SOLAR FREEZE Republic of Kenya
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SOLAR FREEZE Republic of Kenya Equator Initiative Case Studies Local sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities UNDP EQUATOR INITIATIVE CASE STUDY SERIES Local and Indigenous communities across the world are solutions (NBS) for climate change and local sustainable advancing innovative sustainable development solutions development. Selected from 847 nominations from across that work for people and for nature. Few publications 127 countries, the winners were celebrated at a gala event or case studies tell the full story of how such initiatives in New York, coinciding with UN Climate Week and the evolve, the breadth of their impacts, or how they change 74th Session of the UN General Assembly. The winners are over time. Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories sustainably protecting, restoring, and managing forests, with community practitioners themselves guiding the farms, wetlands, and marine ecosystems to mitigate narrative. The Equator Initiative aims to fill that gap. greenhouse gas emissions, help communities adapt to The Equator Initiative, supported by generous funding from climate change, and create a green new economy. Since the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation 2002, the Equator Prize has been awarded to 245 initiatives and Development (BMZ) and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), awarded the The following case study is one in a growing series that Equator Prize 2019 to 22 outstanding local community describes vetted and peer-reviewed best practices and Indigenous peoples initiatives from 16 countries. Each intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to of the 22 winners represents outstanding community and scale nature-based solutions essential to achieving the Indigenous initiatives that are advancing nature-based Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). PROJECT SUMMARY KEY FACTS Launched in Kenya in 2015, Solar Freeze is pioneer- Equator Prize winner Founded ing the production of cold storage units—that are 2019 2015 both solar-powered and mobile—for small-scale ru- ral produce farmers. This innovative entrepreneur- Location ial initiative enables farmers to reduce post-harvest Machakos, Republic of Kenya losses by 90 percent and grow more high-value crops, thereby increasing household incomes and Beneficiaries reducing greenhouse gas emissions from food loss. 3,000 direct beneficiaries, 80 percent of whom are The initiative also supports gender empowerment, women; 7,500 indirect beneficiaries with 80 percent of the 3,000 beneficiaries being women. Solar Freeze’s ‘Each One, Teach One—Train Thematic areas and Earn’ initiative mentors women and youth Sustainable agriculture and food security; Women’s between the ages of 18 and 29 in climate-smart empowerment; Sustainable livelihoods agriculture and in the operation, maintenance, and repair of renewable-energy equipment. As a result Fields of work of this skills-transfer program, 100 young people Eco-enterprise or green business; Sustainable energy are earning income from work that reduces agricul- generation; Climate-smart agriculture tural carbon emissions. By filling a key gap in the supply chain, Solar Freeze increases smallholder Sustainable Development Goals addressed income, mitigates climate change, and supports food security through replicable practices. e 36° 37° 38° 39° 40° Guenal 41° 42° Negēlē SOUTH Konso SUDAN Administrative 5° Boundary 5° Yabelo KENYA Houdat D Kelem aw a Ch'ew Bahir Todenyang ETHIOPIA Banya Sabarei Lokichokio Mega Dolo Odo Sibiloi National Park 4 4 ° Lake Turkana Banissa ° Ramu Mandera Kakuma (Lake Rudolf) Kaabong Lokwa Kangole Central I. Central Island N. P. Moyale Takaba North Horr Lodwar 3 3 ° l ° e El Wak w Buna k Loiyangalani El Beru Hagia r u South I. T Moroto South Island N. P. Lokichar Marsabit Marsabit National Park UGANDA Tarbaj 2° Lokori EASTERN Girito 2° South Turkana Nat. Reserve L. Bisinga Baragoi Wajir L. Oputa Losai National Reserve m a Laisamis u S RIFT VALLEY L aga B o r Tot Mbale Mount Elgon N. P. Maralal Game Sanctuary Maralal Log Dif 1 Kitale o a 1 ° ir Habaswein Bo ° Archer's g' g Kisima a SOMALIA Post o N l Lorule Ewas Tororo WESTERN L. Baringo Mado Gashi Webuye Eldoret Busia Marigat Shaba Nat. Res. NORTH- Kinna Liboi Butere Kakamega Nyahururu Isiolo EASTERN Bisanadi a (Thomson's Falls) Meru er Bilis Qooqaani Nanyuki Nat. Res. Rahole Nat. Lak D Meru Nat. Reserve Solai Hagadera L 0° Kisumu Mt. Kenya Park 0° a Londiani 5199 m k T e Nakuru Mt. Kenya Nat. Park North Kora National a na Aberdares Kericho Molo Kitui Reserve Nyeri N. P. Mfangano I. Nat. Garissa V Homa Bay Gilgil Res. i CENTRAL Embu c Kisii t Naivasha o NYANZA Murang'a r L. Naivasha Nguni i a Masinga 1 Thika Mwingi 1 ° Migori Narok Reservoir Bura ° NAIROBI Kolbio Buur Gaabo AREA Arawale Nat. Res. Nairobi Kitui Hola Kaambooni Musoma Masai Mara Nat. Res. Machakos Boni Nat. Res. A t h Tana River Primate Nat. Res. i L. Magadi Kajiado South Kitui Nat. Res. Dodori Nat. Res. Magadi Sultan-Hamud 2° 2° KENYA Garsen Lamu Pate I. Lake Kibwezi Lamu I. Manda I. Natron Namanga