Challenges

According to the World Food Programme, over 23 million people face food insecurity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and an estimated 2.8 million children are acutely malnourished.

These food security challenges are compounded by the inaccessibility of certain food products within the country. The DRC has several rivers and lakes that could produce fish products. Yet those who do fish in this lake, do so on a small basis and their limited catch is too expensive for most people. Additionally, the fish cannot be dried and stored for lean seasons due to a lack of technology as end-users do not have the financial means to purchase the necessary machinery and most of the region does not have access to technology. For those who are able to dry their fish, the quality is very poor because the fish was dried by hand.

Solutions

Freejoy manufactures solar-powered dryers, some of which are donated to community members. The innovator leverages Memorandums of Understanding with non-governmental organizations to train community members on the technology and supply them with the technology. They purchase fresh fish caught from Lake Tanganyika, dry it, and sell it in Uvira, DRC. By drying the fish at low temperatures in their solar dryers, the fish retain all their nutritional value.