Simple Technology to Get to the Nut of a Problem

Simple Technology to Get to the Nut of a Problem
The Full Belly Project fights hunger in rural villages with labor-saving machines, including the Universal Nut Sheller. Transcript of radio broadcast:
09 March 2008

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Peanuts, or groundnuts, are an important crop in many developing countries. But getting them out of their shell is tiring without a machine.

In two thousand one, a Canadian inventor, Jock Brandis, designed a hand-powered peanut sheller for a village in Mali. In one hour it can shell about fifty-six kilograms of peanuts.


By the end of this year, twenty countries will be using the Universal Nut Sheller and other technologies from the Full Belly Project.
This nonprofit group was established in North Carolina in two thousand three. The aim is to fight hunger and help rural economies with labor-saving agricultural devices that can be reproduced locally.

Former Peace Corps volunteer Jeff Rose heads the Full Belly Project. He says a village in Malawi used a single sheller to process thirty tons of peanuts over two months.

Selling them raised sixteen thousand dollars. The United States Agency for International Development also provided money, and the village was able to build a water well.

That single machine, says Jeff Rose, cost the village just twenty-eight dollars to make.

As described at fullbellyproject.org, the Universal Nut Sheller is basically a cement cone within a cone. The top and bottom are open. The user turns a handle and the peanuts fall between the surfaces and are rolled and squeezed. The peanuts and broken shells drop through the bottom and are separated by hand.

The machine can also shell coffee, jatropha, shea nuts and neem nuts.

There are two main ways that the group provides its technologies. One is where individuals or groups based in the United States donate seven hundred dollars. In return, they take a kit and build the sheller in a developing country.

The kit contains fiberglass molds and enough metal pieces to build three machines. With the molds an unlimited number of machines can be built with locally purchased metal parts. The sheller generally costs about fifty to seventy-five dollars to make.

The second way the group distributes its machines is through partnerships with nongovernmental organizations.

The Full Belly Project also has a pedal-powered sheller. Now, volunteers are designing a pedal-powered grain crusher. Goals for the future include all the simple technologies needed to make ready-to-use therapeutic foods to treat malnutrition.

And that’s the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. For a link to the Full Belly Project, go to voaspecialenglish.com.

----------------------------Google Translate

简单的科技，以获得向螺母的一个问题
全部项目肚子饥饿打架，在农村与省力的机器，其中包括通用螺母剥壳机。全文电台广播：
2008年3月9日

这是美国之音特别英语的发展报告。

花生，或落花生，是一个很重要的作物在许多发展中国家。但要让他们离开自己的壳，是累，没有一台机器。

在2000一，由加拿大发明人，英军brandis ，设计了一款手供电花生剥壳机，为村民在马里。在一小时内可以壳约56公斤的花生。

到去年底，今年年中， 20个国家将使用通用螺母剥壳机和其它技术，从充满肚子项目。
这个非营利性组织成立于北卡罗莱纳州，在2000 3 。其目的是消除饥饿和帮助广大农村经济与劳动节水农业设备能够被复制本地。

前和平队志愿人员杰夫玫瑰元首全面肚子项目。他说，一个村庄在马拉维使用一个单一的剥壳机，以过程30吨的花生，经过2个多月。

出售他们提出的1.6万美元。美国国际开发署也提供了资金，村，是能够建设一个水井。

即单台机器说，杰夫上升，成本，村民就是28美元，以使。

描述在fullbellyproject.org ，普遍螺母剥壳机基本上是一个水泥锥一锥。顶部和底部是开放的。用户把处理和花生秋天之间的表面，并推出了挤压。花生和碎壳辍学通过底部相距手。

机器还可以壳咖啡，麻风树，伊博士坚果和楝树坚果。

主要有两个途径，该集团提供的技术。一个是地方的个人或群体为基础，在美国捐赠700美元。作为回报，他们采取了一套与建设剥壳机在一个发展中国家举行。

该套件包含玻璃模具和足够的金属件，以建立三个机器。与模具无限次数的机器可建与在当地购买金属零件。该剥壳机，一般的成本约为50至75美元，以使。

第二条路集团销售的机器是通过与非政府组织。

充分肚子项目也有一个踏板电动剥壳机。现在，志愿者是设计一个踏板供电粮食破碎。今后的目标包括所有的简单技术需要作出随时可用的治疗性食品，以治疗营养不良。

这也是该美国之音特别英语发展报告撰写的吉尔苔。为纽带，以充分肚子项目，去voaspecialenglish.com 。