Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Solar-powered, offgrid cold rooms, warehouses and cooling hubs have come as a blessing to farmers and traders in some of the African countries. They help to preserve perishable goods without relying on expensive and unreliable electricity grids. This shift is gaining momentum across Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Rwanda and South Africa.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that up to 40% of food produced in Africa is lost between harvest and market, largely due to poor storage, transport, and processing infrastructure.
“The biggest challenge was preserving the quality after harvest,” said Mumiah, who, like many other smallholder farmers, could not afford the roughly $30,000 upfront cost of a solar-powered cold storage unit of her own.
As food handling systems come under pressure from climate change, rising temperatures, and sometimes disrupting supply chains, cooling technology is increasingly vital.
In countries such as India, China, Japan, the Netherlands and the United States, sophisticated cold-chain networks allow fresh produce to remain marketable for weeks. In many parts of Africa, however, farmers often lack access to cooling facilities and must sell their crops immediately after harvest, suffering significant losses. The challenge is increasingly acute as temperatures rise since extreme heat accelerates spoilage of vegetables, fruits, dairy products and fish. Unreliable electricity supplies make conventional refrigeration expensive or impractical in many rural areas.
In Nigeria, companies like ColdHubs have installed solar-powered walk-in cold rooms in major agricultural markets, allowing farmers and traders to rent space daily rather than invest in expensive equipment. In Rwanda, solarpowered refrigeration is being used to support dairy cooperatives and improve milk collection. In Ethiopia, cold-chain investments are expanding to support horticultural exports, one of the country’s fastest-growing agricultural sectors.
Traditional cold storage systems often depend on diesel generators, particularly in areas with unreliable electricity. Solarpowered alternatives can reduce fuel consumption and operating costs while lowering emissions.
Though many African countries are showing interest in solar-powered coldchain networks, funding remains a challenge.
“The challenge today is not demonstrating that these systems work,” said Carol Koech, vice president for Africa at the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet. “It is building enough bankable projects that can attract larger pools of investment and scale across countries.”
Grants, low-interest loans and donor support can help cover upfront costs. Industry experts say attracting sufficient commercial investment remains difficult because many agricultural markets are fragmented and dominated by small-scale producers.
“These investors see emerging technologies as high risk because we lack enough proven business models with reliable returns,” SoKo Fresh CEO Denis Karema said. “That makes funding for our type of projects expensive.”
