Country: Tanzania
Lead organisation: MAVUNOLAB (The Post-harvest Innovation Centre)
The project intends to deploy solar-powered fish drying facilities developed by MAVUNOLAB to small-scale fish processors in Lake Victoria. This will reduce post-harvest losses and improve the quality and safety of dried fish in Tanzania.
Unlike traditional fish drying methods like sun-drying and smoking, solar drying can reduce fish drying time in half, minimising exposure to environmental contaminants and potential spoilage, often leading to product deterioration. Furthermore, due to their excessive energy consumption, traditional food drying methods such as smoking emit significant amounts of greenhouse emissions (GHG), especially CO2, further fuelling the climate problem.
As such, in a country where clean energy solutions are limited, bridging this gap is crucial for environmental sustainability, economic growth, and the livelihoods of communities that are more vulnerable to the climate crisis.