The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology launch project on “Exploiting the potential of solar-powered cooler for vaccine and perishable foods storage in remote areas of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)” on 08th June 2022 to overcome poor storage facilities which cause postharvest loss of 40% for perishable food including vegetables and fruits.

The project involved a Master student from Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) and two Students from Arusha Technical College (ATC) who will focus on design the portable cooler that will use potential renewable energy (solar energy in operation which is mostly available in SSA) . The innovation can be used by both vaccines and farmers to keep their perishable food stuff while looking for suitable market.

“I acknowledge ICIPE for funding the project worth of UDS 83996, for two year from March 2022 to February 2024. “Said Project Investigator, Dr. Juma Selemani

Dr. Juma explained that, the project will bring huge changes in food storage and vaccination as post-harvest losses are threat to food security, income and livelihoods of many households in sub-Saharan Africa, also there is improper handling of vaccine as most of them need storage temperature below freezing as failure to keep vaccine properly can reduce vaccine effectiveness this can led to decreasing protection against disease leading to revaccination of many patients, death, discarding vaccine and financial loss.

Project Core Principle Investigator, Dr. Thomas Kivevele stressed the need for stakeholder involvement and market need assessment for the designed solar-powered cooler. The design should consider the need for both health sector and food supply chain as well as convenient and portability.

On the other hand, the project lead partner Prof. Zhongje Huan from Tshwane University of Technology from South Africa, presented on the importance of green technologies in reduction of global warming gases. Prof. Huan is an expert in Refrigeration technologies as well as green energy.