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United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Sustainable Development

Title of Initiative Increasing Drying Efficiencies with Solar Dryers for Three Commodities

    Description
    Description
    Kopernik finds what works to reduce poverty by experimenting with potential solutions that address common challenges facing people living in the last mile. Indonesia produces several of the world’s most in-demand soft commodities, such as cashews, copra and cacao. The majority of farmers for these commodities are smallholders. The practice of sun-drying is common among smallholders in Indonesia, albeit time-consuming, labor intensive and weather dependant. In response to this problem, Kopernik conducted a series of experiments, designing and testing solar dryers, aiming to provide a locally available dryer with the cost and capacity aligned with the needs of smallholders.
    Expected Impact

    Kopernik rapidly tests innovative solutions in last mile contexts to determine their potential to reduce poverty effectively. In these experiments Kopernik adopts a lean approach, collecting and analyzing small-scale data to determine the effectiveness of the solutions. Kopernik undertakes a series of phases to learn and tweak our path during the experiment. For this project, Kopernik implemented a series of projects across Indonesia, we worked with cacao beans from October 2016 to November 2017 in Angkah Village, Bali. We worked with cashews and copra in Pajinian Village, Adonara Island, East Flores and cashews in Padung Village, East Nusa Tenggara. These projects started from May 2016 to January 2018. Phase three will be implemented in 2019 in Bali. Kopernik measured three variables, comparing different solar dryer designs with the traditional drying method and an electric oven (cashews): 1) Time taken to achieve optimal moisture level, 2) Quality of the products after the drying process, and 3) Opportunities for extra income.

    Capacity

    Kopernik’s local partners are engaged to collaborate on a project due to their expertise in a particular sector. A partnership agreement is signed, and a project profile is agreed between all partners. Kopernik worked with a different partner in each stage because they each had expertise in different commodities. Kopernik partnered with UPH Subak Abian Buana Mekar for cacao beans in Bali, Maria Loretha for cashews and copra in Pajinian village, Adonara Island and Koperasi Punaliput for cashews in Padung village in East Nusa Tenggara. Kopernik’s general role is to carry out the assessment of simple technologies aimed at last mile communities. Kopernik designs the experiment and gathers funding through our online crowdfunding platform and by applying for grants. Kopernik also fulfills the role of writing project reports and disseminating these findings. We do this by publishing the results of the projects online through our website and by presenting what we do and what we have learned at international events. We also hold stakeholder meetings at the end of each project to discuss our findings with key players as a way of capacity-building and involving other public and private interest groups. Kopernik’s end goal with this project is to develop a solar dryer design that can be built with locally available materials to alleviate issues related to traditional drying methods and to increase smallholders’ income.

    Governed

    Kopernik’s Solutions Lab serves communities in the last mile by conducting lean experiments to find what works. Our projects are largely related to finding appropriate simple technological solutions to reduce poverty. Kopernik’s Solutions Lab team is comprised of engineers, economists, industrial designers and project management specialists that are experienced in product development, logistics, business planning, project management, data collection/analysis and report writing. Since our team’s establishment in 2017, we have conducted over 30 experiments across six sectors to support the sustainable development goals. In our projects, we engage local partners because of their expertise and availability to monitor and carry out the experiment in the field as most of our projects are located in remote areas. This series of solar drying experiments was conducted in response to findings in Kopernik’s Unmet Needs Report published in 2016. We learnt that very few commercial dryers exist that have been tested and proven beneficial for Indonesia’s most important soft commodities. Kopernik’s Solutions Lab then engaged farmer groups and individual farmers in Bali and East Nusa Tenggara Provinces to test different solar dryer designs for cashew, copra and cacao beans. The Solutions Lab is responsible for managing the partnership, collecting data, writing the final report and disseminating that information amongst like-minded professionals with the ultimate aim that a solar dryer can be designed that is easy to build with locally available resources, is affordable and results in higher income for the smallholder farmer.

    Partners
    UPH (Unit Pengolahan Hasil) Subak Abian Buana Mekar, Koperasi Punaliput, and Daiwa Securities Group and Russell Investments

    Goal 8

    Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

    Goal 8

    8.1

    Sustain per capita economic growth in accordance with national circumstances and, in particular, at least 7 per cent gross domestic product growth per annum in the least developed countries
    8.1.1

    Annual growth rate of real GDP per capita

    8.2

    Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, including through a focus on high-value added and labour-intensive sectors

    8.2.1

    Annual growth rate of real GDP per employed person

    8.3

    Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services

    8.3.1

    Proportion of informal employment in total employment, by sector and sex

    8.4

    Improve progressively, through 2030, global resource efficiency in consumption and production and endeavour to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation, in accordance with the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production, with developed countries taking the lead

    8.4.1

    Material footprint, material footprint per capita, and material footprint per GDP

    8.4.2

    Domestic material consumption, domestic material consumption per capita, and domestic material consumption per GDP

