Farmgate solar-powered food processing
Innovation Type:
Water-Energy-Food
Product Segment:
Energy – Value-Added Processing
Country of Incorporation:
India
Country of Implementation:
India
Company Stage:
Stage 3: 1,001 to 10,000 end-users
Seeking Investment:
Yes, $10 million USD
Financing Goals:
Seeking equity (angel investor, venture capital or private equity)
Seeking debt (commercial or DFI)
Seeking combination of debt and equity
Seeking corporate investors
Contact Name:
Nidhi Pant
Contact Email:
Website:
Challenges
India suffers a loss of over 60 million tons of agri-produce in the post-harvest sector. The critical reasons for this loss are a lack of cold storage, processing, and an intermediaries-driven supply chains, resulting in poverty among farmers. Additionally, over 143 million rural women and men farmers in India lack access to employment. They depend on marginal farming and farm labor activities for income, with the earnings mostly going to men and leaving behind women in socio-economic status.
Solutions
The business model of S4S integrates women into the agri-supply chain and converts food losses into processed food. This helps farmers to reduce food loss and save on logistics costs and intermediaries brokerage. S4S has also created women micro-entrepreneurs in the value chain, who procure agri-produce from smallholder farmers and convert it into value-added processed food using the Solar Conduction Dryer (SCD). The Solar Conduction Dryer (SCD) is an electricity-free, chemical-free, solar-powered food dehydrator that reduces moisture content in agro-produce so that farmers and rural women can preserve their produce for up to one year. S4S then sells this processed food to fast-moving consumer good companies and the food service industry (restaurants and caterers) to earn its revenue. The supply chain is driven by 100% rural women entrepreneurs with solar-powered food processing setups.
