The problem of fresh farm produce going bad before reaching the market has been solved in many countries. In others, it’s still inspiring innovative fixes. That includes Nigeria, where a local mechatronics engineer is coming to the rescue of smallholder farmers trying to stem their losses to spoilage.
Tolulope Olukokun quit his job as a college tutor two years ago and founded ThinkBikes. Its three-wheeled bikes have cooling units to mitigate the effects of the hot and humid West African weather.
Running on an electric powered motor, ThinkBikes’ CoolMAX model offers a promising solution for the agribusiness sector, and also a remedy to rising fuel prices in Nigeria. Over 90% of the bikes’ components are sourced locally, including the bodywork, wheels, and batteries, while a patented energy recuperation system adds up to 5% of the energy back into the traction batteries.
For cooling farm produce, each bike has a fridge with a cooling range of -6ºC to 30ºC (21ºF to 86ºF). The cooling unit comes with removable packs of lithium-ion batteries, recycled from old laptops.
Cutting harvest losses while commanding better prices
The agriculture industry is Nigeria’s largest employer, accounting for more than a third of the jobs in the country. But more than 80% of Nigeria’s farmers are small-scale, and they account for 90% of the country’s total agricultural produce, according to PwC (pdf). Hot weather, poor infrastructure, and a shortage of transportation means a good percentage of their crops go to waste before ever reaching the market.
With a top speed of 40 km/h (24.85 mph) and a battery range of 30 to 50 km, the CoolMAX e-bike is designed to get produce to market quickly, reducing post-harvest losses. (It comes with a 2,000-liter capacity and can ferry goods up to a maximum weight of 200 kg.) Fresher produce also means better prices at the market.
Unicef projected in January that about 25 million people in Nigeria were at risk of food insecurity, with children being the most vulnerable. Olukokun’s bike innovation holds hope for improving the availability of fresh food security, while also helping in lowering carbon emissions.
While the cargo e-bike market is still in early stages of growth in Africa, the sector continues to gather momentum, with annual global revenue reaching a $2.1 billion this year and forecast to grow to $6.2 billion by 2033.