Young Ghanaian entrepreneur combats power cuts with solar-powered cold storage

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00:00Across many farms in Ghana, post-harvest losses, particularly of perishable vegetables like

00:15tomatoes, is very common.

00:17The situation is not only threatening food security, but also farmers' livelihoods.

00:23To contribute to addressing the problem, social entrepreneur Matthias Charles-Yabe has designed

00:30a solar-powered cold storage system to help preserve fruits and vegetables on the farm.

00:35We developed a modular solar-powered cold room in Akumadan.

00:40That was the first pilot community.

00:42This cold room was serving as a central aggregation point for the farmers to bring their produce

00:47there, store it, and then, you know, look for buyers and sell crops at competitive prices.

00:54Yabe's company, Aquafresh, established four years ago, works with smallholder farmers who

01:00often lose nearly half their harvest before they even reach the market.

01:05The technology extends the shelf life of perishable produce by up to 21 days, and it has helped

01:12more than 3,000 smallholder farmers to improve their income.

01:16I lost a lot of money in the past during bumper harvest because I didn't have any storage

01:26system.

01:27Now, with the solar-powered cold storage, things are better, and I get to preserve the vegetables

01:33before selling to consumers.

01:35Ghana loses nearly $2 billion to post-harvest losses every year.

01:40The solar-powered cold storage system is a crucial intervention at a time when Ghana faces

01:45a long-running energy crisis.

01:47In addition to this system, Yabe has also developed a solar-powered cold storage tricycle.

01:52We realized that inasmuch as we had built a modular stationary cold storage unit for the

01:58farmers, there was a need for us to actually help them get access to market.

02:03That was what really brought about us thinking about the cold chain in transit, where we now

02:09engineered a solar-powered cold storage refrigerated tricycle.

02:13The tricycle is helping farmers keep their produce under environmentally controlled temperatures,

02:19while in transit, from the farm to the market.

02:22It takes about seven hours to get this solar-powered cold system fully charged, and once it heads

02:29the road, it can preserve farm produce for up to five to six hours.

02:35Analysts say the gap between electricity demand and supply has opened opportunities for innovators

02:41in Ghana.

02:42But there is a need for more government support and investments for start-ups turning to renewable

02:47energy to provide solutions within the agri-sector.

02:52As a country, we are here to appreciate what we have to do when it comes to the cold chain

02:59investment.

03:00But on the energy costs, government, we have the energy commission, they've been working,

03:04doing some work on the solar systems.

03:06But we are here to incorporate that into our domestic or commercial activity.

03:12Yabe agrees.

03:13He believes with more funding, he will be able to expand his solar-powered cold storage systems

03:18across the country and help drive down post-harvest losses one farming community at a time.

03:25Keep your time.

03:26That's all.

03:27Notice how much money this lives are going.

03:28Notice how much money this time will easily attract the falcon.

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03:45Go to the distance out, crouching and익er in the腕 and опot?

03:45Yes!

03:46Listen Your time...

03:47The ĐI Lynn Lynn Lynn is around.

03:48Here's another argument, let's see.

03:49It's the next time to leave your attention, just to get my mind.

03:51I'm safe and look, and look.

03:52Let's look at the next time!

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