The Nigerian Cold Hub Company has developed a solar-powered food storage design, Cold Hub, to empower small, medium and large scale farmers.
The company introduced the design of the facility in a seminar titled, “Start-ups in Renewable Energy,” in partnership with German foreign energy policy.
The aim of the seminar is to give young creative German and Nigerian entrepreneurs with innovative ideas and sustainable business models a platform to share experiences and introduce their business models and products.
The facility will ensure a greater part of the country’s farm yield does not get wasted due to challenges emanating from either erratic power supply or storage facilities reliant on power.
The Cold Hub says it has invented the product to support young entrepreneurs who are especially involved in agriculture but record loses due to lack of storage facilities or power hindrances.
Mr. Benjamin Igbokwe, Chief Operating Officer, Cold Hub said the design is essentially built to greatly reduce post-harvest loss for 470 million small farmers in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia.
“Our innovation, ColdHubs extends shelf life of perishable food from 2 to 21 days. 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 water and nutrition. They lose weight, texture, flavor, nutritional value and appeal. Cooling significantly slows down the rate of deterioration, thereby increasing the storage life of the produce.”