University of Bamenda Graduate Generates Peanut Coating Machine.

Kwe Julliete Ngwankfu is a graduate of the College of Technology, COLTECH, of the University of Bamenda, UBa. She says creating the machine was not an easy task as she encountered lots of challenges during her studies. Amidst the sociopolitical crisis, she shares insights into how she overcame the challenges, her motivation in producing the peanut coating machine and how important the innovation is to her and the community at large. Kwe stated that some of the challenges she encountered during her studies at the University was purchasing handouts and house rent. She noted that it was difficult for her to survive while at the University considering the fact that she was struggling all by herself to meet up with her needs as a student. "Peanut is what sustained me which I started right at my first year in the University up till when I completed my Master's," she recounts. Kwe noted that she used to hawk while on campus after which she gained access to supply to shops in Bambili. This breakthrough in the business, she disclosed, helped to sustain her and made it a means of survival for her in Bambili, a school mileau. She further explained that it was very challenging for her and with her situation, she knew that after completing the undergraduate level she wouldn't have any means of survival. "...I knew that after my undergraduate, that will be all for me. So, I wanted something that will sustain me and help me generate income for myself and to take care of my siblings," she explained. Kwe added that: "I was going to school with the aim of helping my parents and siblings and also people around me. Being an Agricultural Engineering student at COLTECH, I really wanted something that will sustain me after school,". She further noted that the inspiration came during her time of academic internships where they usually visited enterprises and have the opportunity to design different agricultural machines and other oil mills. She says it was during these trips that she looked closely at all the machines and decided to figure out something for herself that can ease the production of peanuts. "I started with a prototype which was tested during my undergraduate defense and it worked," she revealed. 

Kwe equally highlighted that she noticed that she was not the only one producing peanuts but a majority of other students who also relied on peanut production for survival at the University. Identifying and seeking to solve it the machine, Kwe says, offered a solution to many others who relied on peanut business for survival. "I have noticed that it is helping people and I am looking forward to producing more of it at an affordable price to ensure that everyone can be able to get the technology," she noted. Kwe concluded that the peanut coding machine helps to reduce the stress that is involved in the manual production of peanuts. "Work that is usually done for 45 minutes will be done for approximately seven minutes," she said. Kwe says the machine is important for every community because it helps mostly women and girls who are mostly involved in little businesses for survival and sustainance. "I just want to make sure people at every income level get the machine, even if they cannot buy, I am planning on doing something like leasing where people rent and return back," she said.