3 September 2014. Roll out of first prototype.

The design criteria of the short term food storage unit has been summarised in the form of a systems poster. Before the design of this product can start, it is important to figure out the principle of cooling. In an effort to do so the prototyping of the principle will continue for another week. This blog is about the first effort of experimenting with evaporative cooling in a way that mimics the traditional Zeer (ceramic pot in pot with soil). This first round of experimentation is an attempt at achieving similar results to the Zeer using lighter and cheaper materials (plastic 'pots' testing a variety of different materials between the pots, namely cellulose sponge, veldt, thinsulate and soil).

Due to time limitations of when the farmers could meet with me, the roll out of the first prototypes had to happen before I could test them myself. As this post is happening a week late I have already gotten feedback from the first roll out. In hinds sight it would be better to test the principle myself in order to figure the most effective set up and then test is this is still effective in the context of a farm. The first roll out did, however bring some general insight related to resources such as time, labor, water and space. 

 As the produce on my site is limited for now, I purchased some produce from Masarame's sight in Tladi. Here I bought spinach, spring onion and carrots. Its was useful to witness the harvesting and in-house purchasing process.

Onions and carrots are pulled out the ground and the farmer shakes and cleans the roots. They measure a bunch by what can fit in your hand. They then tie the bunches. Depending on the consumer and the point of purchase, they will wash the produce and hand it over in a bag.

Onions need to be peeled before they are bunched.

The manual harvesting process is time consuming. It took about 20 minutes to harvest 2 bunches of spinach, 2 bunches of onions and 6 carrots (R47). Masarame, like the farmers at Siyazenzela express that they were unable to harvest all of their produce for the market because of the limited time and labor available on the morning of the market. Preparing, by harvesting the day before is out of the question as the produce will not be fresh enough the next day. If the short term storage unit can accommodate for harvesting the day before, farmers can be more efficient in their harvesting and selling and therefore sell more produce and waste less produce. 

 Two farmers harvest the produce in 20 minutes. After harvesting the carrots Masarame had to remove the smaller ones  that were under developed (left). 

 Happy with my first purchase, it was time to go to Siyazenzela and use these in the test.

The actual visit to Siyazenzela and the roll out of the first prototype was relatively short. I introduced the purpose of the testing and how it would work.

There were 6 tests. Four different Zeer mimics (view 2 posts ago), one test in a simple container (similar to a lunch box) and another test with no storage (produce was placed on a tree stump under the shade.

It is important to compare the four main tests to each other to see which material works best and then compare these results to control test to see if the technology is actually offering something better that a regular container or no container at all.

I set up the two control test in front of the farmers and then I set up on of the four main tests for the farmers to see how the test would work.

 I explained that in this test the lid will act as a vacuum, so as it is pushed down it vacuums the air inside to a certain extent. This is to keep control during testing. I then explained the reason of why and how it was set up and the purpose of each feature. Thermometers were placed on the inside of each transparent lid so that the testing process can be recorded (view in image below).

 I completed one of the tests after closing the lid and pouring water in between the 'pots'.

 I then asked the farmers to complete the other tests to allow them to understand and participate in the process.

 It was simple so this went quickly. All interface actions must be kept simple so that it is intuitive and the product can be used easily by any farmer.

The farmers completed the operations correctly without any difficulty or hesitation. After watering the systems, I handed Earl a simple table to record the testing as he lives on the farm. The table asked to record the temperature and quality of the food at 1 30pm and 6pm that day. At 6pm the systems were to be watered again and the temperature and quality was to be recorded at 7am the next morning (1hour after Earl wakes up). On the day of a market, farmers begin harvesting at 3am.

One week later, I returned to see how the tests went. The units were still in the storage classroom that the farmers have access to. Unfortunately Earl didn't provide a filled in table for me. He could only tell me that the four main tests fared better then the control test that was placed on the tree stump outside. He did not refill the storage with water at 6pm and only checked the temperature and produce the next day at 12am. He did, however, say that he could still sell the produce that were in the containers over night for the same price. The ones outside were not sellable in Earl's opinion. He only gave one reading for all the tests and said that the temperature went down to 24 and then up to 25 at 12am the next day. This reading was even the same for the lunchbox test. 

It is now necessary to replicate the testing in a more controlled manner. This will show if there is no difference between the four main tests as Earl suggests. Before I return to the farms with the second prototype, I will figure the cooling principle and include the one that works best under controlled testing. It must then also be successful in the context on the farms.

Once the principle has been figure out, the design on the storage unit and and all relating aspects can then be addressed.