Alvan Blanch Mobile Processing Systems
UK Manufacturer Offers Dynamic Approach to Africa’s Crop Processing Challenges
In Africa, a large percentage of food wastage takes place on the farm due to the lack of on-farm storage and crop processing facilities, poor transportation networks and inadequate technical know-how about crop processing techniques. A viable technological solution for increasing food production and reducing food wastage is something that all African countries seek in order to alleviate hunger whilst boosting economic growth. This is where Alvan Blanch comes into the picture.
Alvan Blanch Development Co. Ltd. has engineered a solution to these challenges. The leading UK manufacturer of agro-processing solutions has designed and perfected quality mobile processing solutions for fruit juice, grain and seed cleaning and drying, as well as flour and oilseed milling to mention but a few. Their first success was a pilot multi-fruit juice processing project which was conceived for the pioneering Food Tech department of the Makerere University, Kampala, and has proven a huge success across the country.
Alvan Blanch has also designed skid mounted systems that can either be deployed as stationary or moved between locations, such as a bespoke sorghum milling line with vitamin fortification shipped to Somalia, for the World Food Programme to combat a lack of nutritional children’s meals at schools.
Benefits of Alvan Blanch Mobile processing
Reducing food mileage is a key focus of the United Nations to slow down global warming. One mobile processing system strategically located in a farming community can ensure that all harvested crops all processed with minimal wastage whilst also minimising the car emissions that would have been generated from transporting these crops to a distant processing facility.
Other advantages of having crop processing systems in proximity to the farm fields at harvest:
- Reduces the time frame from harvesting to processing,
- Reduces the cost of transportation of harvested produce to a processing facility,
- Ensures poorer otherwise inaccessible farmers can be reached,
- Allows for cheaper raw material purchase by the processors, as there is no added cost of transportation and no middlemen overheads.
- Enables the processor to access different harvests in various regions – maxing out their investment.
- Banks and financers are more likely to lend against an asset which is not fixed.
Mobile processing allows processors can have access to fresh good quality crops at the point of harvest before they start to deteriorate. It affords processors the opportunity to pick and choose the varieties and quality they want to process, thereby eliminating the surprise of receiving poor undesired raw materials from middlemen.
Key Considerations
Although a relocatable factory seems to be the proverbial “pot of gold” that processors especially in Africa have been seeking, Alvan Blanch engineers advise there are a few factors that should be taken into consideration before investing in this system:
- If handling fresh fruits, accessibility to clean portable water cannot be overemphasized. Water is required either at the processing stage or for post processing operations.
- Most rural communities in Africa do not have power supply and when they do, it is often epileptic. A standby generator can be integrated by the manufacturer into the package.
- Adequate plans for ethical disposal of waste water and undesired by-products after processing should be arranged and discussed with local residents in each processing locations.
- The security of the mobile processing systems in such remote locations is often not guaranteed, so Alvan Blanch have designed a special security package which locks in the equipment for safe storage – and folds out during usage to provide a sun canopy and walkway for accessing the mobile factory.
Conclusion
It seems the potential is limitless for these moveable process lines. The UK engineering company has received growing interest in their mobile processing technology – with clients not wanting to limit their raw material sourcing to one region or harvest time. It is clear that mobile processing solutions have the potential to significantly reduce food wastage and boost food production in Africa.
Publications available for download:
- Mobile Pineapple Juice Plant, Nchila, ZAMBIA
- Tomato Paste Processing Plant, FIIRO, NIGERIA
- Containerised Oil Expelling Plant – 400 kg/hr, EAST AFRICA
- Skid Mounted Flour Milling Plant, World Food Programme, SOMALIA
- Skid Mounted Seed Cleaning Plant, Al Rajhi Group, EGYPT & SUDAN
- Skid-Mounted Wholemeal Maize Flour Mill – 5t/hr, World Food Programme, EAST AFRICA
- Mobile Double Flow Crop Driers
- Mobile Fruit Juice Processing Plant, Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development, NIGERIA
- Mobile Fruit Processing Plant, Makerere University, UGANDA
- Mobile Seed Processing Plants
Contact details:
For more information contact Christabel Blanch at:
Alvan Blanch Dev.Co. Ltd.
MAIL: Africa@alvanblanch.co.uk
WEBSITE: Click HERE for their website
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