Keeping the Catch Fresh with a Solar Minigrid

This case study describes a pilot project in Kiguna, Nigeria, where a solar-hybrid minigrid powers a 3-ton walk-in cold room to reduce post-harvest fish losses and increase incomes for artisanal fishers and traders.

• Artisanal fishers in rural Nigeria contribute 80 percent of the country's total fish production but lose up to 50 percent of their catch to spoilage due to a lack of electricity and cold storage.
• A partnership between Husk Power and Coldbox Store, supported by the REA-RMI Energizing Agriculture Programme (EAP), has deployed a 3-ton walk-in cold room in Kiguna that maintains a temperature of -30 degrees Celsius, extending the shelf life of fish from days to months.
• The project utilizes a cold chain consisting of the minigrid-powered cold room, temperature-controlled trucks, and urban cold storage centers to distribute up to 3,000 kilograms of fish weekly to off-takers in nearby cities.
• The cold room is expected to decrease annual post-harvest losses in Kiguna by over 30 metric tonnes and increase fishers' income by more than 30 percent per catch. Specifically, distribution to cities is projected to bring an extra profit of ₦200 per kilogram for fishers.
• Beyond economic gains, the cold storage solution improves health by reducing the reliance on wood-fire smoking, which exposes traders to carbon monoxide and fine particulate pollution.

APA

RMI (2023). Keeping the Catch Fresh with a Solar Minigrid. https://rmi.org/resources/keeping-the-catch-fresh-with-a-solar-minigrid/

Chicago

RMI. Keeping the Catch Fresh with a Solar Minigrid. 2023. https://rmi.org/resources/keeping-the-catch-fresh-with-a-solar-minigrid/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Keeping the Catch Fresh with a Solar Minigrid |date=27 June 2023 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/keeping-the-catch-fresh-with-a-solar-minigrid/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2023keeping, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Keeping the Catch Fresh with a Solar Minigrid}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2023}, month = jun, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/keeping-the-catch-fresh-with-a-solar-minigrid/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }