Solar Freeze

I am motivated to participate in the Elevate Prize program so that I collaborate, learn, and share my knowledge with the other leaders from various parts of the world. I am also enthusiastic to learn further about a human centered design approach that will help my organization create greater impact through offering solar powered community solutions and also training more young women to be technicians who can handle solar technologies. The program will also enable me to shape my business skills and acumen that will be useful when I conduct mentorship programs to train young people in Kenya   

Dysmus Kisilu, is the founder of Solar Freeze, a company that specializes in providing renewable energy solutions (solar powered irrigation kits and solar powered cold storage units) to smallholder farmers in Kenya to increase agricultural productivity. To date Dysmus has worked with 3,000 smallholder farmers in Kenya to increase agricultural yields by more than 150 per cent from 2016 to date.

Dysmus is also the founder of “Each one, teach one- Train and Earn” an initiative within Solar Freeze that aims to impact the next generation of renewable energy for agriculture leaders in Africa by mentoring young people aged 18-29 years in the operation, maintenance and repair of renewable energy solutions specifically for agriculture, as a result, this skills transfer program has enabled 100 young people learn and earn an income.

Food losses amount to roughly US$ 310 billion in developing countries. Estimates from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Bank show that up to 47 per cent of the $940 billion needed to eradicate hunger in sub-Saharan Africa by 2050 will be required for the post-harvest system. Fruits and vegetables, dairy products and tubers have the highest loss rates of any food in developing countries at 45-50% occurring at post-harvest and processing levels mainly at early stages of the food value chain and can be traced back to constraints in harvesting techniques as well as lack of storage and cooling facilities. Temperature control is the most important factor in reducing postharvest losses for fresh produce.

Solar Freeze is pioneering potable cold storage units powered by solar energy for rural smallholder farmers of perishable produce.

Smallholder farmers through their mobile phones request and are connected to access the potable solar powered cold storage units through sending simple SMS, USSD and Voice messages where they pay via mobile money transactions a fee of between US$0.2cents to $0.5 cents for the use of the renewable energy equipment for reduce agricultural post-harvest loss.

We are pioneering an innovative business model to enable more women to own and operate the solar powered cold storage units as independent micro-franchisee entrepreneurs in the rural areas, through a "Hubs and Spokes" model.  

Women Micro- franchisee

Through a Hubs and Spokes model rural women will receive training to own and operate the solar powered cold storage units in their communities; Here's how it works;

Hubs

First, we own and operate best practice solar powered cold storage “hub” centers that provide quality food preservation & storage services for smallholder farmers in rural areas. These centers are designed to be best-practice models for the community, providing smallholder farmers with all the renewable energy building blocks they need to thrive.

Spokes

Using our “hub” centers as a model, Solar Freeze has launched a social-franchising program to support local women (who we call our Mamapreneurs) with training, resources & on-going mentorship to start or grow their own quality solar powered cold storage micro-business (or “spoke”).

Spokes are visited weekly by a Spokes Outreach Officer who provides ongoing mentorship & quality assurance on food preservation and safety.

The direct beneficiaries of the project include 3,000 small-scale farmers 80 percent of whom are women who have had accessed the Solar Freeze cold storage solutions that have reduced post-harvest loss by 95 percent. Through Solar Freeze, the smallholder farmers have been able to increase their incomes significantly by 150 percent as a result of effective and cheap refrigeration solutions by the project, they have been able to sell produce at optimum prices as opposed to the previous situation where farmers were forced to sell produce to middlemen out of distress, fear and desperation of rot. 

The Solar Freeze project has participated in mentoring and training 100 young women aged 18-29years and the youth into the field of renewable energy. Through a program called “Each One,Teach One-Train to Earn” where rural youth gain practical hand on technical skills and are guided on how to operate equipment powered by renewable energy for agriculture.

Through Micro-Franchising of Solar Freeze solutions 200 women-entrepreneurs have benefited from an increased income of 300 percent in communities where they work.

Cheaper fresh food produce and reduced malnutrition for 7,000 bottom of the pyramid consumers in towns and cities since customers have access to more nutritious food.

The direct beneficiaries of the project include 3,000 small-scale farmers 80 percent of whom are women who have had accessed the Solar Freeze cold storage solutions that have reduced post-harvest loss by 95 percent. Through Solar Freeze, the smallholder farmers have been able to increase their incomes significantly by 150 percent as a result of effective and cheap refrigeration solutions by the project, they have been able to sell produce at optimum prices as opposed to the previous situation where farmers were forced to sell produce to middlemen out of distress, fear and desperation of rot.

The Solar Freeze project has participated in mentoring and training 100 young women aged 18-29years and the youth into the field of renewable energy. Through a program called “Each One, Teach One- Train to Earn” where rural youth gain practical hand on technical skills and are guided on how to operate equipment powered by renewable energy for agriculture.

Through Micro-Franchising of Solar Freeze solutions 200 women entrepreneurs have benefited from an increased income of 300 percent in communities where they work.

Cheaper fresh food produce and reduced malnutrition for 7,000 bottom of the pyramid consumers in city slums. since customers have access to more food that would have otherwise ended up in dumpsites.

Through the micro-franchise model that we have created working via the sharing economy, an economic model in which
individuals are able to borrow or rent assets owned by someone else, 10 Solar Freeze units have already enabled more than
5,000 smallholder farmers have access to the internet connected solar powered turnkey unit to increase agricultural productivity
at very low prices ranging from USD$0.1 cents to $0.8 cents for use of services, this in-turn has allowed more farmers to
increase productivity without necessarily owning or having to purchase the equipment, therefore allowing more productive
agriculture in Kenya, Enabling farmers to grow more high-value horticulture crops and increasing incomes to now US$1,500 per
month from their previous US$150 per month which they earned via menial jobs.

