São Paulo – Kepler Weber, the Brazilian agricultural storage systems manufacturing company, has created a silo tailored for the African market. The product is designed for small rural properties and features a solar-powered aeration system. The equipment was primarily developed to suit the needs of Sub-Saharan Africa, where a significant portion of farmers have no access to electricity.
Kepler Weber foreign trade manager Antônio Campos explains that about a year ago, the company’s vice president and Investor Relations director Olivier Colas surveyed the African market to assess potentialities and needs. Afterwards, the company developed the silo, named Kikapu, Swahili for “basket,” in order to store food and harvests.
“In Sub-Saharan Africa, 70% of the farms measure five hectares on average,” says Campos, adding that the goal was to address demand with a product that could store the grain, process it and remove moisture. The main product farmed at these properties is maize, which the silo’s aeration system will help dry up.
Campos explains that in case the product is kept in the crop until it dries, pests will prey on it. In order for it to be harvested while still protected from pests, it must have humidity ranging from 17% to 18%. Then, it can finish drying inside the Kepler Weber silo, using the ventilation the equipment provides. If the silo was not aerated, then the maize might grow fungus.
The solar panel that feeds the ventilation system is photovoltaic. Campos claims that by using the equipment, farmers will not be forced to sell their product at the peak of supply, when prices are lower. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the manager explains, farmers often use part of the product for their own consumption and sell the surplus. Kepler Weber has developed the silo in three different sizes, but initially it will sell the six-tonne unit.
The product was launched in partnership with Kepler Weber’s East Africa representative, Brazafric, early this month at an agriculture forum in Kenya. The silo will be showcased at an African Union seminar on the impact of climate change in Africa next November in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The company will likely take the opportunity to hold another meeting in the country, plus one in Tanzania.
Campos believes demand for this silo should not be strong in Arab countries, since most of them – excepting some, like Morocco and Egypt – are not farming countries. Furthermore, properties in those countries are medium-sized. Some of the Arab nations, however, such as Comoros, Djibouti and Somalia, are included in some classifications of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Kepler Weber’s foreign trade manager claims the company has set a ceiling price of US$ 4,500 for the end consumer, but the tag may be lower. The company is hoping to sell the silo both via commercial distribution outlets and in large volumes, to initiatives of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and non-government organizations.
Kepler Weber is the leading storage company in South America and the leading manufacturer of complete grain storage systems in the world. Last year, the company posted a net income of R$ 594.8 million (US$ 266.9 million), up 40.1% from 2013. Net profit was up 98.5% to R$ 62.1 million (US$ 27.8 million). The company’s plants are located in the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Mato Grosso do Sul.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
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