    8.5

    By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value
    8.5.1

    Average hourly earnings of female and male employees, by occupation, age and persons with disabilities

    8.5.2

    Unemployment rate, by sex, age and persons with disabilities

    8.6

    By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training
    8.6.1

    Proportion of youth (aged 15-24 years) not in education, employment or training

    8.7

    Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms

    8.7.1

    Proportion and number of children aged 5‑17 years engaged in child labour, by sex and age

    8.8

    Protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment

    8.8.1

    Fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries per 100,000 workers, by sex and migrant status

    8.8.2

    Level of national compliance with labour rights (freedom of association and collective bargaining) based on International Labour Organization (ILO) textual sources and national legislation, by sex and migrant status

    8.9

    By 2030, devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products

    8.9.1

    Tourism direct GDP as a proportion of total GDP and in growth rate

    8.10

    Strengthen the capacity of domestic financial institutions to encourage and expand access to banking, insurance and financial services for all

    8.10.1

    (a) Number of commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults and (b) number of automated teller machines (ATMs) per 100,000 adults

    8.10.2

    Proportion of adults (15 years and older) with an account at a bank or other financial institution or with a mobile-money-service provider

    8.a

    Increase Aid for Trade support for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, including through the Enhanced Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance to Least Developed Countries
    8.a.1

    Aid for Trade commitments and disbursements

    8.b

    By 2020, develop and operationalize a global strategy for youth employment and implement the Global Jobs Pact of the International Labour Organization

    8.b.1

    Existence of a developed and operationalized national strategy for youth employment, as a distinct strategy or as part of a national employment strategy

    Goal 2

    End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

    Goal 2

    2.1

    By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round

    2.1.1

    Prevalence of undernourishment

    2.1.2

    Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES)

    2.2

    By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and older persons

    2.2.1

    Prevalence of stunting (height for age <-2 standard deviation from the median of the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age

    2.2.2

    Prevalence of malnutrition (weight for height >+2 or <-2 standard deviation from the median of the WHO Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age, by type (wasting and overweight)

    2.2.3

    Prevalence of anaemia in women aged 15 to 49 years, by pregnancy status (percentage)

    2.3

    By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment
    2.3.1

    Volume of production per labour unit by classes of farming/pastoral/forestry enterprise size

    2.3.2

    Average income of small-scale food producers, by sex and indigenous status

    2.4

    By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality

    2.4.1

    Proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture

    2.5

    By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species, including through soundly managed and diversified seed and plant banks at the national, regional and international levels, and promote access to and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as internationally agreed

    2.5.1

    Number of (a) plant and (b) animal genetic resources for food and agriculture secured in either medium- or long-term conservation facilities

    2.5.2

    Proportion of local breeds classified as being at risk of extinction

    2.a

    Increase investment, including through enhanced international cooperation, in rural infrastructure, agricultural research and extension services, technology development and plant and livestock gene banks in order to enhance agricultural productive capacity in developing countries, in particular least developed countries
    2.a.1

    The agriculture orientation index for government expenditures

    2.a.2

    Total official flows (official development assistance plus other official flows) to the agriculture sector

    2.b

    Correct and prevent trade restrictions and distortions in world agricultural markets, including through the parallel elimination of all forms of agricultural export subsidies and all export measures with equivalent effect, in accordance with the mandate of the Doha Development Round

    2.b.1

    Agricultural export subsidies

    2.c

    Adopt measures to ensure the proper functioning of food commodity markets and their derivatives and facilitate timely access to market information, including on food reserves, in order to help limit extreme food price volatility

    2.c.1

    Indicator of food price anomalies

    Goal 17

    Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

    Goal 17

    17.1

    Strengthen domestic resource mobilization, including through international support to developing countries, to improve domestic capacity for tax and other revenue collection

    17.1.1
    Total government revenue as a proportion of GDP, by source
    17.1.2
    Proportion of domestic budget funded by domestic taxes

    17.2

    Developed countries to implement fully their official development assistance commitments, including the commitment by many developed countries to achieve the target of 0.7 per cent of ODA/GNI to developing countries and 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of ODA/GNI to least developed countries; ODA providers are encouraged to consider setting a target to provide at least 0.20 per cent of ODA/GNI to least developed countries

    17.2.1
    Net official development assistance, total and to least developed countries, as a proportion of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee donors’ gross national income (GNI)

    17.3

    Mobilize additional financial resources for developing countries from multiple sources

    17.3.1

    Additional financial resources mobilized for developing countries from multiple sources 

    17.3.2
    Volume of remittances (in United States dollars) as a proportion of total GDP

    17.4

    Assist developing countries in attaining long-term debt sustainability through coordinated policies aimed at fostering debt financing, debt relief and debt restructuring, as appropriate, and address the external debt of highly indebted poor countries to reduce debt distress

