Komera – micronutrient flour fortifier
“4 out of 10 Rwandan children are micronutrient deficient. 1 out of 10 of them will die from malnourishment.”
Develop a way to improve the health of poor Rwandan families Client: Project Healthy Children
The Komera (“Be Strong!” in Kinyarwanda) is a $35 mixer that attaches to the output of small-scale mills and evenly mixes vitamin and mineral fortificant into cassava flour.
Malnutrition affects over 2 billion people globally and is linked to 60% of child deaths in Rwanda. While fortification is the most cost-effective solution, it is not yet an option for those without access to centrally processed grains. The Komera aims to solve this problem.
The Komera is developed for a small-scale miller who grinds the grain and starch of a village’s people growing their own food. A small amount of fortificant is added to the flour in the Komera where it becomes well-mixed and quickly turns from a nutrient-free calorie to a micronutrient-rich food supply. The Komera is easily adopted as it doesn’t require a shift in existing milling behavior and it is made from low-cost and local materials.
6 month project, 2009, partership with Sonia Sapre, Akshay Kothari, Hari Srinivassan, Nick Liao. Second prototype manufacturing assistance, MonekyWrench Design.
Watch a Rwandan small-scale mill owner process cassava: rwandanmiller
View the first small-scale fortificant mixer prototype: zingmixer
Watch the improved prototype function: improvedkomera
