Rwanda will establish a ‘clean’ cooling centre, by June this year to improve the livelihood of smallholder farmers who are still experiencing postharvest losses, a senior Government official revealed Friday in Kigali.
According to the Rwanda Minister for Environment Jeanne d’Arc Mujawamariya, the new facility dubbed “Dubbed the African Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold Chain (ACES)” is designed to reduce food waste, boost profits for farmers and create jobs.
“Normally refrigeration and air-conditioning emit harmful gases into the atmosphere, but once the (clean) cooling practices are applied, those effects will be reduced,” she said.
The institution, set to be operational by June next year, is in line with the implementation of the Kigali amendment to the Montreal protocol – which is central to Rwanda climate change mitigation efforts, it said.
The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol is an international agreement to gradually reduce the consumption and production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). The amendment was agreed upon at the twenty-eighth Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol held on October 15, 2016, in Kigali.
Action under the Amendment will help reduce the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons, potent GHGs, and thus avoid global warming of up to 0.4°C this century.
According to Juliet Kabera, the Director-General of Rwanda Environment Management Authority, the Centre will help get farmers’ produce to market efficiently.
“There are a number of crops which become perishable because cooling and cold-chain processes are not applied to them effectively,” she said. “Some crops have to be stored for some time before being taken to the market.”
CU/abj/APA