Ayodeji Ake
Lange and Grant and Ecotutu have partnered to increase entry to solar-powered chilly storage amenities in Nigeria, unveiling a joint showroom in Lagos to assist farmers, merchants and companies protect perishable items, scale back post-harvest losses and enhance meals safety.
Speaking on the Lange and Grant–Ecotutu Showroom Launch Event in Lagos, the Chief Executive Officer of Lange and Grant, Tunde Okoya, stated the partnership would mix the businesses’ experience to tackle insufficient chilly storage infrastructure and enhance the preservation of perishable agricultural produce.
“The importance of strategic partnerships cannot be overstated in expanding access to cold storage infrastructure in Nigeria. Our collaboration with Ecotutu is focused on tackling post-harvest losses and improving food preservation,” Okoya stated.
He defined that Lange and Grant’s experience in manufacturing structural insulated panels for chilly rooms and temperature-controlled amenities complemented Ecotutu’s cooling know-how and service capabilities.
According to him, the collaboration would make sure that clients obtain specialised help in each the development and operation of chilly storage amenities, notably as refrigeration requires common upkeep and sustained buyer engagement.
“Because refrigeration will not be Lange and Grant’s core enterprise, this partnership will guarantee clients obtain specialised help in each setting up and working chilly storage amenities.
“Refrigeration requires regular maintenance and continuous client engagement, particularly where farmers and businesses depend on cold rooms to protect valuable produce,” he added.
The Chief Executive Officer of Ecotutu, Babajide Oluwase, stated the corporate developed energy-efficient cooling options to help totally different levels of the meals worth chain, from harvesting and aggregation to market distribution.
He defined that the know-how was designed to tackle Nigeria’s power challenges whereas enabling farmers, merchants and companies to protect perishable items for longer durations.
Ecotutu deploys monoblock refrigeration techniques tailored to native working circumstances and powered primarily by photo voltaic power.
The techniques are designed to function routinely, decreasing electrical energy consumption by getting into a hibernation mode when the required temperature is reached and resuming operation when temperatures rise past the person’s set vary.
Oluwase stated the options may very well be used to protect contemporary produce reminiscent of tomatoes and peppers, frozen merchandise together with fish, meat and hen, in addition to temperature-sensitive gadgets reminiscent of vaccines.
He added that the techniques function distant monitoring capabilities, permitting customers to monitor temperature, humidity and power consumption via cell phones or computer systems. Their mobility additionally allows deployment in areas the place chilly storage infrastructure is required.
The Chief Marketing Officer of Ecotutu, Michael Akinsete, stated the corporate had been creating options to tackle post-harvest losses since 2022 and at the moment operated in 10 states, with plans to increase its operations nationwide and past.
He famous that insufficient chilly storage infrastructure continued to contribute to meals waste, decreasing farmers’ and merchants’ earnings whereas affecting the provision and affordability of nutritious meals.
To make its options extra accessible, Akinsete stated Ecotutu provided totally different cost choices, together with outright purchases, asset financing, lease-to-own preparations and cooling-as-a-service.
Under the service mannequin, farmers and merchants can retailer their produce at designated amenities for an reasonably priced day by day charge, decreasing the necessity for particular person investments in chilly storage tools.
“We are deploying facilities around farm gates and open markets, including locations around Mile 12 and Ajah in Lagos,” he stated.
Akinsete additionally disclosed that eligible companies might entry subsidies of up to 40 per cent via the Rural Electrification Agency’s Distributed Access via Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) programme, topic to the programme’s relevant eligibility necessities.
Beyond chilly storage, the businesses stated they have been exploring alternatives to develop extra rural food-processing infrastructure, together with mini-abattoirs and group poultry amenities.
They stated increasing entry to preservation and processing amenities might assist scale back meals losses, enhance farmers’ earnings and help extra environment friendly meals distribution.
By combining solar-powered cooling know-how with specialised cold-room development and upkeep help, the partnership goals to present farmers, merchants and different companies with sensible options for preserving meals and decreasing losses throughout Nigeria’s agricultural worth chain.
