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Sanoussi Diakité
The fonio husking machine was invented by Sanoussi Diakité, a Senegalese mechanical engineer. Diakité was awarded the Rolex Award in 1996 for the invention. Fonio is a staple crop in western Africa. Because the fonio grains are so small, their brittle outer shell is difficult to remove. "For hundreds of years, African women have carried out the painstaking task of preparing fonio by pounding and threshing a grain and sand mixture with a pestle and mortar. After one hour of this tedious work, only two kilograms of fonio are available for consumption and fifteen liters of water are needed to remove the sand." The whole process has been reduced from a 1-hour job to a 6-minute job. Diakité's solution was a device that gently abrades the surface of the seed before passing through a rotating mechanism, which removes the husks. The machine can husk of fonio in 8 minutes. Awards Diakité's device is an example of appropriate technology, because of its ability to solve a significan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Senegal
Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea to Guinea–Senegal border, the southeast and Guinea-Bissau to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, the southwest. Senegal nearly surrounds The Gambia, a country occupying a narrow sliver of land along the banks of the Gambia River, which separates Senegal's southern region of Casamance from the rest of the country. It also shares a maritime border with Cape Verde. Senegal's capital is Dakar. Senegal is the westernmost country in the mainland of the Old World, or Afro-Eurasia. It owes its name to the Senegal River, which borders it to the east and north. The climate is typically Sahelian, though there is a wet season, rainy season. Senegal covers a land area of almost and has a population of around 18 million. The state is a Presidential system ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mechanical Engineer
Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of arithmetic * Mechanical energy, the sum of potential energy and kinetic energy * Mechanical system, a system that manages the power of forces and movements to accomplish a task * Mechanism (engineering), a portion of a mechanical device Other * Mechanical (character), one of several characters in Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' * A kind of typeface in the VOX-ATypI classification See also * Machine A machine is a physical system that uses power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromol ..., especially in opposition to an electronic item * '' Mechanical Animals'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rolex Awards
Rolex () is a Swiss watch brand and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1905 as ''Wilsdorf and Davis'' by German businessman Hans Wilsdorf and his eventual brother-in-law Alfred Davis in London, the company registered ''Rolex'' as the brand name of its watches in 1908 and became ''Rolex Watch Co. Ltd.'' in 1915. After World War I, the company moved its base of operations to Geneva because of the unfavorable economy that led to business instability. In 1920, Hans Wilsdorf registered ''Montres Rolex SA'' in Geneva as the new company name (''montre'' is French for watch); it later became ''Rolex SA''. Since 1960, the company has been owned by the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, a private family trust. Rolex SA and its subsidiary Montres Tudor SA design, make, distribute, and service wristwatches sold under the Rolex and Tudor brands. In 2023, Rolex agreed to acquire its longtime retail partner Bucherer, and in 2024, Rolex began construction of a new affiliate on Fif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fonio
Fonio, also sometimes called findi or acha, is the term for two cultivated grasses in the genus '' Digitaria'' that are important crops in parts of West Africa. It is a vital food source in many rural areas, especially in the mountains of Fouta Djalon, Guinea, but it is also cultivated in Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Senegal. Cruz, Jean-François (2004). ''Magazine on Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture''. Vol. 20. Nr. 1. pp. 16–17. The global fonio market was estimated at 721,400 tonnes in 2020. Guinea annually produces the most fonio in the world, accounting for over 75% of the world's production in 2019. The name ''fonio'' (borrowed into English from French) is from Wolof ''foño''. In West Africa, the species black fonio ''( Digitaria iburua)'' and white fonio ''( Digitaria exilis)'' are cultivated; the latter is the economically more important crop. Fonio is a glumaceous monocot belonging to the grass family Poaceae and the genus Dig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Staple Crop
A staple food, food staple, or simply staple, is a food that is eaten often and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet for an individual or a population group, supplying a large fraction of energy needs and generally forming a significant proportion of the intake of other nutrients as well. For humans, a staple food of a specific society may be eaten as often as every day or every meal, and most people live on a diet based on just a small variety of food staples. Specific staples vary from place to place, but typically are inexpensive or readily available foods that supply one or more of the macronutrients and micronutrients needed for survival and health: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals, and vitamins. Typical examples include grains (cereals and legumes), seeds, nuts and root vegetables (tubers and roots). Among them, cereals (rice, wheat, oat, maize, etc.), legumes (lentils and beans) and tubers (e.g. potato, taro and yam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
