Agriculture, Building engineering, Construction, Energy industry, Fabricator, Job skills training, Research, Rural cooking, Science, Small-scale farmers, Solar thermal design, Technology, Vocational education and training, Water-energy-nexus, agtech, energy efficiency, teaching
2012, 2011
Kenya
SIFA Machinery Eterprises
SIFA Machinery Eterprises // Creating and building Engineering tools, Machines and equipment for value addition for smallholder farmers in Africa.
Sisal Machines being my main success story. // Alex Odira Odundo is an engineer specializing in creating and building tools, machines, and equipment for smallholder farmers in Africa to enhance value addition in agricultural practices. His notable success story includes the development of Sisal Machines, which have significantly impacted the agricultural sector. Odundo's work focuses on practical solutions to improve efficiency and productivity for farmers, particularly in resource-limited settings. His expertise lies in designing innovative engineering solutions tailored to the specific needs of small-scale farmers, contributing to sustainable agricultural development in the region. // Agricultural machinist // Kenyan agricultural machinist and inventor of the Sisal Decorticator, a machine turning the junk plant sisal into fiber and fiber into rope, which customers sell for income. // ALEX ODIRA ODUNDO - BIO
Alex Odira was a unique child. He was born a unique boy to a blind father the Late Gabriel Odundo in Rural Gembe Location, Suba District, Nyanza , Kenya; on an equally unique date on 25th December ! Even before joining primary school, the small Odira was already busy making motor vehicle and musical toys for fellow children using dry reeds, millet stems, milk plastic containers, cooking oil tins, wires and banana trunks. His curiosity would sometimes go too far and court some whipping from his father when the only radio in the village could not broadcast the news simply out of Alex curiosity who had dismantled the radio to see who could be talking inside! Hence goes the saying that the man was born a researcher since his childhood. Alex the man has continued designing and inventing simple tools for his community use in Agriculture, Water and Energy sector . His commitment to innovate and invent excellent mechanical solutions means that he produces simple affordable tools using basic technology for genuine solutions for use by the poor in the community in which he lives, in a competitive industrialized world.
Alex is an Alumni of Kisumu Polytechnic,Kenya where he trained as a mechanical engineering technician. He also attended a training on engineering fabrication and design at the TECH SHOP, San Francisco in the United States of America and a TED Fellow member 2012. He successfully worked with the Hard ford University students in the construction of a motor bike trailer and a multigrain thresher machine.
Alex has collaborated with the Ministry of Science and Technology, Kenya Sisal Board , Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Labour, Lake Basin Development Authority , Kisumu Polytechnic and many more in the development of simple tools for agriculture. He has successfully invented both manual and electrical Sisal Decortication machine, Sisal Twinning machine , a Sisal Rope Spooling machine, Cycle water pump, Hyacinth Harvester, Solar Water pump, Gravity Power generator, Wind water pump, Gasifier stove ( Linda Jiko), a multigrain thresher machine, name it and many more!. The man is a genius extraordinary. Whenever he sees a problem in production of anything, he instinctively thinks of innovation or invention to solve the problem ! His major limitation is lack of resources and working capital to research and develop the ideas further. He has however developed a resilience. He never gives up !
In order to share his talent with humanity lest the Almighty asks him what he did with it at the end of times on Mother Earth, Alex is the founder member or Director of many institutions, a few of which are listed here viz Sifa Machinery Limited, Olex Technology Enterprises. Lake Basin Agrotech Limited ,Kartuoro Industries Limited,Equifarm Solutions Machineries Limited ,Angel Farm Solutions Limited, Kisumu Innovators Association , South Nyanza Sisal Association forum .
Alex has received many awards from the following institutions and organizations in recognition of his efforts ,dedication and commitment as a Change Agent, Consultant, Explorer, Ideas generator, Innovator and Inventor :
Ministry of Labour for Best Technology in Processing Agricultural products; 2011 Ministry of Science and Technology Kenya Expo- Kenya – for Best Agricultural Technology Award ; Best Dissemination of Research Results and Exhibition of Innovations 2010 ; Technical institutions for Vocational Training Kenya for Best Creative and Innovator; Kisumu Polytechnic for 2011 Overall Best Innovator; Certificate of Merit for Outstanding Contribution to Research and Innovation; 2010 University of Nairobi- the Makers Faire Africa Exhibition for Best in Technology Category: Nairobi International Trade Fair 2010 for Best Award in Driving Agribusiness in Attaining Food Sufficiency and Vision 2030 and second Best innovator in Africa Forum for science and Technology and innovation.
Business Achievements:
Alex has created direct and indirect Job opportunities to over two thousand people from his innovations and business enterprises. He has sold more than 200 Sisal Decorticator machines across the country and beyond the borders of our country Kenya. He has created a strong value on sisal plant amongst small scale farmers across the country. In order to sustain the emerging attitude change amongst these farmers,he has initiated, using his meagre resources a project whereby he would buy an ox and a plough for any farmer who has five acres of land or more and willing to start a sisal plantation. He would later sell them a decorticating machine at harvest to help boost their income.
He is currently introducing an energy saving stove to the market where low income families, Orphanages, Primary and Secondary schools in poor rural areas which prepare meals for students are targeted. This is a type of gasifier stove that uses timber cut offs, carpenters saw- dust ,sisal and sugar cane waste, dried hycinth and brickets genera // Alex Odira Odundo is an engineer specializing in creating and building tools, machines, and equipment for smallholder farmers in Africa to enhance value addition in agricultural practices. His notable success story includes the development of Sisal Machines, which have significantly impacted the agricultural sector. Odundo's work focuses on practical solutions to improve efficiency and productivity for farmers, particularly in resource-limited settings. His expertise lies in designing innovative engineering solutions tailored to the specific needs of small-scale farmers, contributing to sustainable agricultural development in the region. // Agricultural machinist // technology, building engineering, water, education, buildings, creator, efficiency, jobs, fabricator, job skills training, research, agriculture, resilience, mobility, solar thermal, design, farming, teacher, farmers, wind, problem solver, heating, bicycle, vocational education and training, energy industry, construction, affordable, smallholder, engineer, innovator, small-scale farmers, low income, agtech, teachers, solar, plastic, inventor., fiber, children, cookstove, rural, cooking, energy efficiency, wood, water-energy-nexus, science, food, rural areas, solar water, land, energy, milk, income // Kisumu|Kenya|Kisumu County
Kisumu|Kenya|Kisumu County
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