How Solar Powered Cold Storage is Cutting Post-Harvest Losses in Kenya

It is midmorning in Subukia, Nakuru County, within Kenya’s Rift Valley region. The market is bustling with activity—traders spreading out their wares to start the day, while those who arrived earlier are already deep in transactions.

Among them is Jane Rugiri, a 50-year-old mother of four who has traded here for seven years. She sells assorted goods, including fruits and vegetables. Through this business, she has managed to educate her children and continues to provide for her family’s domestic needs.

“This is the only business I depend on to provide for my household, and it has helped me a lot,” she says with a smile, before quickly rushing to attend to a tomato customer.

Like many other traders in the market, Rugiri relies on supplies from farmers in the outskirts of Subukia, buying goods in bulk. The challenge, however, lies in preserving these wares for several days without losing quality or risking spoilage.

There is also the issue of unsold produce that requires preservation. Kale, for example, quickly turns yellow under poor conditions, forcing traders to throw it away and incur losses.

“Preservation has always been a challenge for us. For a long time, we have been throwing away products that went bad, and that has caused untold losses,” Rugiri explains.

A stone’s throw away is David Kang’ethe, a 37-year-old father of three who specializes in selling fried chicken legs, mostly in the evenings. This has been his mainstay for the past five years. But chicken is highly perishable and can spoil overnight in poorly ventilated spaces.

“I have thrown away my stock several times because of rotting. I had no hygienic way to preserve my product,” Kang’ethe admits.

But that is now changing. The introduction of a mobile cold room for rent by an organization called Soko Fresh has brought hope to traders like Rugiri and Kang’ethe.

Evans Komen, the business development leader at Soko Fresh, is the mind behind the solar-powered mobile cold rooms. On this day, he and his technicians are dismantling one of the two coolers stationed at Subukia market.

“We provide farmers and traders with cooling solutions for their produce using solar-powered cold storage facilities,” he says, watching his team unbolt the container’s panels.

Komen explains that technology is only as good as the services it offers. Recognizing that not every trader can afford to buy a full unit outright, the company designed flexible models to meet users at different levels. One option is rent-to-own, where individuals can gradually purchase a cold room unit while storing their products.

“Our solutions are not made for the market only, they are designed to fit farmers’ needs, whether it’s a cooperative, a small trader, or a large farm,” Komen emphasizes.

According to him, the pay-as-you-store model has gained immense popularity. Farmers and traders rent space in the cold room, placing their products in crates for Ksh 20 to Ksh 30 per day, a small cost compared to the losses they would face storing goods at home.

“We introduced the pay-as-you-store model to give flexibility to farmers and traders who cannot afford a full unit but still need safe storage for their produce,” Komen explains.

For Rugiri, this idea was timely and transformative. Previously, she had been forced to cut down her stock to avoid waste from rotting vegetables. Now, in a good week, she earns up to Ksh 6,000 (USD 46.53), compared to the Ksh 3,000 (USD 23.26) she used to make.

“Now I store my vegetables in the cold rooms at a very affordable price. It has minimized losses from my stock,” she says.

Kang’ethe echoes her sentiments, noting that reduced spoilage has boosted his sales. He now makes about Ksh 5,500 (USD 42.65) and is planning to expand his business further.

“I no longer have to worry about unsold products. I just rent space in the cold room and pick them up tomorrow for sale,” he says.

Across rural Kenya, farmers diligently cultivate food and sustain the rural economy. Yet, a significant portion of their produce is lost before reaching consumers. For traders in Subukia, however, a solution has emerged that is increasing household incomes.

Kenya is estimated to lose 30–40% of perishable agricultural goods due to post-harvest challenges. The reasons are clear: limited access to affordable cold storage, weak market connections, and high energy costs.

These losses reduce household incomes, drive up food prices, and worsen food insecurity. For traders, it means reduced earnings; for consumers, it means higher costs and shortages.

Food spoilage also contributes to Kenya’s greenhouse gas emissions. Decomposing organic waste produces methane, a major contributor to the nation’s emissions. Locally, the absence of energy-efficient cooling forces communities to rely on diesel generators, worsening air pollution and carbon output.

Yet progress in refrigeration remains slow. While solar solutions are often advocated, most technologies still rely on costly lithium-ion batteries with limited lifespans, making conventional solar refrigeration financially and technically unfeasible for small-scale operators.

Transitioning to sustainable refrigeration is even more difficult due to limited funding and a shortage of skilled local technicians to install and maintain modern systems.

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