Project Description: 🌽 As Tanzania’s staple crop, maize is key to the existence of rural communities. 90% of milled maize is currently produced by small scale mills, the majority of which are powered by diesel generators and are disliked due to high running costs and fumes produced. With most pre-processing carried out manually, this project aimed to create an automated flour production system powered by solar energy, using modular sub-systems to integrate pre-processing stages. As Tanzania has a high rollout of solar home systems and low grid coverage in maize producing regions, the country was identified as the primary market for the new machine. Additionally, with 96% of customers for diesel mills being women and children, these were selected as the target user. Using the target market research, a Product Design Specification was created, facilitating concept generation activities centred around the agricultural processes of maize flour production. Through down selection of system concepts, the final design was then produced with three primary sub-systems; de-husking & shelling, cleaning, and milling. With a throughput of 60kg/hr, the machine has been designed with a baseline efficiency of 25kg/kWh with significant potential for improvement during testing. As a social enterprise, the machines will be sold to distributors who to sell onto customers through a "lease to own" scheme. The mills will allow customers to benefit from lower running costs compared to diesel mills, increasing profit margins once initial capital costs are paid off. The milling system’s design will bring significant positive impact to rural Tanzanian communities, contributing to the UN SDGs, including Goals 2 and 5, and creating time for activities outside of crop processing and improving the health and environment of off-grid communities. 🌽