Thresher

Our local Fairtrade Groups have participated in the 90kg Rice Challenge by selling rice from Malawi which is imported by Justtrading in Paisley. If we sell 90 kg of rice, it's enough to send a child to high school in Malawi. Last year, two rice farmers came to visit Dumfries and talked about their crop and how selling it in this way makes a difference to their lives and their communities.
A local man listened to what the farmers were saying. He realised that they were threshing the rice by hand, which is a slow and laborious job. Recalling a Victorian threshing machine which he had seen, he set about making one himself. The seat is salvaged from an old tractor and the chain is from a bike. A few of the metal parts do have to be made, but most of his invention is made from wood, so that it can be cheaply reproduced and repaired. They have metal poles which slot into the sides so that two people can carry them like a sedan chair, to where they are used. Threshing is done by putting the picked rice in at the top and then the operator pedals steadily... Two machines are on their way to Malawi via Durban, and are set to arrive in the New Year.
Here is Rolf demonstrating at the Fairer World Fair in Dumfries.