Kuza Freezer

Kuza freezer is a pay-as-you-go solar-powered freezer enabling rural fishermen to effectively deal with the huge challenge of post-harvest losses.

We manufacture pay-as-you-go solar-powered freezers known as "Kuza Freezer". Kuza freezer solution enables the rural fishermen in low-income fishing communities to effectively deal with the huge challenge of post-harvest fish losses using renewable energy.

Our solution involves the use of the Internet of Things technology which makes it possible to monitor customers payments and control the freezers remotely.

About 150,000 Kenyans make their living fishing in the East Africa coastal regions bordering the Indian Ocean. Collectively they harvest an estimated 187,000 tons of fresh seafood and an estimated one-third of the country’s post-harvest seafood is lost before it can be sold and safely consumed, due to lack of access to reliable and affordable cooling services.

Unfortunately, most small-scale fishers are unbanked and lack access to credit in order to invest in cold storage equipment. Additionally, many of the fishing-dependent communities are either off-grid or do not have access to reliable and affordable electricity to run such equipment, as only 30 per cent of the Kenyan population have access to reliable electricity.

Our solution targets the rural fishermen more especially those in low-income fishing communities.

Although fishing is primarily male-dominated, the participation of women in secondary and tertiary levels of the fish value chain is remarkable. According to the Food and Agriculture Association (FAO) statistics, globally, women make up 47% of fisheries supply chain workers while in Africa, 60% of seafood is marketed by women.

In Kenya, women are mainly involved in fish processing (commonly known as "mama karanga") and trade.

Our solution will also directly empower these women fish vendors through sustainable cooling services using renewable energy hence improving their income.

We have done a series of pilots with actual fishermen who have validated our product and through their feedback, we have been able to understand how our product is performing.

We are also receiving many product orders from fishermen more especially through referrals.

We have been able to do three (3) successful product pilots with the rural fishermen in various Beach Management Units (Kenya fisheries) in Mombasa, Kenya.

We also currently have over 50 rural fishermen and women fish vendors benefiting from our solar freezers to preserve their fish.

We offer our solar freezers on a pay as you go model and to make this possible, we have incorporated various technologies.
1. We have used the Internet of Things to enable us to track product location, monitor, and control the freezers remotely.

2. We have also designed a USSD and Mobile application program to enable our customers to make and track their daily payments with ease.

Our solution currently serves over 140 small-scale fishermen however due to high customers demand, we project to serve 600 more customers in the next 12 months.

We project in the next 12 months to have reached at least 600 more rural fishermen with our solar freezers and increase their daily income by at least 30%.

We also looking to impact the lives of women fish vendors in the rural fishing communities by creating direct jobs opportunities through cold storage services using renewable energy.

1. The number of small-scale fishermen reached with our products.
2. The number of new fishermen referred to us.
3. Checking on the quantity of fish stored using freezers.
4. Number of Jobs created through our project.

1. Lack of access to enough production equipment.
2. Financial constraints to produce enough products and meet the rising customer demands.
3. Long process involved in getting product certification to meet government licensing requirements e.g by Kenya Bureau Of Standards (KEBS).

With a combined experience of over 15 years, we have a diverse and creative team in both engineering, ICT and agriculture. This makes us a productive and adaptive team fit for comprehensive solutions such as we offer. Below are the details of the team members.

• Dennis Onkangi - He is the CEO and founder of the company. Dennis has a background in computer science and electrical engineering.
• Purity Gakuo - She is the Chief Operating Officer with a good Software engineering background.

• Maryline Mumo - She is our renewable energy expert

• Jared Abuga - He has a Bachelor degree in  agribusiness Management.

1. Swahilibox Labs - Swahilibox Labs provides technical support to develop and test our products.

2. Kenya Fisheries sectors - They act as  a link between us and the small-scale fishermen. We have been able to run successful pilot tests with rural fishermen through their support.

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Although fishing is primarily male-dominated, the participation of women in secondary and tertiary levels of the fish value chain is remarkable. According to the Food and Agriculture Association (FAO) statistics, globally, women make up 47% of fisheries supply chain workers while in Africa, 60% of seafood is marketed by women.

In Kenya, women are mainly involved in fish processing (commonly known as "mama karanga") and trade.

A major problem faced by Coastal women in fisheries is the lack of appropriate infrastructure to conduct their business, specifically cold chain storage.

Our solution is directly empowering women fish vendors through sustainable cooling services using renewable energy.