The biggest risk for our project operating in Kenya currently is political instability; this has seen a lot of disturbance and
business slowdown in Kenya recently leading to property destruction and violence at times. Our solution plans to mitigate this
risk by creating jobs for the youth through the micro franchise model where they will handle the operation of the solar powered
tools in the community as well as be the change agents in creating a climate smart agricultural continent. The youth have often
been used to cause violence by being incited by politicians, as a result of the high unemployment rates in Kenya many often are
idle and easy to manipulate. Through the solution offered, we intend to productively engage the youth in renewable energy and
agriculture so that they can be economically empowered and lead decent lives. Our mission is to impact 600-700 youth annually
through a program we call “Each One, Teach One- Train to Earn” to enable youths learn from each other on how to utilize
renewable energy and increase food security, this peer learning we hope will cause a ripple effect in rural communities leading
to job creation, environmental conservation and a climate smart agricultural approach.

Solar Freeze would leverage the platform , audience and brand recognition to bring a spotlight on issue around food loss in developing countries while leveraging on using renewable energy to solve this challenge, by focusing on youth and women who work to offer solutions in communities that they live in. We hope to create a ripple effect especially within the African continent that its possible for young people and women to be at the forefront of change and leading the SDG goals through inspiring them with the practical work that Solar Freeze is doing in East Africa.

Solar Freeze has participated in mentoring and training 100 young women aged 18-29years and the youth into the field of renewable energy. Through a program called “Each One, Teach One- Train to Earn” where rural youth gain practical hand on technical skills and are guided on how to operate equipment powered by renewable energy for agriculture.

Through Micro-Franchising of Solar Freeze solutions 200 women entrepreneurs have benefited from an increased income of 300 percent in communities where they work.

We are also pioneering an innovative business model to enable more women to own and operate the solar powered cold storage units as independent micro-franchisee entrepreneurs in the rural areas, through a "Hubs and Spokes" model. 

  Women Micro- franchisee

Through a Hubs and Spokes model rural women will receive training to own and operate the solar powered cold storage units in their communities; Here's how it works;

Hubs

First, we own and operate best practice solar powered cold storage “hub” centers that provide quality food preservation & storage services for smallholder farmers in rural areas. These centers are designed to be best-practice models for the community, providing smallholder farmers with all the renewable energy building blocks they need to thrive

Solar Freeze has won awards by Microsoft, USAID, Cisco and The 2018 Enel Green Energy Prize for its turnkey agriculture
innovation. The founders of Solar Freeze are; 1)Dysmus Kisilu- A Renewable Energy Expert from the University of California
Davis. 2)Fadekunayo Jolomi Adeniyi Doctoral Researcher Renewable Energy- University of Durham in England Master of
Science in Renewable Energy University of Plymouth in England Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical and Electronic
Engineering 3)Edwin Ngaruia Bachelor of Science in Telecommunication and Information Technology Cisco Certified
Internetwork Expert (CCIE) License #52740 4)Ruth Wanjiku The University of Nairobi-Bachelor or Agribusiness Management
5)Rita Nkatha Laibuta The University of Sheffield- Master of Science (Eng) Energy Engineering

COVID-19 is causing unprecedented disruptions around the world, the pandemic is now spreading across Africa, home to the majority of those who live without electricity, energy services are key to preventing and fighting the pandemic. We are a pioneer in solar-powered cold storage products and services for the storage of medical products and temperature sensitive vaccines. Our goal is to help off-grid and weak-grid communities such as refugee camps, clinics and rural healthcare centers access reliable and effective cold storage solutions for as little as $0.1 cents per day therefore providing effective solar powered refrigeration as a service to clinics and refugee based facilities who would otherwise not have such technology, we have already deployed 60 solar powered chest freezers to help refugee based clinics store vaccines and temperature sensitive medication during the pandemic.

In addition to this, Solar Freeze also distributed 6,000 small solar powered radios to refugees and rural farmers to help them access credible information about the Covid19 pandemic, this resulted in communities receiving updates from the various departments of health in their local vernacular languages during a time where early days information on Covid19 was scanty and unproven.

If awarded, we would use the prize money from Elevate in the following way; Fabrication and installation of the 80 Solar powered modular unit IoT Smartfarm Kit and solar cold storage each at $3,000.00 SMS,USSD,Voice&Mobile App for sharing renewable energy Ag tools $5,000.00 Rural Young Women Technical training on fixing the Solar Ag tools $3,000.00 Total Employment Expenses $20,000.00
Women Micro- franchisee training costs for running and operating solar powered units $15,000.00
Advertising and promotion $7,000.00
Project M&E (Participatory monitoring and Evaluation) $6,000.00
Leasing Expenses$4,000.00
Total expenses $300,000

MIT University

Through D-lab, Solar Freeze is receiving technical support and one-on-one mentorship services from the staff and faculty at MIT university

The University of California, Davis

Through its Postharvest Technology Center, focusing on the post-harvest handling of horticultural

The Government of Kenya through the Department of Agriculture

The role they will play will linking Solar Freeze to the existing pool of smallholder farmers they work with in the perishable produce sector.

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

The USAID provides support to Solar Freeze in terms of grant support geared towards helping smallholder farmers increase productivity