The proposed project aims to contribute to sustainable farming by expanding economic opportunities in rural Cambodian communities via transfer of Czech technical know-how related to the conservation of tropical fruit (mainly mango) using solar energy.

Current problem of Cambodian farmers are huge post-harvest losses, as the mango season is short and intensive. Producers sell the fruit at low price or they just let it rotten.

The proposed solution is to transfer the technical knowledge of innovative solar dryers developed by Mendel University expert team to community carpenter workshops, where emphasis will be placed on the involvement of young people. In second part, mango farmers will be trained in processes of conservation fruits and by drying. For reaching high durability, the fruit needs different treatment, so the exact processes of treating ripe fruit, drying, packing and storing will be subject to trainings.

Next part of the project will be the education in the field of business, marketing and market linkage, as the Cambodian partner expressed the interest in selling and exporting dried fruits. The resulted products will be presented to local and foreign markets including interested Czech company, which imports dried fruits and is interested in dried mangoes from Cambodia and is willing to export the products to European market.

The last project activity will be support of scale up by promotion of solar dryers within NGO’s, donors and other institutions active in the field of community farming and fruit farming.

 

Mendel University successfully implemented UNDP Challenge Fund Project in Cambodia – link to the article.