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07 06 2019 | 14:57

Project: Portable Solar Powered Cold Storage for Smallholder Farmers in Kenya for Postharvest Handling.

Submitted by: Solar Freeze

Country: Kenya

Solar Freeze provides solar-powered mobile cold room units for rural smallholder farmers in Kenya to store perishable agricultural producefor longer. This technology increases the shelf life of perishable food from 2 to 21 days and reduces post-harvest loss by 90%. The units are installed by young women, whom Solar Freeze provides with technical skills for the job.

Initial situation
On the one hand, one-third of the world’s available food either spoils or gets thrown away—that’s enough to feed everyone in the world for two months. On the other hand, one out of every nine people on the planet is food insecure o11% of the world population does not have enough food and is undernourished. Post-harvest loss affects famers in rural areas a lot. They lose as much as 45% of fresh agricultural products, because they have no possibility of accessing cold storage or better treatment of their products.

Solution
Solar Freeze provides transportable cold storage units in rural areas powered by renewable energy. They enable farmers to effectively prevent post-harvest loss in Kenya and Africa at large. The storage units are offered with a pay-as-you-store model. The batteries are charged by solar power, generating about 5.7kwh of energy. Solar Freeze unites contain approximately 2 – 3 tons of perishable food arranged in units of 30 kg plastic crates stacked on the floor. The daily cooling temperature is 5° Celsius. So far 5,000 smallholder farmers use the technology. Cold storage units are installed by young women trained by Solar Freeze in the technical elements of installing, managing and maintenance of the solar powered cold storage units.

Innovation
The innovation of this solution lies in the product itself – the mobile cold room powered by renewable energy. As it can be transported from the farm to the market, it provides a convenient solution that effectively reduces post-harvest loss by 90%. So far it has increased the income of its clients by 60%. Solar Freeze works with young women and trains them on technical skills in renewable energy, therefore breaking the barriers to entry for women in energy. Finally, it reduces deforestation as the farmers become more productive with their use of land.