ABSTRACT
Cold-chains – and cooling – are critical infrastructure, vital for a well-functioning society and economy. However, the existing and planned cold-chain infrastructure for the agrifood and pharma vaccine value chains in many emerging markets is insufficient, of low quality and is carbon and resource intensive. To address the challenges, UK Defra ODA programming has been providing essential overseas development assistance since 2019 aimed at accelerating the climate benefits of the Kigali Amendment to the UN Montreal Protocol using “a clean cooling” approach developed by the Centre for Sustainable Cooling (CSC). With UNEP United for Efficiency as the overall programme manager and the University of Birmingham through the Centre for Sustainable Cooling as core design and implementation partner working with UK and in-country partner universities and institutions, the Programme has developed a first of a kind holistic approach to the challenge of cold-chain for developing markets delivered through regional Centres of Excellence and a hub and spoke model, the first of which is the Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-Chains (ACES) in Rwanda. Using a reference and replication approach underpinned by an on-line knowledge platform, the Programme is now pivoting to full implementation and scale-up over the next 18 months through a dual physical and online delivery approach providing the technical assistance to a Build Own Operate approach.
INTRODUCTION
Cold-chains – and cooling – are critical infrastructure, vital for a well-functioning society and economy. They underpin our access to safe and nutritious food and health, as well as our ability to spur economic growth, and deliver socioeconomic development.
However, the existing and planned cold-chain infrastructure for the agrifood and pharma vaccine value chains in many emerging markets is insufficient, of low quality and is carbon and resource intensive. This is resulting in a huge loss of agri/food and pharma/vaccine products, imposing higher market risks and lower profits for all actors in the value chain, deteriorating food and vaccine security, wastage of input resources, increasing GHG emissions and environmental impacts, hunger, malnutrition, morbidity and mortality, with more disproportionate impacts for vulnerable groups.
Today less than half of the food that requires refrigeration is refrigerated, and as a result over 12% of food is lost which could otherwise feed 1 billion people. While in the developed world, the cold-chains are robust, in much of the global south the cold-chain is either broken or non-existent – less than 20% of what is required with many food value chains seeing losses as high as 40%.
Studies confirm Sub-Saharan Africa has tremendous opportunities for both food loss (47%) and emissions reductions (66%) under optimised refrigeration conditions. South and Southeast Asia could see a 45% reduction in food losses and a 54% decrease in associated emissions under an optimised refrigeration scenario.
THE CHALLENGE
Cold-chains are complex; multi-dimensional, temperature-controlled networks that must maintain perishable and temperature-sensitive products at their optimum temperature and environment from point of harvest/manufacture to destination, preventing qualitative and quantitative product losses and ensuring their safety. In so doing they include multiple stakeholders from farmer to retailer, vaccine manufacturer to district nurse who are not always properly connected.
However, the current approach to tackle global food challenges is fragmented – sporadic data sharing and collaboration and little top-down holistic view of how the system is performing.
In the absence of a whole-of-government, muti-sector, multi-actor high level approach to policymaking which recognises cold chain as critical national infrastructure, activities risk failing to lay the foundations for well-adapted, climate-resilient cooling provision through coordinating stakeholders, managing conflicting sector interests, achieving trade-offs, and defining realisable resilience building objectives within a shared consensus-based resilience vision.
They also risk failing to fully consider the interdependencies of cooling infrastructure with the broader ecosystem system of critical infrastructure such as roads, water supplies and electricity, and how to manage these across sectors, regions, nations and internationally. The latter is essential to ensure all components work synergistically, efficiently, and optimally together and deliver maximum possible societal resilience with prudent up-front investment which address related needs.
Importantly, cross-sector needs for vital training and skills development, as well as new financial, funding and business models, to support the successful deployment of Clean Cooling would be at risk of not being addressed; individual Clean Cooling technologies may not be supported by the wider system landscape in which they are embedded (such as manufacturing, energy, transport, waste management etc.); and possible negative unintended consequences may not be mitigated against.
This requires not just technology, but systems thinking, collaboration, and a shared commitment to sustainability, resilience and equity. Within this, there is also the need to design for the future. Activities today will determine whether rising food demand can be met, whether equitable access to healthcare can be assured, and whether vast inequalities between developed and developing nations can be reduced. It’s also about ensuring that our systems are future-proofed and resilient for future risks, shocks and disruptions.
The demographic challenge for many developing countries will intensify over the next decades. For example, the population of sub-Saharan Africa could rise to 2.7 billion by 2060, creating a race to adapt to climate change, and maintain stable and open societies.
Without action, an extra 100 million people will be at risk of being pushed into extreme poverty by 2030, and 720 million by 2050 and food insecurity linked to extreme heatwaves affected 98 million more people in 2020 than it had annually from 1981-2010.
