Kwami Williams

Meet Scale-Ups Fellow, Kwami Williams
Kwami Williams received a degree in Aerospace Engineering and a concentration in Global Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2012. He is passionate about designing technologies with people in the developing world that will equip them to tackle the challenges they face daily and improve the quality of their lives. Kwami is from Ghana, enjoys eating, playing sports, singing when no one can hear, dancing, spending quality with people, and enjoys hearing people's perspectives on God, faith, and life.

The issue: Millions of Moringa farmers in need of affordable processing technology
Moringa is a multipurpose plant -- with significant nutritional and medicinal properties -- that grows easily in almost any climate and soil conditions. Though in Ghana alone, there are an estimated 25,000 farmers currently growing Moringa, little has been invested in Moringa oil extraction despite growing demand for the oil, particularly in the cosmetics and skin-care industry. The subsistence and small-holder farmers lack the capital to purchase high-priced, commercial-sized Moringa processing devices.

The Solution: The MoringaConnect Seed Sheller and Oil Press 
MoringaConnect is perfecting an efficient, affordable, and scalable method to shell Moringa seeds and extract oil from them at efficient yields to supplement the incomes of rural subsistence farmers. The treadle-powered seed sheller in development shells and winnows simultaneously with a throughput of 20 kg per hour. The hand-actuated hydraulic press in development cold presses seeds (essentially for quailty oi) with a batch feed and 78% efficiency. Both can be locally fabricated in Ghana.