an exception.
The locals are not satisfied with the final design of the solar dryer
For example; it’s still too expensive, the drying of food makes too much time, it’s not durable enough, not moveable enough, too heavy. It is possible, despite all our effort, the locals are not satisfied with the design. The only thing we can do, is to note everything and give make a recommendation with design improvements for the (possible) next group students from the TU and for the students from the ROC Tilburg.
The locals don’t like dried food
We have designed, built and tested the solar dryer. We’re giving the workshop to the Gambian people and it turns out that they don’t like dried food. This is a very likely scenario, because the idea of drying food is new in the Gambia. We can discuss this problem with local cooks. Maybe they can make tasting dishes and make others enthusiastic about dried food.
If this is a problem, it’s a big one. For succeeding the concept of drying food, it is essential that the locals like dried fruit/vegetables.