Simple and faster way to shell maize

Joseph Macharia, one of Dajopen's co-founders, demonstrates how to use the maize sheller at a past exhibition event.

Harvesting is undoubtedly the final joyful step as you reap benefits of hard work. But, for some crops like maize, the tedious task of manually shelling the cobs can quickly dilute that joy, especially for small scale farmers who cannot afford a tractor-powered shelling machine.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) reports that this is a common problem in Kenya, with 75 per cent of small scale farmers removing the grains from the cobs by hand.

David Ngige is one such farmer. Growing up in the maize-rich region of Kitale, shelling maize by hand is an experience he is all too familiar with. “As a child, my father used to send me to do the shelling, and it was so tiresome and monotonous that I decided to come up with an easier way of doing it,” he says.

After years of manually shelling tonnes of maize, Ngige invented the hand maize sheller. A passionate waste management crusader, Ngige co-founded Dajopen Waste Management, a community based organisation that focuses on recycling waste material, including organic waste and scrap metal.

Waste management

His invention had to therefore meet the highest standards of environmental safety. To achieve this, he used scrap metal recovered from the markets, garages and dumping sites in Kitale to fabricate the maize sheller, making it both cost-effective and at the same time environmental friendly.

“I put it through many trials and I kept changing it until it reached its present form,” says Ngige, who is also the secretary and production manager of DAJOPEN waste management.

All a farmer needs to do is insert the cobs one by one into the sheller then use the winch to grind the maize. The grains come out on one end while the cob goes out at the other.

Unlike other maize shellers, Ngige’s invention does not split the maize kernels, and the cob comes out whole. In 2013, the hand maize sheller was calibrated by the Ministry of Agriculture, whose tests revealed the maize sheller had 99.9 per cent non-breakage of the seeds.

Aflatoxin detection

“Non-breakage of the maize seeds is important because when you dust maize with chemicals, the broken maize forms a grey film. This grey film is indicative of aflatoxin, which is dangerous and can cause cancer,” he explains.

The sheller also requires no fuel or electricity to operate and, going for Sh1,500, is affordable and easily portable. Most farmers who have acquired the sheller also use the maize cobs as fuel, which the organisation encourages. Others Bernard Wabuge use the cobs from his one acre maize field to make cow feed.

The invention has become a big hit with small scale farmers in Kitale, the hub of maize-growing in Kenya. “It reduces waste because the cobs do not break so you can use them. The yield is also higher because there are no breakages,” says Ngige. “You can take it to the middle of your maize field and reduce transport costs.”

Richard Kisaka, another beneficiary of David’s invention, agrees. He has been using it to shell maize from his quarter acre farm. “I have had it for three years and it has been very helpful. It is such a small machine but the work it does is great,” says Kisaka. “If I am determined, the machine can easily shell five bags a day,” he says, adding that he uses the cobs for fuel.

The sheller is, however, only recommended for small scale farmers as it can only crush one maize cob at a time.

David patented the maize sheller through the National Environment Trust Fund in 2014 under his CBO, Dajopen Waste Management.