Dr. Julia Kigozi

Lecturer, Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

Innovation coach

Dr. Amy Jamison, Co-Director for the Alliance for African Partnership

Project

Developing Innovative Technology for the Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises’ (MSME’s) in the Food Processing industry

Summary of the Problem

Micro, small and medium-scale Enterprises (MSME’s) contribute substantially to provision of basic goods and services and generation of export and tax revenue for national socio-economic development and therefore require focus in the nation’s development agenda (National Development Plan II). Makerere University, through CAES and particularly led by the Department of Agricultural Engineering, is in a position to support this industry and build its production capacity. Makerere University must take action to support the MSME’s to build their capacity to compete in domestic, regional and international markets (UEPB, 2016) and enhance Uganda’s agenda for industrialization.

From a survey conducted among agro- processors in Uganda, one of the major needs processors highlighted still remains access and cost of equipment as well as infrastructure development. Previously two pieces of equipment were designed in the college for agro-processors’ use but they were not optimized to meet the needs of individual processors, as such their uptake is low. Applying human-centered design will allow us to improve the designs of these prototypes by engaging end users to understand the problems they face in a way that has not previously been undertaken.

Description of Innovation

Dr. Kigozi’s project proposes to work with agricultural engineering student groups using human-centered design to optimize the designs of a fruit pulper and batch pasteurizer to suit different processing needs. Students will be mentored in human-centered design, simulation and optimization skills and allowed to apply these skills to come up with suitable equipment that will be fabricated and tested to ensure they meet the required capacity. Human-centered design will be used to determine the needs and design and test options to meet those identified needs before engaging in the final fabrication. The team will build empathy with the processors to allow for refining of the problem by ensuring that the needs of the processors are adequately captured. This will be followed by an ideating and prototyping process which involves participatory brainstorming of stakeholders to find a solution and prototype to the challenges identified. This process will ensure that the needs of the processor are well defined and understood so that the equipment are designed to be appropriate for them. The prototype will then be tested for its performance.