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In Ethiopia, traditional methods of separating the grain from the straw (threshing) include beating the plant on the ground or using animals to crush it. These processes are difficult, time intensive, and unsanitary as the grain is subjected to a mix of dirt, rock and animal droppings. Ethiopian farmers lack the resources to purchase traditional threshers and the fuel that powers them.
W.E. Do Good™ is a social entrepreneurship whose solution to this challenge is the Teff Thresher. It’s a grain-processing machine designed exclusively to overcome all the barriers of traditional machines.
The Teff Thresher
• Affordable for Ethiopian farmers
• Human powered – no fuel or electricity needed
• Easy to use in most conditions
• Made of readily available parts
• Locally manufactured for faster delivery
• Durable and portable, to create micro business opportunities
• Necessary to maximize threshing productivity
• Affordable for Ethiopian farmers
• Human powered – no fuel or electricity needed
• Easy to use in most conditions
• Made of readily available parts
• Locally manufactured for faster delivery
• Durable and portable, to create micro business opportunities
• Necessary to maximize threshing productivity
What Is This New “Supergrain?”
Teff grain is Ethiopia’s most significant crop. Known as the new quinoa, Teff is always in high demand, and is crucial to both the livelihood and nutrition of millions of Ethiopians. Though it is as small as a poppy seed, Teff is packed with nutritional benefits and has been used as flour for centuries to create traditional dishes such as Injera. Grown as a food grain only in one other country, Teff is the most important crop both in terms of production and consumption in Ethiopia.
As the preferred cereal, Teff fetches a relatively high price on the market, making it an attractive cash crop to farmers. Additionally, Teff is Nutritionally rich in iron, calcium, and protein. It’s gluten free, high in fiber, and ranks low on the glycemic index making it suitable for consumption for Type II diabetic. It can be successfully grown under different agro-ecological conditions, ranging from lowland to highland areas. Teff is safe to store for many years without being seriously damaged by common storage insect pests.
What Is This New “Supergrain?”
Teff grain is Ethiopia’s most significant crop. Known as the new quinoa, Teff is always in high demand, and is crucial to both the livelihood and nutrition of millions of Ethiopians. Though it is as small as a poppy seed, Teff is packed with nutritional benefits and has been used as flour for centuries to create traditional dishes such as Injera. Grown as a food grain only in one other country, Teff is the most important crop both in terms of production and consumption in Ethiopia.
As the preferred cereal, Teff fetches a relatively high price on the market, making it an attractive cash crop to farmers. Additionally, Teff is Nutritionally rich in iron, calcium, and protein. It’s gluten free, high in fiber, and ranks low on the glycemic index making it suitable for consumption for Type II diabetic. It can be successfully grown under different agro-ecological conditions, ranging from lowland to highland areas. Teff is safe to store for many years without being seriously damaged by common storage insect pests.
How it Works: Inside the Teff Thresher
Threshing is a process in which farmers separate the Teff grain head from the straw, and separate the kernel from the head. Machine threshing is the most efficient method for Teff threshing, however, many harvesting machines are too expensive resulting in farmers using century-old methods.
In Ethiopia, traditional methods include beating the plant on the ground or using animals to crush it. These processes are difficult, time intensive, and unsanitary as the grain is subjected to a mix of dirt, rock and animal droppings.
The Teff Thresher transforms the traditional harvesting of Teff into an affordable and low-cost business opportunity. It has the potential to positively impact the social and economical well being of farmers and their families across Ethiopia.
More About the Thresher
The W.E. Do Good™ Human-Powered Teff Thresher is a low-cost, modern day machine designed to increase the production of harvesting Teff and reduce the effects of poverty for smallholder farmers in Ethiopia.
W.E. Do Good underwent intensive tests and research in collaboration with local farms and the Ethiopian Research Institute of Agriculture. We are proud to announce that our thresher meets all required specifications, and has capabilities for a high level of production. After the upcoming harvest, we will be manufacturing a fleet of threshers that we will distribute to various villages in order to get additional feedback.
- Has a low-impact design similar to a bicycle
Is driven by body weight so the operator is less fatigued while still outputting more power - Has interchangeable sieves allow for multi-grain production without a large increase in cost
- Has a stable design allows farmers to safely operate the thresher with ease under a variety of field conditions
- Designed to replace traditional methods of harvesting Teff with a more efficient and sanitary process
- Increases productivity while simultaneously reducing effects of poverty for underprivileged farmers
- Has a large design allows 2-4 people to easily power the thresher
- Increase threshing productivity and reduce winnowing labor required to blow away chaff
- Has a low-impact design similar to a bicycle
- Is driven by body weight so the operator is less fatigued while still outputting more power
- Has interchangeable sieves allow for multi-grain production without a large increase in cost
- Has a stable design allows farmers to safely operate the thresher with ease under a variety of field conditions
- Designed to replace traditional methods of harvesting Teff with a more efficient and sanitary process
- Increases productivity while simultaneously reducing effects of poverty for underprivileged farmers
- Has a large design allows 2-4 people to easily power the thresher
- Increase threshing productivity and reduce winnowing labor required to blow away chaff
