6. Ongoing Research and Development Work

The development of appropriate small scale oil production technology requires a multidisciplinary approach. It requires not only activities in the technical field to improve upon processes and equipment and to realize local manufacturing of the equipment as well as establishing maintenance services, but also activities in the socio-economic field. The actual socioeconomic performance of a proposed technology has to be monitored and evaluated in the practical social setting.

This kind of research and development work is, for instance, carried out by the following organizations and projects:

APICA, Douala Akwa, Cameroon

Recently APICA has presented a vertical version of its CALTECH press (capacity 70-90 kg/h). Unfortunately details are not yet available.

ATI, Washington, USA

ATI has designed a ram-type manual oil press that seems to be particularly interesting for the processing of sunflowerseed with a thin husk. The equipment is said to be manufactured by Themi Farm Implements, Arusha, Tanzania on an experimental basis.

CEPAZE, Paris, France

In Mali, CEPAZE is developing an improved processing system for village scale shea nut processing which includes mechanized grinding and separation of the oil by centrifuging. Animal drawn, pedal-operated and motorized versions are currently being tested.

ENDA, Dakar, Senegal

Besides its dissemination activities ENDA works to improve upon the existing press. The development of a nutcracker has been taken up as well.

GTZ/GATE Karite (Shea Butter) Project, Bamako, Mali

As already mentioned in section 5.1.2, the existing shea nut press is still being improved. Also work is being done to improve the preparation step in order to optimize the process.

IPI, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

On the basis of the existing equipment for sunflowerseed processing IPI is also developing equipment for processing oilpalm fruit, palmkernels and coconuts.

Karite (Shea Butter) Project, Ministry of Agriculture, Koudougou, Burkina Faso

At Koudougou, a multidisciplinary team is evaluating a range of possible technologies to improve upon the traditional Karite processing methods.

KIT, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Besides the continued development of equipment to carry out the preparatory stages (e.g. grating equipment for coconut, and equipment for the pulping of the fruit of the Seje palm Jessenia Bataua), KIT is carrying out field tests of oil production systems. Additionally, KIT is involved in the development of dissemination methods.

NIFOR, Benin City, Nigeria

NIFOR is developing, with the assistance of UNDP, oilpalm fruit processing equipment to cater for the need of small farmers. An important component of the proposed unit is a horizontal digester capable for digesting 2 tons of sterilized fruits per 8 hours. The unit is meant to be used by cooperative societies as a centralized processing unit.

TDAU, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia

On the basis of the available equipment for sunflowerseed processing, TDAU assists the company LUTANDA in Kitwe, Zambia, with the manufacturing of the equipment. Also TDAU has started to develop advisory services for assisting interested parties with the establishment of sunflowerseed processing units.