Worldwide, half a billion people rely on peanuts as their primary source of protein. These peanuts are used for food by the farmers, sold in a marketplace, and sold to wholesalers who produce peanut oil, peanut butter, and other peanut-based products. In order to be processed, peanuts must first be shelled. Currently, these shells are being thrown away. Most peanuts that are grown in developing communities are shelled by hand: in Africa alone, women and children spend 4 billion hours each year manually shelling peanuts. This time-consuming task is often time spent away from attending school, caring for their families, and participating in other income-generating activities.

The Full Belly Project (FBP), a Wilmington-based non-profit, has developed the Universal Nut Sheller (UNS), which can shell peanuts, as well as various other nuts, 98% more efficient than by hand. Made with universally found materials such as concrete and steel, the machine is easily replicable, and costs 75% less than its closest machine competitor. Though the UNS has existed since 2002, it has only been distributed to a handful of communities. Initial field testing has proven that there is great demand for the UNS everywhere from the Philippines to Senegal; however, distribution of the machine remains a challenge. To date, the machines have been constructed in Wilmington, NC and subsequently shipped overseas.

In fall of 2006, UNC students decided to take on the challenge of manufacturing and distributing the UNS in a more sustainable and appropriate manner. This will be accomplished by establishing a pilot production facility in Iganga, Uganda. The UNC chapter of Nourish International raised the initial start-up funds for the facility and traveled to Iganga in the summer of 2007 to kick-start operations. The facility would be owed and managed by Henry Masagazi, a Ugandan native and co-founder of Concave International Ltd., an agricultural co-op consulting company, started by his mother, the former Vice President of Uganda, Dr. Speciosa Wandira Kazibwe.

The Full Belly Project is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to relieve hunger and create economic opportunities in developing countries through the design and distribution of labor saving, locally replicable agricultural devices.

Students at UNC began by garnering an initial $10,000 in startup capital through Hunger Lunches and Hold'em for Hunger. Then, two students, Maggie Salinger and Danika Barry, began working with Roey Rosenblith of the Full Belly Project, and Joel Thomas of Nourish International's national office to write a business plan for the facility. The plan won two awards: 1st place in the social track of the Duke Startup Challenge and 1st place in the social track of the Carolina Challenge. This raised an additional $21,000. $16,000 was designated for the project and $5,000 went to the Full Belly Project.

While on the ground, students worked with Henry and hired shop workers to get the facility off the ground. The operations were established in open space granted to Henry by his uncle. Students worked alongside the shop workers to install the equipment for the shop and build machines. Once the facility was functioning, our role became marketing the nut sheller. Students went with Thomas, our guide and driver, to surrounding farmers' coops to demonstrate the device. Students also met with local microfinance initiatives, NGO's and agricultural extension services to promote the machine.