In 2020, agriculture contributed 24.14% to Nigeria’s GDP, making it one of the biggest sectors in Nigeria. But despite these contributions, it was reported that annually, Nigeria records N3.5 trillion post-harvest losses due to the lack of proper storage facilities.
Perishable food, especially fresh fruits and vegetables, start to deteriorate as soon as they are harvested because they are cut off from their source of nutrition; and the country has little to no provision for farmers who harvest these produce. So as local farmers look forward to a bountiful harvest, they are beset by a far greater problem: food spoilage.
Before the pandemic, food spoilage and post-harvest losses were major causes of malnutrition, food insecurity and starvation in Nigeria, but as COVID-19 spread into Nigeria, post-harvest losses worsened as a result of the restrictions that accompanied the pandemic. By the end of 2020, UNICEF predicted that famine loomed in Nigeria, and over 800,000 children in northeast Nigeria were expected to suffer from acute malnutrition due to the intensifying food insecurity. A 35% reduction in post-harvest tomato loss, for instance, would impact vitamin A deficiency for up to 1.1 million children per day.
Thankfully, 37-year-old Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu is working tirelessly to prevent a further worsening of the situation by closing this gap between local farmers and consumers. He is prolonging the life of perishable farm produce by local farmers in Nigeria through a solar-powered cold room.
In 2013, on one of his visits to the Farin Gada Market in Jos, Plateau State to report on the cabbage market, Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu discovered food spoilage in marketplaces. Seeing spoiled tomatoes, watermelons, and many other food produce being thrown away sparked something in him, and he realised there was a need to create a system that would help farmers preserve their farm produce, thereby giving them enough time to sell their wares at the best prices.
In July 2015, ColdHubs was born.
ColdHubs is a “plug and play” modular, solar-powered walk-in cold room that offers 24 hours off-grid storage and preservation of perishable foods. This innovation adequately addresses the problem of post-harvest losses in food production by extending the freshness of fruits, vegetables and other perishable food from 2 days to about 21 days.
The cold room is made of 120mm insulating panels to retain cold and can be built in five days. Energy from solar panels mounted on the roof-top of the cold room are stored in high capacity batteries, these batteries feed an inverter which, in turn, feeds the refrigerating unit. These ‘cold hubs’ are installed mainly in markets and farms so farmers can have easier access to them. For 100 Naira a day, these farmers place their perishable goods in clean plastic crates which are then stacked inside the cold room.
So far, ColdHubs has been able to save more than 5,000 tons of food, has increased the income of more than 320 users, and reduced post-harvest loss by 80%.
Cold Hubs is a robust technology that solves a lot of problems in Nigeria. Beyond the preservation of food items, this innovation will drastically reduce child malnutrition, food insecurity, hunger and starvation, and unemployment in Nigeria and beyond. It will boost agriculture and also increase the standard of living of local farmers who work so hard to produce food in the country.
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