In Nigeria, preventing food deterioration and increasing income with refrigerating chambers.
In Nigeria, an estimated 93 million farmers, food supply chain actors are affected by post-harvest losses. This spoilage is caused by high ambient temperature and humidity, which accelerates the natural fungal and bacterial decay of agricultural produce. The lack of suitable, well-designed on-farm and off-farm cold storage facilities, together with unreliable electricity supply restrains these small-scale farmers and vendors from extending the shelf life of crops.
Besides economic losses, production inputs such as fertilizers, irrigation, and pesticides are wasted if they are used to produce crops that cannot be sold. This unnecessarily inflates the environmental load of farming in Nigeria, leading to consequences such as decreasing soil quality, biodiversity loss, and drought.
ColdHubs: Solar powered walk-in cold rooms for women fresh fruits and vegetables growers and vendors, to store food and increase income.
Nigeria, Delta State
The project aims to install, commission, operate, and maintain 3 ColdHubs – 100% solar-powered walk-in cold rooms (with dimensions 10 feet in length, 10 feet in width, and 7 feet in height) each holding, storing, and preserving 3 tons of food per day, in 3 high potential food consumption clusters in Asaba, Delta State, Nigeria. These locations are outdoor food retail markets and horticultural produce aggregation centers dominated 100% by women smallholder farmers and retailers.
The cold rooms will eliminate food spoilage, enabling women smallholder farmers and retailers, to store and preserve fresh fruits, vegetables and other perishable foods 24/7, extending their shelf life from 2 days to 21 days, increase their income and have more safe, nutritious food available for local consumption in Nigeria.
Expected outputs:
- 3 new ColdHubs installed and commissioned, in large food consumption centers of Nigeria, to serve 300 business women (100 per Hub)
- Increase the income of 300 women farmers, retailers, and wholesalers by 50%
- Creation of 6 new jobs for women
- Increase the quality of 3,285 tons of fresh fruits and vegetables (nutrition and food safety)
- Save 3,285 tons of food from spoilage per year, representing 9 tons of food saved per day
- Avoid at least 57,816 kg of CO2 emission
Status June 2022:
- Engagement with the leadership of the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Dealers Association of Nigeria (FFVDAN), and the Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Growers Association of Nigeria (FFVGAN) through their umbrella body, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN)
- First level visit to the market women at Summit Road Smart Farmers Market, Nnebisi Road Farmer Market and Wasc Road Smart Farmers Market Asaba, Delta State, Nigeria
- Assembling of the cold room walls, installation of the mounting and roofing structure and the Controls Power Box at the 3 sites. Commissioning and activation of storage and sales to start
- Execution rate: 30%
Disclaimer: The implementation rate is calculated based on the specific objectives and activities for each project. Most of those objectives are set from the acquisition and implementation phase of the energy systems.
Impact (results)
