Congratulations to the team from Beehive Wood Shop Classroom! 
That includes Augustane Mexny, Jonathan Euler and Roger Gietzen of Global Freedom Project. They built a solar dryer to TTFF specifications and are now in full production of dried mangoes! They are in a remote part of Haiti in the Central Plateau. The community sometimes has trouble accessing enough food. Dried fruit like these mangoes produced locally have a long shelf life and retain all the nutrition of the fresh fruit. This project is a real boon to the community.
We usually talk about breadfruit but as our name suggests, we are happy to help to plant almost any variety of fruit producing trees. We look for whatever type of tree suits the local climate and community’s needs.
Mango trees are a great choice in many places because they tend to be hardy, drought tolerant and very bountiful in production. There are hundreds of varieties but the local Haitian mango (Madame Francine) is abundant, tasty, nutritious and best of all grows true to seed. (Many fruit trees have to be grafted or are very difficult to propagate.)
Of course this solar dryer will be used for other fruit when fresh mangoes are no longer in season.
Congratulations and good luck to the community.
These mangoes look amazing! How many mangoes can the solar dryer process at one time?
The solar dryer has a capacity of 80 to 120 pounds of fresh fruit. The drying time depends on the fruit and the load but ideally, 6 to 8 hours is best.
Can wood be used instead of sheet metal? The only sheet metal available is the rolled up sheet metal used for making gutters. Trying to build this dryer in Belize. Sheet metal is very expensive.
Wood is cheaper but won’t last as long. Also wood can get moldy which would not be food safe. Do you have corrugated galvanized steel sheets “zinc” sheets? Perhaps that could substitute.
Great idea, Nigeria is missing on the list. Is it possible to try the project in Nigeria?
We move into a new country when we find a reliable local partner and preferably a plant nursery that we can work with. Send us an email at info@treesthatfeed.org and we can discuss further.