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Dec 20 , 2019Views : 25394
How powering food storage could end hunger
In developing countries, 40% of food loss occurs after harvest and early in the supply chain. This translates to more than $310 billion of food waste and loss annually – mostly because of inadequate refrigeration and unreliable and expensive energy supply. In rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa and developing Asia, where the electricity grid does not reach or does not work, access to energy – especially decentralized renewable solutions such as solar and hydro-powered mini-grids – is fundamental. Without electricity, there is no cold storage to enable and empower the economic transformation of the lives of 780 million smallholder farmers, who bear the brunt of food waste and are also the most vulnerable to climate change.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) states that mini-grids and decentralized renewables are the least costly solution for electrifying the world’s nearly 1 billion people still living without electricity, but government red tape makes obtaining licences and power-purchase agreements for such solutions challenging. Better policies will also help unlock the blended finance needed to reduce risk and entice local commercial banks to enter the market more aggressively. Lastly, achieving a win-win of rural electrification and food refrigeration requires more than technology, policy and finance; it requires an army of entrepreneurs. Proliferating cold storage by deploying decentralized renewable energy solutions can improve the business case for energy suppliers by increasing demand beyond household consumption. Moreover, by selling more power to improve food production and in particular cold storage, energy users can afford to pay a higher energy tariff, improving the business case of the energy supplier.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) states that mini-grids and decentralized renewables are the least costly solution for electrifying the world’s nearly 1 billion people still living without electricity, but government red tape makes obtaining licences and power-purchase agreements for such solutions challenging. Better policies will also help unlock the blended finance needed to reduce risk and entice local commercial banks to enter the market more aggressively. Lastly, achieving a win-win of rural electrification and food refrigeration requires more than technology, policy and finance; it requires an army of entrepreneurs. Proliferating cold storage by deploying decentralized renewable energy solutions can improve the business case for energy suppliers by increasing demand beyond household consumption. Moreover, by selling more power to improve food production and in particular cold storage, energy users can afford to pay a higher energy tariff, improving the business case of the energy supplier.
