Nairobi, Kenya – Keep IT Cool is expanding its solar-powered cold chain and market access solutions in Northern Kenya, strengthening food systems and increasing incomes for small-scale fisherfolk and farmers.
Operating in the Lake Turkana region, Keep IT Cool is scaling clean-energy cold storage, refrigeration, and ice production to reduce post-harvest losses and improve access to urban markets. The expansion also introduces poultry farming as an additional income stream, enabling households to diversify livelihoods using high-value indigenous breeds.
With support from the Kenya Cold Chain Accelerator (KCCA), Keep IT Cool will deploy a 10-tonne solar-powered cold room, solar freezers, portable cool boxes, and a solar ice machine, while onboarding producers onto its digital platform connecting them to over 5,000 off-takers nationwide.
The project targets a 60% reduction in post-harvest losses, a 30% increase in incomes, and the creation of 1,600 jobs, with 40% focused on women and youth.
The Kenya Cold Chain Accelerator is supporting Keep IT Cool and the growth of scalable cold chain businesses through funding, advisory support, and ecosystem development. KCCA is managed by Efficiency for Access in partnership with Energy 4 Impact and GOGLA, and is funded by the IKEA Foundation and the UK government through the Transforming Energy Access platform.