    17.4.1
    Debt service as a proportion of exports of goods and services

    17.5

    Adopt and implement investment promotion regimes for least developed countries

    17.5.1

    Number of countries that adopt and implement investment promotion regimes for developing countries, including the least developed countries

    17.6

    Enhance North-South, South-South and triangular regional and international cooperation on and access to science, technology and innovation and enhance knowledge sharing on mutually agreed terms, including through improved coordination among existing mechanisms, in particular at the United Nations level, and through a global technology facilitation mechanism

    17.6.1

     Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, by speed

    17.7

    Promote the development, transfer, dissemination and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies to developing countries on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed

    17.7.1

    Total amount of funding for developing countries to promote the development, transfer, dissemination and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies

    17.8

    Fully operationalize the technology bank and science, technology and innovation capacity-building mechanism for least developed countries by 2017 and enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology

    17.8.1
    Proportion of individuals using the Internet

    17.9

    Enhance international support for implementing effective and targeted capacity-building in developing countries to support national plans to implement all the Sustainable Development Goals, including through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation

    17.9.1

    Dollar value of financial and technical assistance (including through North-South, South‑South and triangular cooperation) committed to developing countries

    17.10

    Promote a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization, including through the conclusion of negotiations under its Doha Development Agenda

    17.10.1
    Worldwide weighted tariff-average

    17.11

    Significantly increase the exports of developing countries, in particular with a view to doubling the least developed countries’ share of global exports by 2020

    17.11.1

    Developing countries’ and least developed countries’ share of global exports

    17.12

    Realize timely implementation of duty-free and quota-free market access on a lasting basis for all least developed countries, consistent with World Trade Organization decisions, including by ensuring that preferential rules of origin applicable to imports from least developed countries are transparent and simple, and contribute to facilitating market access

    17.12.1

    Weighted average tariffs faced by developing countries, least developed countries and small island developing States

    17.13

    Enhance global macroeconomic stability, including through policy coordination and policy coherence

    17.13.1
    Macroeconomic Dashboard

    17.14

    Enhance policy coherence for sustainable development

    17.14.1
    Number of countries with mechanisms in place to enhance policy coherence of sustainable development

    17.15

    Respect each country’s policy space and leadership to establish and implement policies for poverty eradication and sustainable development 

    17.15.1
    Extent of use of country-owned results frameworks and planning tools by providers of development cooperation

    17.16

    Enhance the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in all countries, in particular developing countries

    17.16.1

    Number of countries reporting progress in multi-stakeholder development effectiveness monitoring frameworks that support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals

    17.17

    Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships 

    17.17.1

    Amount in United States dollars committed to public-private partnerships for infrastructure

    17.18

    By 2020, enhance capacity-building support to developing countries, including for least developed countries and small island developing States, to increase significantly the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location and other characteristics relevant in national contexts

    17.18.1

    Statistical capacity indicators

    17.18.2
    Number of countries that have national statistical legislation that complies with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics
    17.18.3

    Number of countries with a national statistical plan that is fully funded and under implementation, by source of funding

    17.19

    By 2030, build on existing initiatives to develop measurements of progress on sustainable development that complement gross domestic product, and support statistical capacity-building in developing countries

    17.19.1
    Dollar value of all resources made available to strengthen statistical capacity in developing countries
    17.19.2

    Proportion of countries that (a) have conducted at least one population and housing census in the last 10 years; and (b) have achieved 100 per cent birth registration and 80 per cent death registration

    Name Description
    Research and Development: Researched the traditional practice in the production of cacao, copra, and cashew. Gained input from our partners in Angkah, Padung and Pajinian Villages about the main issues, the existing technologies, the production stages, and specifications of technologies needed for the smallholder farmers.
    Prototyping and Data Collection: Implemented the project in terms of product development. Involved the smallholder farmers to gain feedback on product design. Used the different designs and data collected to prove or disprove the hypothesis. We hypothesized that a solar dryer would reduce the drying time for commodities and produce a higher quality product when compared to the traditional floor drying method. Specifically for cashews, we hypothesized that it would be more cost effective to use a solar dryer than an electric oven.
    Data Analysis and Reporting: Analyze the data collected and presented it in project reports published on Kopernik’s website. Hold a stakeholder meeting to present information to public and private interest groups and discuss the next steps of this project.
    Financing (in USD)
    22139
    Staff / Technical expertise
    This project was managed by a partnership between Kopernik, Maria Loretha, UPH (Unit Pengolahan Hasil) Subak Abian Buana Mekar and Koperasi Punaliput.
    No progress reports have been submitted. Please sign in and click here to submit one.
    False
    This initiative does not yet fulfil the SMART criteria.
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    Timeline
    01 October 2016 (start date)
    01 December 2019 (date of completion)
    Entity
    N/A
    SDGs
    Geographical coverage
    Bali and East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
    More information
    Countries
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    Contact Information

    Sarah Wilson, Associate Director (Solutions Lab)