Raised fish-drying rack
A low-cost raised bed for sun-drying small fish, documented in Lake Victoria communities in Tanzania in wood-and-reed and improved mesh forms.
Built structures · Baskets, trays and beds
Raised fish-drying rack with removable trays (Burundi)
Burundi fish drying rack · Raised drying rack for fish
A metal-frame rack set on concrete footings, with removable hardwood trays under mesh, raises fish above the ground for air-drying. The design was promoted in Burundi and documented by FAO in 2014.
A rack above the ground
Fish laid on the ground dry slowly and pick up dust, ground water and animals. This Burundian design lifts the product on a metal frame, so air can reach the fish from above, below and the sides. The FAO account describes a rack 12 metres long, 2 metres wide and 1.10 metres high, which carries up to 22 removable trays. The manual gives an average of 12 kilograms of fish per tray.
The frame is metal, built from forty-by-forty tubes and set on concrete footings. The trays are separate hardwood frames with mesh underneath, so a tray can be lifted out to be loaded, emptied or cleaned without disturbing the rack.
Sources for this section
How the tray is built
Each tray is a hardwood frame, its boards about ten centimetres wide at the frame level. Mesh is laid across the underside and nailed in place with small nails. A batten of fifteen millimetres on the underside holds the mesh. The source does not give the tray's thickness, length, mesh gauge or nail size, so a builder would need to measure these from the original figures.
The metal frame is cut, ground and finished before assembly. The source describes welded metal construction in its photographs but gives no weld sizes, joint layout or footing drawing.
Sources for this section
What the rack does not settle
The rack documents an apparatus, not a drying process. The source does not give drying times, temperatures or humidity for fish on these racks, and it does not establish hygiene or fish safety. The 12 kilogram average describes the manual's loading, not a tested structural load.
Rain protection is mentioned, but its design is not dimensioned. A builder who adds a cover would need to test how it sheds water without blocking the airflow that the open frame relies on.
Sources for this section
History
FAO TECA published the Burundi construction account in December 2014. It records the design as a promoted raised rack with a materials schedule and photographs. The account does not date the first use of this design.
Site
SettingAn open, raised rack in a fish-drying area, set above the ground.
GroundThe frame stands on footings of cement, sand and gravel. The source does not give footing shape or depth.
ClimateOpen to the air and sun. The source notes plastic rain protection but gives no climate figures.
FootprintOverall envelope 12 m long, 2 m wide and 1.10 m high, as the source states.
NotesThe rack carries up to 22 removable trays.
A build is made where it stands: moving it means building it again.
How it is built
Risks and precautions
Grinding and welding need task-specific eye, hand and respiratory protection. The source does not spell out PPE; this is a general workshop precaution.
Materials
- 10 pieces Metal tube, 40 × 40 mm — Cut, ground and finished before assembly
- Hardwood planks for tray frames — Cut and fitted into tray frames
- pack Wood rods
- Mesh — Fixed under each tray frame
- Small nails and a 15 mm batten — The batten holds the mesh on the underside of each tray
- 3 bags of 50 kg Cement — Mixed with sand and gravel for the footings
- 2 m³ Sand
- 1 m³ Gravel
- 2 litres Paint or coating — Applied to the metal frame
- Cut the metal tubes to the lengths the drawing requires; the source gives the overall rack size but not the individual lengths.
- Grind and finish the cut frame members with the grinding disc listed in the schedule.
- Set the supports in concrete footings made from cement, sand and gravel, so that the frame stands above the ground.
- Join the metal frame. The source describes welded metal construction in its photographs but gives no weld sizes.
- Make a hardwood frame for each removable tray, and fix mesh underneath with small nails.
- Retain the mesh with a 15 mm batten on the underside of each tray frame.
- Slide the trays into the frame, and fit the plastic rain protection if it is used. The source mentions a plastic cover but gives no roof frame or pitch.
Places
Burundi
Documented preparation · Country evidenceThe account describes a promoted design in Burundi. The source does not record a locality.
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Sources
FAO, TECA (Technologies and Practices for Small Agricultural Producers)Equipment · Method · Geography
Construction of raised drying racks for fish: the experience from BurundiThe rack is 12 m long, 2 m wide and 1.10 m high, carries up to 22 removable trays, and averages 12 kg of fish per tray according to the source.
The raised open frame admits air around the fish and keeps the fish out of ground water, dust and ground-level animals.
The materials schedule lists ten 40 × 40 tubes, hardwood rods, cutting and grinding discs, paint, cement, sand and gravel.
Cited in: A rack above the ground; How the tray is built; What the rack does not settle
FAOHistory · Geography
Fisheries context report on BurundiGives the post-harvest context for fish processing in Burundi. It does not add a dimensioned drawing of the rack.