Femi Oye is a Social Entrepreneur; impact Investor and a Life Coach. The CEO of Green Energy & Biofuels (GEB); Co-founder, SMEFUNDS and Chief Architect, GoSolarAfrica leading clean energy technology companies, striving to bring decentralized offgrid solar solutions to business and residential customers while spreading Cellulosic Bio ethanol from waste biomass into the domestic and transport fuel market. He speaks to BusinessDay’s ISAAC ANYAOGU about how his company, GoSolar Africa is using renewable energy to tackle the problem of post-harvest lost in Nigeria.
Tell us about GoSolar Africa,
GoSolar Africa is the frontier and leader in clean energy design and as an organization. We make clean energy available to households, businesses, schools, non-profits and government organizations at a low and affordable cost than they pay for energy generated by burning fossil fuels like kerosene, petrol, diesel and natural gas.
Our major approach is to install innovative systems to the highest engineering standards while making the switch simple for our customers. We have revolutionized the way energy is delivered by giving customers a cleaner, more affordable alternative to their monthly utility bill.
The Shelf Life of Food and Farm Produce is not guaranteed for most farmers in rural communities thereby forcing them to lose 60% of their profit and livelihood for lack of preservation.
We bring decentralized offgrid solar solutions to Food and Agricultural value chain business. Solar Powered Refrigeration ColdKiosk systems by Gosolar Africa offer a Pay As You Go model while helping farmers extend the lives of their produce and increase improve their Livelihood.
GosolarAfrica Solar ColdKiosks intervention means helping to reduce hunger and food insecurity thereby strengthening the local food security, increasing nutrition and ensuring fresh fruits, fishes and vegetables are available all year round to power and support the Government.
Women, youth and farmers will double their ratio of job creation. Productivity will increase across the entire Agriculture value chain. More women and youths will respond by becoming gainfully employed while reducing the rate of unemployment in the country.
What inspired this innovation?
With huge energy deficit and lack of food storage facilities across the agriculture value chain to the market place; market women and small holder farmer experience over 50%of farm produce goes to waste as a result of unavailability of energy for storage. Solar refrigerator was invented to help extend the shelf life of food and vegetables from 2 -21 days.
As a Social Entrepreneur and Investor, these problems became an instant opportunity for us to help address the challenges. With more than 17 years work in the solar technology market space, we figured out how we could create an adaptive solar-backed technology that will also create an economic opportunity for thousands of people with the agro values chain. This we have done successfully.
Where are the cold rooms located?
Solar Cold kiosk and solar freezers are installed all over the country; you can find our recent deployment in Lagos, Sokoto, Ogun and Oyo State. Solar Freezers are also installed for small business owners across mini-markets in Lagos and Kaduna.
What is the distribution model of the solar powered cold rooms across Nigeria?
We typically operate an entrepreneurship business model that engages association of farmers, women and youths across the country.
We created a rapidly growing grass root movement of Social Entrepreneurs, Green Ambassadors and Providers that are trained to innovatively advance the education, training and capacity development around wide spread adoption of Renewable Energy products for households across Africa.
What about the retail end, how is charged and for what? Is the business scalable?
As users, Farmers and Customers take their farm produce to the nearest cold kiosk and deposit it with our operator for storage. Users don’t have to purchase their own kiosk individually to use as it’s simply a Pay as You go model.
Farmers and Market Entrepreneurs will be able to access Clean Energy to preserve and extend the self-life of their produce through the use of Solar ColdKiosks especially the remote and low income communities.
Income and revenue will increase for our farmers as Solar Powered Coldkiosks will eliminate wastes and remove the fear of Selling off their produce below the market price due to previous concerns that the remains might go into damages and wastes. Through provision of this innovation, more people will be engaged and farmer ill build more wealth to support their family and the expansion of their farm.
Solar ColdKiosks intervention means helping to reduce hunger and food insecurity thereby strengthening the local food security, increasing nutrition and ensuring fresh fruits, fishes and vegetables are available all year round to power and support the Government.
What is the response of the market?
It has been encouraging. Our Initial target populations are women, farmers and youths primarily in the rural and remote settlement in Nigeria. We are initially responding to be fishermen and fish sellers in Ibeju, Epe and Badagry of Lagos; Food, Fruits and vegetables farmers in Oke Ogun, Oyo state.
Education and Capacity development around the importance and benefit of Solar Energy will be part of the delivery benefits to be derived from the project. Youths and qualified women will participate in the installation and management of all Solar ColdKiosks across the communities we operate.
Do you have plans to bring fresh produce from the north to south or build solar parks across Nigeria?
Solar refrigeration and haulage will play a huge role in ensuring food security, increase productivity and profitability for farmers will dramatically be influenced by solar backed solutions in the coming years. In clusters and across many market and farm settlements, Gosolar Africa is expanding its designs and intervention to support long haul and train transportation especially from the North to many destinations across Nigeria.
We already have our hub in Sokoto and Kano State where in the next 3-5years, New Solar refrigeration and Cold Store will be installed for the dietary and vegetable farmers especially in the suburbs will benefit from the technological innovation that will literally help eliminate wastes and ultimately lower the cost across the food value chain. When this happen, consumers and entrepreneurs benefit.
What is the future of solar agriculture in Nigeria?
Solar will become the enabling technology in driving all critical aspects of modern agricultural practice in Nigeria. The designing and constructing food manufacturing and processing facilities: from vegetable and fruit to poultry and fish to meat and dairy. Solar technology and systems is an efficient and affordable alternative to an age long expensive fossil power generators at keeping and preserving our foods.
Complete solar energy system need for maintaining a cold Rooms will increase the shelve life of foods thereby increasing the cycle of sales for farmers. With new introductions, the face of agricultural practice in Nigeria look promising but however it comes with its challenges; early adopters will likely pay more for initial equipments and acquisition cost could range from $10,000 to $30,000 for a 35cubit ft cold kiosks.
Government and agricultural institutes must invest more in research and capacity development for small holder farmers of the changes and importance of adopting new technologies to enhance productivity while reducing wastes. Clusters and extension support services will be required to enable the effective integration of new solar refrigeration systems into different existing clusters or where they exist.
A revamp is needed to the national policy and frameworks on agriculture sector in other for private sector participation and FDIs flow into the country and for the existing deficit on energy requirement and infrastructure need by farmers to be adequately harnessed.
