Rice, Grain Huller

I received the communication below. The sender was hoping to receive donations to buy a cargo trike in order to take the rice to town. However, the problem statement could be converted from “we need a cargo trike” to “we need an inexpensive means to hull rice locally. Then I found this link so I know someone has done something with this. It’s a rather poor website, but I’m wondering if we might design and build a better rice husker. Just a thought.
Rice Hulling.jpg

Report from David Logbo, October 2015
This photo is of a place where there is no machine to hull the rice. Gbli Bessi, a hamlet, is located about 20 Km from Depa (where Project Hope and Fairness built a rice hulling operation). The woman who is pounding the rice is Lekadou Gbagbo. She has to hull the rice the old-fashioned way because she can’t afford to haul the rice to Depa.
She told me that if there were a cargo trike (like the one that PH&F donated to Zereguhe), she could have saved herself a lot of trouble.
Right now, it’s rice hulling season, but the facility in Depa has only processed 120 Kg because we are in a severe drought.
As always, we thank Project Hope and Fairness for all they have done for us.

I got this correspondence from Tom Neuhaus from Project Hope and Fairness:

Hi Pete. A rice huller would be great as would a cassava shredder. Attached is a picture of one that is bicycle-mounted. Also, a cocoa drier such as the one pictured that is heated with burning ag debris that is converted into carbon monoxide which apparently behaves like natural gas (although dangerous indoors!) and the heat is blown up through the drawers, whose bottoms are made of wire mesh.

Happy Holidays! Tom

20160113_174822.jpg (2560×1440)
20160113_174822.jpg (2560×1440)

Above is our group posing with a rocket stove in which our minced rice hulls will be used to create.