One Solution for Food Waste, Hunger and Emissions in Africa

In his six years of farming, Saheed Adams has witnessed a lot of food waste as his fruits and vegetables move from farm to market. In a normal year, his company, Eweko Integrated Services, loses 15% of its harvest due to intermittent access to electricity and refrigeration at distribution centers—which is actually much better than the industry standard in Nigeria of more than 30%, according to Adams. But in 2020, due to a drop in demand during the initial Covid-19 lockdown, he suffered a "colossal" loss: 80% of his harvest spoiled as it sat in unrefrigerated or intermittently refrigerated storage facilities. Off-grid solutions for food storage Adams is one of thousands of farmers in Nigeria plagued by high rates of post-harvest produce loss due to lack of access to a stable, refrigerated supply chain. In response, clean tech company Ecotutu aims to provide cost-effective cooling solutions to businesses in the agriculture and health sectors through solar-powered cold storage that doesn’t rely on an intermittent grid and can better weather disruptions like lockdowns. Through successful marketing strategies—implemented on a shoestring budget—the brand is helping to spread its products throughout Africa to help more farmers protect their harvests from spoilage. Established in 2019, Ecotutu is one solution to two problems: "Lack of access to electricity and lack of access to cost-effective cold storage for businesses,” Babajide Oluwase, the company's founder and growth lead, explained. “The solution is designed to operate off-grid with solar [polar voltaic] panels and a natural refrigerant.” Solar-powered Ecotutu hubs are designed with unique phase-change technology to preserve foods and pharmaceuticals products. To date, the brand has served 628 farmers and aggregators, and claims to have increased the monthly income of those clients between 20% and 35% through four products. The first is the EcotutuHub, a constructed solar-powered refrigerated chamber designed to preserve and maintain temperature-sensitive items such as food and pharmaceutical products like vaccines. The second, the Fresh Box, is an insulated box fabricated that sits on the back of a delivery motorbike. Ecotutu also offers ice cells—essentially long-lasting ice packs—and portable cooler bags. Ecotutu supplies its clients with ice cells—essentially long-lasting ice packs—and portable cooler bags. Where climate, food waste and hunger meet Nigeria loses 40% of total agricultural production each year due to post-harvest spoilage, according to The World Bank—representing 9.1% of Nigeria's GDP. That rate of loss “runs a farming business down over time,” Adams said. At the same time, 44% of Nigerians are food insecure. This contradiction struck Oluwase as he traveled through remote communities across West Africa. Witnessing the impact of post-harvest losses due to lack of refrigeration motivated him to create a cold storage solution. Preserving food and other temperature-sensitive products has long been a major challenge, especially in developing countries like Nigeria with an inconsistent power supply. About 92 million people out of Nigeria's 200 million population lack access to power, the lowest access to electricity globally. The promise of electrification A 2021 study from energy development firm All On showed supplying 600,000 farmers with cold storage facilities could reduce post-harvest loss of perishables by 20% and save more than 4.4 million tons of food—enough to feed 6.5 million people annually. Adams, CEO and co-founder of Eweko, said working with Ecotutu has helped him to cut back on post-harvest loss. The pricing model allows Eweko to pay only for what it carries, he said, encouraging “organic growth of the business and reduced cost associated with loss during transportation.” Built From Waste: Meet the Brands Turning Africa’s Plastic Trash Into Treasure Getting the message out Still, there have been challenges in bringing Ecotutu’s innovations to market. Oluwase has faced regulatory bottlenecks, technological risk, and difficulty accessing long-term capital to deliver managed services at scale. But Ecotutu also needs to get the farmers themselves on board, building its brand across the sector on a limited advertising budget. Right now, the company is aiming to inspire “a mindset shift in the target audience to get them to move from the unsustainable—but familiar—alternatives they are already used to,” Michael Akinsete, co-founder and chief marketing officer for Ecotutu, told Adweek. When the power goes out, farmers often turn to fossil fuel-powered generators to operate cold rooms, he explained. Rotten produce that can’t be sold at a discount ends up in landfill—a major source of methane emissions. Ecotutu does a lot of that community and customer outreach through LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook, Akinsete said. The team also uses social platforms to find strategic partners, and leans on email marketing and word-of-mouth to engage with its community and keep members abreast of its growth and products. “With what we have achieved with few resources, I am positive that access to a bigger audience base would further improve our marketing results," Akinsete said. The brand currently has a monthly social media ad budget ranging from 50,000-80,000 Naira—about $118-189—which it spends on product marketing and promotions, including article features and interviews. So far, Ecotutu has saved more than 3,000 tons of fruits and vegetables, Oluwase said. Looking ahead, the company is planning to expand its services to Ghana and Kenya. "We're not just a company building cold chain solutions; we strive daily to become the enabler [of growth] across the food and health value chain," Oluwase said. How Clean Energy Brands Are Curbing Emissions and Filling Access Gaps in Rural West Africa

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Meet the Brand Accelerating Off-Grid Solutions for Food Preservation in Africa

Clean tech company Ecotutu is using solar power to address food waste, hunger and emissions all at once

Off-grid solutions for food storage

Samuel Ajala

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Samuel Ajala