Solar Technology for Agriculture

Agriculture is 11 times more powerful in reducing youth unemployment than growth in any other sector in Africa, however, over 45% of food spoils, largely due to lack of cold storage. Our solution combines the use of solar powered cold storage and training youth in renewable energy skills for agriculture.

Agriculture in developing countries provides the biggest potential to create jobs for the youth and alleviate poverty. Through a program called "Each one, teach one” an initiative that aims to impact the next generation of renewable energy for agriculture leaders in Africa by mentoring young ladies between age 17-24 and the youth in the operation, maintenance and deployment of renewable energy solutions specifically for agriculture such as solar powered cold storage and solar powered irrigation kits, youths gain hands of technical skills in the operation and maintenance of renewable energy technology for agriculture.  

In developing countries, over 45 percent of food spoils, largely due to lack of cold storage. To reduce food loss Solar Freeze produces solar-powered walk-in cold rooms that store and preserve perishable foods 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Solar powered cold storage provides a viable solution to smallholder farmer, helping them reduce food loss by 90%. Youth equipped with technical skills in the handling and operation of solar powered cold rooms can help greatly in reducing food loss while also creating sustainable incomes in Africa a continent where majority of the countries rely heavily on agriculture some up to 80% 

The target outcomes are reduction of food loss by 90% through the use of portable solar powered cold storage and also training of 300 youth in the maintenance and operation of solar powered cold room units.

Track and measure post-harvest loss from the smallholder farm gate to the market - Reduction in food loss by 90 per cent

Track and follow up with the youth who receive training on solar technology for agriculture - Training of 300 young people in the technical skill required in the handling and operation of solar powered cold rooms

The use of portable solar powered cold storage is a novel idea in Africa, this unique solution has the power to reduce food loss for perishable produce and create jobs for the youth in the maintenance and operation of the equipment. 

In addition to this, by using the Solar Freeze app, farmers can easily locate the nearest portable solar powered cold storage unit providing a workable solution to reduce food loss through the sharing economy.

In much of the developing world, post-harvest losses are as high as 50% since the cold‐storage chain is virtually non‐existent due to the high cost of equipment and spotty electricity. Because fresh produce can perish in a matter of days under ambient temperatures, temperature control alone can extend the shelf life by weeks or even months. We offer portable solar powered cold storage that smallholder farmers can pay through a simple pay-as-you-store model via mobile money thus providing a human-centered design approach to solving food loss for smallholder farmers.

The company produces solar-powered walk-in cold rooms that store and preserve perishable foods 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The units, installed in markets and on farms, extend the freshness of fruits, vegetables, milk and other perishables for more than 28 days. Through its easily-adaptable, scalable solution, Solar Freeze has reduced post-harvest losses among its customers by over 80 percent, while boosting the incomes of young women who are trained to provide maintenance and technical support.

Farmers pay between US$ 0.1cents- US$ 1dollar per day and per crate via mobile money through a simple pay-as-you-store model depending on produce type and season, the market value of stored produce (high value horticulture) is 50-150 times more than the storage costs, and thus affordable. The container can hold between 400-500 crates depending on size & type of produce translating to an income of USD$14,880-223,200 per year.

The portable nature of the solar powered cold room allows for easy relocation from one region to another depending on the harvest season thus allowing the cold room to be operational throughout the agricultural cycles of various produce. 

Factors limiting the ability of our solution to succeed are lack of grants and investments from partners and organizations there fore limiting the scaling up of portable solar powered cold storage for smallholder farmers.

https://twitter.com/freeze_solar

https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/our-work/initiatives/yieldwise/

http://www.fao.org/food-loss-and-food-waste/en/

Through Solve, we hope to share our experience in working with youth in sub Saharan Africa to solve the huge challenge of food loss through the use of portable solar powered cold storage. We also hope to gain access to like minded Solvers whom we can partner with to scale our solution.

USAID- The United States Agency for International Development

The University of California, Davis

The World Bank

Inspira Farms