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Reducing post-harvest losses with a new solar refrigeration technology in Africa

Progress stage
Dec 2021 to Jun 2022
  • Agriculture
  • Dec 2021 to Jun 2022

Moroccan startup BMTA&C has prototyped an innovative solar-powered solution for crop conservation in Africa. Available on pay-as-you-go, this new technology is expected to reduce losses and increase revenues for small-scale farmers.

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Context

Every year, about 30% of the world’s food production is lost or wasted (FAO). These losses represent 4.4 Gt of C02 equivalent per year and 1.4 billion hectares of land that are used to produce a lost crop. The FAO estimates that nearly 14% of this food is lost between the post-harvest and retail stages.

Still according to the FAO, these losses are particularly high on the African continent where they reach 37% of production and are estimated at 48 billion dollars. They have a particularly negative impact on smallholders farmers, who lose 40 to 60% of their production in the post-harvest phase and are forced to sell at low prices to reduce losses in the absence of effective and accessible storage facilities.

A 1% reduction in post-harvest losses could bring gains of $40 million per year according to a World Bank survey, and most of these benefits would accrue directly to small farmers.

A solar refrigeration technology to reduce post-harvest losses

Innovation

The innovation proposed by the startup BMTA&C aims to reduce post-harvest losses and increase farm income for small farms. It is based on a solar refrigeration technology capable of extending the life of crops from 2 to 20 days on average, and affordable thanks to a pay-as-you-go business model. The solution integrates a platform that allows to use the service remotely, even in areas without internet access: crops can thus be stored more easily, rather than lost.

FID’s funding will allow BMTA&C to create a prototype of the proposed solution and to start deploying it in Togo and Côte d’Ivoire as part of the prefiguration work.

Expected results

The proposed solution aims to reduce post-harvest losses and thus generate an increase in the income of small-scale farmers through the valorization of the saved production.

The results of the prefiguration mission will allow BMTA&C to observe the reliability and impact of the proposed solution with a view to developing an optimal solution that can be tested under real conditions in a pilot phase.

BMTA&C

BMTA&C

BMTA&C is a Moroccan technology startup founded in October 2019 by four young engineers graduated from EMINES. It aims to put technology at the service of development in Africa.

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