Who we are
We are a team of a new young generation of Africans with an average age of 27years. Like many our age, we watched our parents and grandparents and those before them work tirelessly toiling and moiling in the rural farms only for a huge chunk of their fresh produce to rot away due to lack of proper cold storage units. Often times, middle men would quickly swoop in and offer dirt cheap prices and farmers would be forces to sell for a song out of desperation and fear of post-harvest loss. Lesson number one we learned in early life: Don’t do agriculture! It’s a backbreaking endeavor that will leave you with crusty hands and empty pockets. We voted with our feet and opted for a better life in the big city. That was then, now the only hope we see for our generation to make an impact is through agriculture and we have decided to utilize our skills in Renewable Energy, Engineering, Agriculture, Business Management, ICT and communication to make a difference for smallholder farmers.
Our Motto: “Solutions for Smallholder farmers with smallholders by smallholders”
Temperature management is the key tool for reducing temperature losses in the developing world. Very few smallholder farmers have access to cooling or cool storage facilities, and even refrigerated transportation is a rarity. The unreliability of local electricity supplies, the expense of conventional coolers, and the lack of technical expertise for the installation and maintenance all have led to the search for alternative solutions such as evaporative cooling systems. Nevertheless, mechanical refrigeration still represents a simple and efficient solution to cooling produce, and is usually the only practical means for cooling to temperatures near freezing. For resource-limited farmers in the developing world, cold rooms and transportation systems employing mechanical refrigeration are economically and practically infeasible.
We are testing an innovative system, the Solar Freeze(TM), to help smallholder farmers effectively deal with postharvest loss through a holistic approach from storage to transportation and selling produce by using renewable energy from the farm gate though mobile solar powered cold rooms to the transportation of fresh produce via energy efficient trucks and finally to the end consumer who mainly include bottom of the pyramid clients in towns and cities who will benefit from reduced prices of food and better nutrition from our innovation .
The team
Dysmus Kisilu
The University of California, Davis- Renewable Energy
Rita Nkatha Laibuta
The University of Sheffield- Master of Science (Eng) Energy Engineering The University of Nairobi- B.SC. ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
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
Mizan Welderufael
Addis Ababa Institute of Technoloy (AAiT)- Master of Science (M.Sc.) Electrical Power Engineering Addis Ababa University- B.SC. ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
Ryan Dion Taylor
The University of California, Davis- Bsc. Chemical Physics Director- Renewable Energy SIG- National Society of Black Engineers
Corazon Kisilu, MPRSK, MCIPR
The University of Nairobi- Master of Arts Communication Kenya Methodist University- Bachelor of Arts Education Chartered Institute of Public Relations
Sylvester Ndungu
Kenya Methodist University-Bachelor of Computer Information Systems -Computer Science Data Science and Mobile App Systems Engineer
Fiona Wanjiru
Kenyatta University- Bachelors Degree - Gender and Development Studies
Ruth Wanjiku
The University of Nairobi-Bachelor or Agribusiness Management
Antony Bundi
Masters in Project Management and Uber Business Model Expert
Denis Ngahu
USSD expert