In Kenya and Uganda alone, million dollars per day losses are reported, with individual dairy consumption below recommended nutritional daily requirement levels.

Heifer International Kenya has come up with the idea of Solar Ice Coolers. This came to them when Carl Erickson the Managing Director of Solar Ice Company visited several sites in Coastal Kenya in 2004.

“These sites were basically rural and had no access to electricity supply making rural refrigeration for dairy and other products difficult.

“While the morning milk finds its way to the market, evening milk usually goes to waste or farmers do not milk their cows at all for lack of reliable market and or cooling facilities,” says Alex Kirui Heifer International Kenya country director.

Kirui says these amounts to loss of tangible incomes to the families and defeats efforts to ensure food security is upheld.

In 2006 Solar Ice Company from the US in partnership with Heifer International Kenya with funding from the World Bank developed a proposal to pilot Rural Refrigeration Technology through the use of Solar Ice Coolers.

This technology taps solar energy to make ice blocks that are used to chill milk or other produce.

“We selected two sites for the purpose of demonstrating this technology that includes Vitengeni in Kilifi and Makambani in Kwale.

“Farmers from these two sites were organised into marketing associations formally registered as Dairy Farmers Cooperative Societies Ltd. The cooperative societies were responsible for housing, selecting machine operators, fencing and water provision,” he says.

By May this year each site was installed with three Intermittent Solar Ammonia Absorption Cycle (ISSAC) Solar Units and each unit is capable of making 50 kilograms of ice daily.

The 50 Kilograms can chill 100 litres of milk each day.
The main objectives of the project are to reduce food losses by refrigeration and enhancing food security.

Demonstrate application of the technology as well as empowering rural communities economically.

Currently 181 members of the Kidzo Dairy Cooperative in Makambani and 373 members of the Sovimwamri Dairy Farmers Cooperative at Vitengeni are direct beneficiaries of this initiative.

It is envisaged that more will benefit as they join or receive services.
“So far all the three units at Makambani are making ice while only two units at Vitengeni make ice. Despite the prevailing wet weather each unit has been able to produce 40-45 kilograms of ice daily” Kirui says.

Rural Kenyan dairy farmers are currently unable to sell their evening milk because they are unable to refrigerate it overnight
The machines are designed such that each unit is capable of producing 50 kilos of ice that will in turn cool or chill 100 litres of milk. At the moment no cooling of milk has started pending training of operators and management on milk quality control and logistical issues.

The purpose of installation is to preserve milk so the farmers can transport their milk to market before it spoils. This will increase the income of the farmers and decrease poverty in the area.

This technology will alleviate the security concerns of travelling poorly lit roads at night to find a buyer as well as a well known buyer that has a known purchasing price for milk and will pay on delivery.

Benefits accrued from this project include improvement of shelf life of products and hence guarantees food security. The provision of opportunity for income generation as well as the creation of job opportunities and improvement environmental conservation.

“The milk to be cooled will come from the members and non- members who are rearing Dairy animals within the catchments. A large proportion of milk is also produced from local cows. Approximately 200 – 300 litres of evening milk is expected to be cooled every day in each of the two sites”.