Solar drying of food under tropical conditions in Africa

Within the EU-funded project INNOECOFOOD, two of the EcoHubs for recirculating aquaculture systems for fish farming, the production of the microalgae spirulina and the cultivation of insects (black soldier flies and crickets), will be equipped with multi-purpose dryers for post harvest processing. The dryers are being installed at locations in Ghana, on the western side of Africa, and in Kenya, on the eastern side. Although the two locations are not at the same latitude, they are both very close to the equator and therefore have similar solar radiation conditions. The climate is tropical, with high air temperatures but also high to very high relative humidity, which poses a challenge for the drying process, especially for temperature-sensitive