The initiative seeks to upscale fabrication of solar dyers and support solar drying as a service in Kenya.
ACTS is part of a consortium awarded a grant to scale-up solar dryers to reduce post-harvest loses (PHL) in Kenya. The grant was awarded by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) through the Seeding The Future Global Food System Challenge. Other members of the consortium implementing the project include the United Nations Environmental programme UNEP) and the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI).
The project will aim to accelerate scaling-up the solution in more locations and support youthled SMEs to deploy more affordable solar dryers. It will target 500 low cost dryers over 5 years reaching over 40,000 smallholder farmers with a view to growing market for “pay as you dry” services across various agri-value chains.
In addition, the project will strive to expand inclusive entrepreneurship and green jobs especially for youth and women in agro-processing.
It will seek to scale the proof-of-concept of climate-action low-cost solar drying technology enterprises to reduce PHL and drive realisation of multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The project leverages on lessons from the UNEP Ecosystem Based Adaptation for Food Security (EBAFOSA) initiative that promoted solar drying technology and dryers as “pay-as-you go” business models through collective action among smallholder communities in Kenya.
The initiative will also aim to establish a business and knowledge hub to scale climate-solutions and foster policy engagement and dialogues.
The provision of the dryers as a shared service predicated upon payment of a small maintenance fee, which lowered the cost of dryer services to a fraction of the cost of ownership i.e. 0.05% of the cost of a full dryer. Through this initiative, the project has provided solar-drying services to 300 cassava farmers in Kenya and Uganda.
ACTS Executive Director, Prof. Tom Ogada, called for a shift from the unsustainable traditional methods - used in deploying technologies - to new business models and approaches.
This is to ensure that technology transfer not only creates jobs but also enhances income opportunities to technology beneficiaries as well as ensuring sustainability and longevity of these technologies.
A solar drying system in Migori. The project will accelerate deployment of such solutions in more locations and support to youth-led SMEs to deploy more affordable solar dryers.
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