Vanuatu - Demonstration of Cold Storage for Preservation of Produces for Local Farmers
Name of applicant: Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD)
Project duration: 09/2019 - 12/2021
The main objective of this demonstration project is to showcase the use of efficient and clean cooling technology that can be used by local market vendors to preserve their fruits and vegetables at a reasonable cost or for exporters of value-added agriculture products to store their large quantities of products before export.
The demonstration project would be the first of its kind to be demonstrated by government departments and for the country using solar power. There are companies who have cold storage rooms such as the abattoirs, butcheries, big supermarkets, and very few food production exporters, however, none of them use solar power.
The Department of Environmental Protection and Conservation (DEPC) and the Department of Energy will partner with the Department of Agriculture & Rural Development to procure and install a portable, solar-powered cold room container. This will be used as storage for fruits and vegetables and value-added products for farmers in Port vila to sell their products domestically or for export. The department of Agriculture has space available to store the container or they can seek the Department of Industry, Port Vila Municipality or the rural government who they work closely with to store at the markets administered by these other government agencies.
The immediate and direct beneficiaries include local market vendors, Departments of Agriculture and Industry, the population of Port vila who buy at the markets, the Tourism industry and Retail outlets who all depend on fresh fruits and vegetables provided by our farmers in Port Vila. There is also a growing no. of small scale value-added agriculture product businesses on the increase in Vanuatu. They may be interested to preserve their products in the process of value-adding. Local municipalities in provinces, as well as hospitals, high schools, colleges, and institutions, can also learn from this demonstration project and apply similar technologies for the preservation of food and reduction of electricity cost. Local businesses can also benefit from the market of efficient and clean cooling technologies demonstrated by this project.