OUR ANSWER – DESIGNING CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE THROUGH A REFERENCE AND REPLICATION APPROACH
Since 2019, Defra ODA funding has been supporting collaborative development with the Government of Rwanda of a first of a kind holistic approach to equitable, sustainable and resilient cold-chain for developing markets delivered through regional Centres of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-Chains. The programme uses a hub and SPOKE model – the first of which is ACES with a central campus “hub” in Kigali, Rwanda and affiliated SPOKE sites in Kenya, Senegal and beyond under development.
Current funding has delivered the preparatory design and development phase to create the tools, design, knowledge base, training programmes and operating structures to develop first of its kind integrated, system-level approaches across the whole cold-chain from farm to fork for food, and from manufacturer to arm for vaccines. A key pillar is equitable access for all, including poor, disadvantaged, and marginalised farmers and their communities, as well as women and youth.
This is underpinned with novel digital systems to transform Africa food and vaccine systems in a climate-vulnerable world and guide policy enabling a greater integration of cold-chain plans with country development plans and priorities and data gathering and auditing tools to quantify the impact and guide on-going programme development.
Housed on a four-hectare campus in Kigali, Rwanda, ACES is equipped with:
- classrooms
- a technology test and demonstration centre;
- a refrigeration and solar training centre
- 200-person conference centre
Adjacent to ACES is a nearly 200-hectare model Smart Farm, which once completed will allow practical research and testing of cooling solutions within the Water-Energy-Food Nexus and broader climate adaptation challenges. This includes diversifying crop cultivation to increase farmers’ income and creating more resilient, sustainable food systems, which will inform scaling of approaches to broader farming communities and food systems.
For the health research programmes, ACES works in close collaboration with the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) on a wide range of projects, and is in the process of establishing a second facility and joint ACES/RBC research office at Rwamagana District Hospital.
MOVING TO IMPLEMENTATION AND IMPACT PHASE
Using the reference and replication approach activities are now pivoting to full implementation and scale-up over the next 18 months through a dual physical and online delivery approach, underpinned by a new on-line knowledge platform, the Clean Cooling Network (CCN) available at www.cleancooling.org.
Launched earlier this year, the CCN aims to provide the go-to resource for knowledge sharing, information, training and networking capabilities. Stakeholders from subsistence farmers to technology innovators, academics and policymakers will have the opportunity to engage with and learn from each other; interacting closely in the generation of new concepts, methods and ideas and to unite and partner in high profile initiatives.
As the Centres of Excellence Programme continues to transition from design and development to implementation and impact the ambition is to become the ‘industry-standard’ multi-level resource to share new data, innovation pathways, methodologies, skills, trainings, teachings, practices and policies and synthesise, analyse and disseminate the outcomes of research to inform wider policies and strategies as well as consumer and producer behaviour changes.
DEVELOPING A GLOBAL NETWORK OF CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE
ACES will be a fully operational reference Centre from early next year with an Environmental Test Chamber being built and other facilities being procured to drive policy and set standards fit for the African market (tested in Africa).
ACES has been developed as Born in Rwanda but Pan-African in vision. In support of this, SPOKES are also beginning to be deployed as part of a Pan-African approach and showcasing how solutions can be deployed in practical, real-world applications. The first SPOKE is in Kenya where the activities are developing the reference approach to support further SPOKES in development in Senegal and beyond. Additional country partners have expressed interest in future SPOKES and the possible creation of other strategic hubs in Africa which indicates growing interest and uptake to realise the Pan-African reach of ACES.
Underpinned by the new online platform and umbrella brand under the Clean Cooling Network, the plan has always been to expand globally over the next three years building on operations already active in multiple markets in Africa (Rwanda and Kenya). In line with this global vision, a second Centre of Excellence was announced last month in India in partnership with the State Government of Haryana developed through the reference approach and a Build Own Operate model with committed finances and land for the Haryana Cold Chain CoE from the State Government.
COLLABORATION
These activities have been developed as a collaborative programme. Total UK and Rwanda investment in the ACES programme to date is more than £20m with the Rwandan Government also committing the 5 hectare ACES campus and facilities, over £1.3m in funding and a 200 hectare farm. This is supported by in-kind funding from industry partners, FAO, IFC and others.
Work is also ongoing to test and develop the design of these Centres of Excellence and reference and replicability approach which can inform ongoing work through the UN Montreal Protocol and its Multilateral Fund to support optimised delivery of the Kigali Amendment.
GENDER EQUALITY AND SOCIAL INCLUSION (GESI)
In developing solutions strategies, training programmes and demonstration projects on the ground, etc., activities are being developed to ensure that the programme identifies and considers unequal power relations and inequalities experienced by individuals as a result of their social identities, including gender, location, (dis)ability, wealth, education, age, caste/ethnicity, race, sexuality. Key elements to date include:
- Scoping report that better understands the significance of gender equality and social inclusion in the cooling and cold-chain sectors.
- GESI Framework for evidence gathering and project design – Access, Needs, and Participation.
- Training modules for GESI integration in cooling and cold-chain interventions.
- ACES internal GESI monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework.
Stephen Cowperthwaite