The peak fruit or vegetable season normally brings joy and pain to farmers and traders alike.
Not only do prices plunge due to high supply, but losses and wastage arise due to lack of proper storage facilities and failure to add value to the produce.
Mangoes, bananas, potatoes, oranges and tomatoes are some of the produce farmers lose in large quantities after harvest, especially when there is a glut in the market.
Fish and meat traders also suffer losses for lack of good storage. In Ukambani, one of the biggest sources of fruits like mangoes, oranges and pawpaws, farmers and traders know too well the pain of lack of cold-chain facilities.
For years, many people have regarded it as a problem, but for Joseph Musau, who is based in Kithimani, along the Thika-Garissa highway, the challenge has offered him a good business opportunity.
Musau has eased the traders’ pain of losing their unsold stocks by offering cold storage services at a fee in a business model that can replicated across the country to stem losses.
“Mine is a solar-powered cold room that holds up to eight tonnes of produce at a time,” says the farmer, who, like others in the region, grows bananas, capsicum, eggplants, tomatoes, squash, okra and assorted vegetables along the Yatta Canal.
“This has translated to increased profits since we store the produce for long as we look for good markets," Musau tells the Seeds of Gold.
He started the business some three months ago after receiving the equipment from his daughter, Rachael Mwende, who is based in Germany.
“My father has been growing crops on a small portion of his 25 acres yet it is next to the Yatta Canal. He has not been keen on expanding the enterprise because of losses associated with lack of a faster market. We invested in the cold room to stem losses at home and in the region and generate income,” Mwende says.
During the day, the cold room is powered directly by solar energy, which also charges batteries that hold power for night cooling.
“This means cooling of the produce happens during the day and at night,” says Charles Kagiri, a technician at Logicool, which installed the gadget, noting the solar panels generate 48 volts of direct current.
Musau, a former trade unionist, charges traders and farmers using the cooler to store their fresh produce Sh10 per crate per day. He says the equipment can serve up to 500 farmers during the peak season.
If one cannot afford the Sh3.5 million cooler, there are other options, including a charcoal cooler.
“The cooler is made by filling the walls of a specialised cooling compartment with charcoal and periodically watering it.
“The idea is to trigger the conversion of the water to vapour, a process which uses the energy in the cooling chamber.
“The evaporation of water from the charcoal walls tap the heat in the local environment and creates a cooling effect in the cooling chamber which keeps fresh produce for long,” says Wanjala Nasirembe, the head of the agricultural mechanisation research programme at the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organisation.
Joseph Musau arranges tomatoes inside a solar-powered cold room in Kithimani village, Machakos County. The Sh3.5 million cold room helps extend the shelf-life of fresh produce by at least six weeks.
Photo credit: Pius Maundu | Nation Media Group
Dr Jane Ambuko, a post-harvest loss management expert who teaches at the University of Nairobi, says extending the shelf life of fresh produce through refrigeration significantly reduces post-harvest losses.
“With cold room services, farmers stand better chances of sustaining their deals. This way, cold rooms give farmers an opportunity to reap more from their produce,” she says.
She notes that cold chain facilities enable farmers and traders to slow down the deterioration of fresh fruits and vegetables while preserving the quality of fresh produce.
To sustain and grow the business, he allows those without the required fees to pay once they sell their produce.
“The company that installed the plant has trained a team of local youths to maintain certain aspects of the cooling facility. They know how to clean the solar panels periodically using water,” says Kagiri.
However, when the services are commercialised, one needs a trading licence from the county government, among others.
In Kithimani, vendors of fruits and vegetables are expected to make more profits as farmers who grow highly perishable crops along the Yatta Canal double their efforts now that post-harvest losses are a thing of the past.
The Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services notes that more than 40 per cent of the fresh produce in the country goes to waste after harvest.
The post-harvest losses are more magnified in drylands where the produce faces the double whammy of pests and drought.
A good solar cooling system lowers the energy at the cooling chamber within the shortest time possible, says Wanjala Nasirembe, the head of the agricultural mechanisation research programme at the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organisation. To avoid denting the pockets of the benefactor, the cooling system should also use as little energy as possible, he adds. To attain these qualities, a good solar cooling system should come with an effective insulation.
