An agenda has already been prepared on the board. The official character and the start with a prayer is very important here. Our teammate Rashid, who is in charge of the cooperative, is really on fire today and extremely proud that he can welcome and introduce me as Mzungu (European descent = name for white). He moderates with his beaming smile and also proves himself as a translator from the local language, Luganda, into English and vice versa. English is the official language, which is also taught at school. To make sure that everything is understood, we take the time to speak Luganda.
Everyone is curious to learn more about the planned construction of the new manufacturing plant. I can feel the great hope that lies in our project. It is a wonderful feeling, but at this moment I also realize the great responsibility. The cooperative suffers a lot from the high losses in the production of the dried fruits. Due to the current process, it is not possible to achieve a stable quality. In addition, the fruit is peeled and cut in the open air. This is a risk in terms of contamination by bacteria or vermin and, according to Rashid, should be prohibited in the future for export goods. This would mean a loss of sales for dried fruit. Our project is therefore of great importance for our partner in many respects: stable and significantly higher income for the dried pineapples, production technology that will also secure the production and export of dried fruit in the future, and further development of know-how with regard to modern food processing at a high quality standard.
We present to the participants the concept of our production including the supply with solar energy. We process the fruit with the energy of the sun. This means that we have to use as many hours of sunshine as possible for the operation of the dryer. The tray dryer must be loaded with 140 kg of cut pineapple by 10 a.m. and will then operate at 60°C for 10 - 12 hours. This means that 450 kg of fresh pineapple will be processed in the early morning hours. Together, we will go through each process step and the required equipment step by step. In the future, stainless steel equipment will be used for peeling, coring and cutting in addition to the knives. This is the only way to cut a large quantity into precise pieces in a short time. Jannat Nandudu, the quality manager of the cooperative, sees our process as the solution to many problems in her area of responsibility. In order to be able to present everything clearly to the team, we printed our "slides" on tarpaulins. Beaming PowerPoint onto the wall does not work here and being creative is a requirment. It is simply fun to discuss with the committed team and to answer the many questions. Together with Jane Nalunga, our agronomist and consultant in the team, Rashid will start with the trainings on different focal points. He is tireless in repeating his training program regularly and to keep his people on their toes. After a few intense hours, there is a colorful group picture and then the crowd disperses chattering and I drive back to Kampala with Muhammed on the dirt roads.