Project

Farmers gain access to the most efficient, reliable and sustainable off-grid cooling while only paying for the amount of food they store (per kg-day) in the cold rooms, avoiding any upfront investment. Service providers own and maintain the cooling facilities, thereby covering the operational costs. This long-term commitment serves as an incentive for them to install the most energy-efficient equipment, and perform high-quality maintenance. Learn more about Cooling as a Service

The app provides real-time instructions to guide farmers on how to minimize food loss by predicting the remaining shelf-life of stored produce, and on when to sell the product to maximize market value. The tool uses machine learning and physics-based food modeling.
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Your Virtual Cold Chain Assistant enables smallholders in Nigeria to break the cycle of poverty while also improving food security and minimising the impact of food production on the global climate. BASE and EMPA are partnering with local entrepreneurs in Nigeria to pilot the tool with different types of crops, targeting 200 to 500 smallholder farmers.

This two-year endeavour in Nigeria, which builds on efforts conducted in India, is projected to reduce food loss for smallholders by at least 20%, increase their yearly income by at least 15%, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50%. Reducing postharvest losses also helps reduce related CO2 emissions, further amplified by removing the use of harmful refrigerants and diesel generators from the cold chain. By ensuring that clean technology is used instead of fossil-fuel dependent technologies, that cost less upfront but are more expensive to operate, the impact on climate change is mitigated.