The Road to Improved Solar Drying: Barriers and Drivers for Wider Adoption of Solar Dryers in Rural Bhutan

Sammanfattning

In Bhutan, post-harvest losses are a significant challenge for many small scale farmers, especially in rural areas. Since these losses impact the ability to preserve foods during the peak harvesting seasons, this has a wide range of consequences, both for the farmers themselves and for the country as a whole. It contributes to food insecurity, economic uncertainty and the nutritional deficiencies that are prevalent among the rural population, and it makes the country more reliant on foreign imports. The existing widespread traditional method to conserve food – which is to dry it directly under the sun – is problematic due to its unprotected and uncontrolled nature, where contamination, insect infestations or sudden rainfall can quickly ruin an entire batch of vegetables or fruits. Additionally, the direct sunlight causes nutrient degradation in the foods, and the drying process is slow. This is especially an issue during the summer monsoon season, when most of Bhutan’s agricultural output occurs. This thesis is a part of an ongoing project called SolarFood, which aims to help mitigate these issues by developing affordable, efficient and locally adapted indirect solar dryers, taking socio-economic factors heavily into account. In this study, barriers and drivers for wider adoption of the technology is investigated among small-scale farmers in rural Bhutan. This is done through a combination of literature studies, ministry and authority interviews, as well as extensive field studies across three dzongkhags (regions). During the study, a wide variety of factors emerge that influence adoption of solar dryers within the target demographic. These include technical, social, economic, infrastructural, cultural and political aspects. 22 barriers and 30 drivers are identified, which can be broadly classified into seven categories. The findings highlight that certain barriers against widespread adoption are particularly influential, including lack of awareness, high investment cost, geographical challenges, limited infrastructure causing inaccessibility, uncertain market conditions, low technical expertise, regional variability in dryer suitability, as well as technical limitations of the dryer preventing year-round usage. On the other hand, there are also multiple drivers that show high potential for accelerating adoption of solar dryers. Out of these, many are related to increasing awareness and confidence in the technology, for instance through information spread, availability of technical support and training, and getting first-hand experience with the dryer. Other important drivers include financial support through governmental initiatives such as cost-sharing, adapting the dryer further to local conditions, and improvements in road and market access. Modifications to the dryer suggested by farmers and other stakeholders – such as increasing its water resistance and portability in certain regions, incorporating a solar panel, or possibly turning it into an electricity hybrid to enable continuous usage during the monsoon – are discussed in relation to aspects such as affordability, technical complexity and material availability. Overall, the study reveals that the adoption process of solar dryers in Bhutan is highly complex, with a large number of barriers and drivers that are closely interconnected. It is likely not an effective strategy to address each underlying cause for slow adoption in isolation; instead, a holistic but systematic approach should be used to increase the demand and rate of adoption. Socio-economic factors and local adaptation remain as critical factors for the project, both for the successful implementation of solar dryers in Bhutan, and for ensuring that the Bhutanese population yields the maximum possible benefits from the technology.