Low-Income Farmers Can Dry Their Crop High-Tech to Save It from Rotting

Klein Ileleji, an agricultural scientist at Purdue University, in the U.S. state of Indiana, has invented a portable food dehydration system that uses solar energy to dry food quickly and hygienically, helping farmers keep their crops free from contamination.

Many farmers across the globe use roadside food drying to dry crops, seafood and fruit, but this method can pose major health risks as well as waste a significant amount of food. So Ileleji and his wife started a company called JUA Technologies International to develop more sustainable drying solutions.

The inexpensive award-winning Dehytray is already being distributed in Kenya with positive reviews. The Ilelejis are also working on the Dehymeleon: a solar dryer that can hold 10 Dehytrays, and store extra solar energy to use at night for charging farmer’s phones or powering their lamps, when it’s not drying crops.

“I’m really excited to see how various needs are met by the technology,” says Ileleji, whose company has been receiving federal and state grants to further develop this technology.