By Dennis Peprah, GNA
Koraso, (Bono), Dec. 6, GNA – Mr Dickson Kyere-Duah, the Member of Parliament for Berekum West in the Bono Region has launched a solar-powered mobile cold storage trailer facility to address post-harvest losses of vegetables in the Berekum West District.
AkoFresh, a Ghanaian agritech start-up, innovated the technology, which is a flexible, solar-powered cold-chain solution that brings cold storage directly to the farmers in the district, a major tomato producing area in the region.
The start-up focuses on reducing post-harvest losses and thereby making farming more profitable, sustainable, and dignified and to enhance the socio-economic livelihoods of farmers.
Speaking at the launch of the facility, which coincided with the district celebration of the 41st National Farmers Day held at Koraso, a farming community, Mr Kyere-Duah lauded the technology and commended the start-up for its innovation and creativity.
He expressed worry that post-harvest losses of tomato and other vegetables remained a daunting challenge making vegetable production unattractive to the youth.
Mr Kyere-Duah said with the technology at the door-step of the farmers, the challenge of the post-harvest losses of the crops would not only be a thing of the past, but also inspire the farmers to expand their work and improve production.
As perishable crops, the MP pledged his commitment to supporting and ensuring that the farmers access the facility to store and even wait for good prices for their crops.
Mr Prince Kweku Asante, the Business Development Officer, AkoFresh, expressed concern that for years farmers lost up to 30 and 50 percent of their produce simply because they lacked access to cold storage or safe transportation.
“So, we are helping to solve these problems with the solar-powered cold rooms, an off-grid refrigeration unit that extends the shelf life of perishable crops from 3-5 days to up to 21+ days, reducing post-harvest losses and improving food quality”, he stated.
Mr Asante said: “Our mobile cold storage trailer also brings cold storage directly to farms and rural communities, ensuring freshness at the source, as our solar powered cooling tricycle is also a mobile transport solution that helps move fresh produce from farms to markets or aggregators with minimal spoilage”.
Already, he explained that his outfit had offered capacity-building training on climate-smart agriculture, post-harvest management and handling, and digital skills, empowering the farmers to improve productivity and income.
“Over the past years, we have trained and supported over thousands of farmers across Ghana, helping them reduce losses, improve quality, and access better markets.
This impact motivates us to keep doing more and this trailer will support farmers in Koraso and across the Berekum West District with cold storage, reduced spoilage, better market access, and improved income”.
Mr Asante added that the facility would also enable for remote monitoring, affordable, and built to move from community to community.
He said as part of its journey, AkoFresh had already saved over 950 tons of perishable produce from post-harvest loss, impacted 10,000 lives and built a network of over 30 global partners supporting sustainable agriculture and food security as well as an increase in farmer incomes by 40 percent.
Mr Asante expressed gratitude to the Global Development Network for supporting them to implement the mobile cold storage trailer and thanked the District Directorate of Agriculture and the District Assembly for their support.
GNA
Christian Akorlie