We believe this cycle begins with the soil of a nation. If the soil is unhealthy crops will lack nutrients and the people will become malnourished, consequently the local economy will also suffer from lack of healthy inputs.

One of the crops that can reverse the damages of over-farming is the peanut. We focus on peanuts because it is the main source of protein for half a billion people. It is a lucrative crop, when the peanut is removed from the shell. Historically this process is performed by women and children. Children who perform this labor are often unable to attend school or their studies are affected by the fatigue they experience from staying up and shelling peanuts. Women, who already bare most of the family responsibilities already, must take an enormous amount of time out of their day hand shelling during the harvest season.

It takes the average individual one hour to shell two pounds of peanuts. Using Mali as an example one gets a sense of the need for a solution. According to the USAID supported Peanut Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP) http://168.29.148.65/home.cfm in 2003 the kilogram per hectare of peanuts produced was 817. Statistics like this made it clear to us that there was a great need for a simple solution to this mundane task. Dr. Tim Williams twillia (at) griffin (dot) uga (dot) edu head of the peanut CRSP estimates “In Africa alone, women spend four billion hours annually hand shelling peanuts.” After seeing this tedious labor first-hand in Mali, West Africa, Jock Brandis, set out to design a machine that does not rely on fuel or electricity. He wanted to design a simple tool that could be easily replicated in remote places in order to assist the poorest of the poor.

The Solution
Brandis designed a unique labor saving device made of cement and metal parts called the Universal Nut Sheller (UNS). The UNS shells peanuts at a rate of 125 pounds per hour, thus dramatically reducing labor that is historically performed by women and children. This is no bullet, but our work hits on many of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. http://www.undp.org/mdg/

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger UNS encourages growth of protein rich peanuts. The UNS thus creates localized income generating activities such as pressing seeds for oil, roasting, peanut butter making, peanut brittle, and even charging for shelling of nuts.

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education UNS frees time for children to focus on their studies. Creates the potential for extra income to send more children to school.

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women UNS reduces labor for women and often men step in to perform the task as it now involves use of a machine.

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality Peanut butter based Ready To Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF) are proving to be an effective way of treating and preventing malnutrition related child mortality

Goal 5: Improve maternal health Protein rich peanuts nourish both mother and child

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases The WHO states that peanut butter based RUTFs are also an effective delivery system for treating patients ill with HIV/AIDS

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability Peanuts improve soil quality by fixing nitrogen into the soil. Peanuts slow the rate of deforestation. Peanut shells can be used as a fuel alternative to reduce deforestation.

Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development Also a Goal of The Full Belly Project

With the UNS, peanut growers have an incentive to grow more and store a supply for sale or safe keeping. We encourage the inter-cropping of peanuts for land use maximization. This increase in growth of peanuts improves soil quality, crop yield, health of those that eat the protein rich peanuts, and improves the local economy by reducing labor and adding value to the crop.

As the name suggests the UNS is capable of shelling a variety of other crops. In addition to peanuts, the UNS benefits those who grow:

Shea - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shea - is used to make shea butter and other cosmetics. It is used as a cooking oil in West Africa

Coffee - UNS shells dry coffee which can then be sold for ten times the value as un-husked coffee

Jatropha Curcas - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jatropha_curcas - which is pressed to make Bio-fuel

Technical Information
To our knowledge, the UNS is the world’s only machine made of concrete. The machine works on the principals of centrifugal force, gravity and friction. The UNS is two cones of concrete - one that stays stationary and the other rotates removing the shells by friction. Full Belly uses cement and metal because they are readily available in most developing countries. The UNS provides immediate and lasting change with its ability to process a variety of crops without the use of electricity or fuel.

Project Growth
Since 2003, through third party collaborations and individual private donations, The Full Belly Project has distributed UNS kits to seventeen developing nations. We are very proud of this achievement, however, our impact is limited by the fact that typically only four machines are made with each of these UNS kits. Each UNS kit includes reusable fiberglass molds and four sets of metal parts.

In 2006 Full Belly developed an improved version of the UNS, the Pedal Powered Agricultural Processor (PPAP). That same year Jock Brandis was awarded Popular Mechanics Magazine Breakthrough Award. http://www.fullbellyproject.org/Documents/JockBrandis_BreakthroughAwardArticle.pdf Collaborating at MIT D-Lab’s http://web.mit.edu/d-lab/ design summit a group of 50 plus appropriate tech experts adopted the chassis of the PPAP as the international platform for a standardized pedal powered chassis. This decision was made because bicycle based machines are rarely standardized. The PPAP chassis is designed for interchangeable parts. It can house our Universal Nut Sheller, or our Pedal Powered Corn Cracker which can easily slide off for the Cotton Gin. Once you have the chassis you can pick and choose between the interchangeable parts according to your needs.

The PPAP is made of pipe, one oil drum and air conditioner pulleys, again these items were selected because they can be found in the larger cities of developing nations where higher volumes of crops are processed. In addition to shelling the same crops as the UNS, the PPAP is built with a fan that winnows the shell from the seeds thus further reducing labor.

Proposed Use of Funding
Rather than just sending UNS kits abroad we would like to continue to increase our impact by establishing production facilities. With grants, donations, and consultation fees we plan to train in: Ghana, Mali, Sudan, N. Uganda, the Philippines and Haiti for 2008-2009.

The Full Belly Project will train entrepreneurs selected by MIT D-lab, Peanut CRSP, Peace Corps and other NGO’s. We will provide a 3-5 week training which includes: Manufacturing and use of the UNS and or the PPAP, Marketing, Distribution and introducing our devices to micro-lenders to facilitate their adoption in local markets.

Each training would establish a local and independent business that would be granted license to manufacture and sell our appropriate technology.

We will monitor a collaborative information sharing network including the NGO’s and their entrepreneurs. We would test and disseminate improvements to our technology to this network. Our plan is to improve and expand the product line of appropriate technologies each business provides as we design more labor saving devices.

We are experimenting with the Pedal Powered chassis to make a pedal powered oil press. With further funding this easily replicable oil press would benefit growers of Shea, Peanuts, Jatropha, Neem, Sunflower and all other oil seed crops. This machine could easily be integrated into existing cooperatives or NGOs for local value addition, and reducing labor that is typically done by women and children. We are also experimenting with peanut shell briquettes to offer an alternative to cutting down forests for cooking fuel. These briquettes will be tested in Haiti to roast shelled peanuts, shelled with our PPAP. The briquettes and PPAP are being used by Meds and Food for Kids http://www.medsandfoodforkids.org who produces Medika Mamba a RUTF that is significantly reducing incidents of malnutrition in Haiti.

We have a RUTF formula that we believe can be replicated without use of importing vitamins by incorporating the dried leaves of Moringa Oleifera. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moringa_oleifera#Malnutrition We lack necessary funding to test this potentially lifesaving product and see partnerships on this work as a crucial way for us to close the loop on our shelling device.