Amboseli Nat. Park COAST L. Amboseli Mtito Andei Tsavo East National Park Ungama Bay Tsavo 3° Kilimanjaro Galana 3° 5895 m Tsavo Tsavo West Malindi Moshi Nat.Park Arusha Voi National capital Taveta Provincional capital Kilifi INDIAN Nyumba Ya Mungi Town, village Reservoir Mariakanii OCEAN Airport 4° Same 4° International boundary Mombasa Shimba Hills Nat. Park Provincional boundary Main road The boundaries and names shown and the designations Secondary road UNITED used on this map do not imply official endorsement or Moa acceptance by the United Nations. Other road or track REPUBLIC OF 5° Railroad TANZANIA Wete 0 50 100 150 5° Tanga Korogwe 0 25 50 75 100 mi 34° 35° 36° 37° 38° 39° Pemba I. 40° 41° 42° Map No. 4187 Rev. 3 UNITED NATIONS Department of Field Support December 2011 Cartographic Section EQUATOR PRIZE 2019 WINNER FILM The depiction and use of boundaries and related information shown on maps or included in text of this document are not guaranteed to be free from error, nor do they imply official acceptance or recognition by the United Nations. BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT The Eastern Province runs through the centre of the than 70 percent of the rural population. The sector makes Republic of Kenya (Kenya), spanning vast tracts of agricul- up 26 percent of Kenya’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) tural land and the jagged peaks of Mount Kenya. The semi- and another 27 percent of the GDP indirectly through arid region is wedged between two biodiverse areas iden- linkages with other sectors. tified by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF): the Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa Biodiversity Hotspot Small-scale farmers in Kenya face numerous challenges, and the Eastern Afromontane Biodiversity Hotspot. including climate change, locust swarms, and lack of access to newer technology and infrastructure. With much Within Kenya’s Eastern Province are Machakos, Makueni, of the country classified as arid or semi-arid, drought and Kitui counties, home to approximately 3.5 million and unpredictable rainfall patterns make water supplies people. The agricultural sector plays a vital role in precarious. Some local communities also experience two supporting the local economy, mirroring a broader problems that seem contradictory at first glance: food national trend. Agriculture employs 40 percent of Kenya’s insecurity and post-harvest food wastage. total population of approximately 51 million, and more Origin and structure Solar Freeze is a social enterprise that aims to reduce food encouraged to give up agricultural livelihoods in favour of wastage in Kenya’s small-scale agricultural sector. The urban opportunities. group’s origin story is rooted in the personal experiences of its founder and team members, who grew up watching When Solar Freeze was founded in 2015, it marked a their parents and grandparents working on small-scale return to the agricultural sector for many of the group’s agricultural plots. Every year, family members would team members. The social enterprise team is currently risk losing a large portion of their crop yield due to lack comprised of 11 young African innovators, including six of proper cold storage units. Dysmus Kisilu, the Founder employees focused on engineering, two employees in and CEO of Solar Freeze, recalls that intermediary produce business and development, two employees in outreach, brokers would often “swoop in and offer dirt cheap prices” and one finance and accounting employee. The Solar for these crops. Fearing post-harvest losses, smallholder Freeze team is noted for gender and youth empowerment, farmers would often be forced to sell their produce at with five out of 11 employees being women and an these reduced prices. Many young Kenyans were also average team age of 27 years. “Solar Freeze, is, I believe, a game changer.” Ruth Wanjiku, Solar Freeze beneficiary and farmer 4 LOCAL CHALLENGES Food wastage The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United billion worth of food went to waste or was left to rot. Nations (FAO) estimates that approximately one third Lacking electricity or sufficient cold storage units, small- of all food produced globally is lost or wasted. The scale farmers in rural Machakos County incur post-harvest environmental impacts are immense, with 1.4 billion losses of 40 to 60 percent. Food wastage creates significant hectares of land—almost 30 percent of the planet’s economic losses for small-scale farmers. As unrefrigerated agricultural land area—producing food that is never eaten. fresh produce, such as tomatoes, avocadoes, and mangoes, starts to spoil in the heat, intermediary produce brokers In Kenya, between 40 and 50 percent of food is lost or exploit farmers’ urgent need to sell, often offering subpar wasted throughout the entire food chain, according to the prices for crops. Brookings Institute. Kenya’s National Bureau of Statistics estimates that, during 2017 alone, approximately US$1.5 Climate change and land degradation Agricultural losses have significant implications for climate words of Solar Freeze’s CEO, “When farmers incur significant change.