How a Looming 50-Tonne Pumpkin Loss Inspired a Kenyan Innovation Fighting Post-Harvest Waste

By Kimuri Mwangi

By turning a painful family experience into a business opportunity, BioAfrique Energy is helping Kenyan farmers reduce post-harvest losses, preserve produce and increase incomes through solar-powered food dehydration technology.

For many Kenyan farmers, the hardest part of farming begins after harvest.

Every season, tonnes of fruits, vegetables, roots and cereals are lost before reaching consumers as markets become oversupplied, buyers fail to honour contracts or farmers lack affordable preservation technologies. The result is enormous financial losses, wasted food and reduced returns on months of investment.

It is this challenge that inspired Doreen Achieng, co-founder of BioAfrique Energy, to develop a solution that is helping farmers preserve their harvests and earn more through value addition.

While showcasing the solution during the Third National Agroecology Symposium, Doreen remembers with nostalgia and emotion the events that jolted them to develop it. What began as a family crisis in 2017 has since grown into a business manufacturing solar-powered food dehydrators that convert highly perishable crops into shelf-stable products with a longer market life.

The journey began in Machakos County after Achieng’s family ventured into commercial pumpkin farming. Her mother had secured a contract to supply pumpkins, and the family invested heavily in producing the crop. The harvest was successful, yielding 50 tonnes.

Then the buyer disappeared. Instead of selling the harvest, the family watched as months of investment hung in the balance, faced with a situation of losing that product entirely.

The loss extended beyond the pumpkins themselves as Doreen explains. “Not to mention the fertilizer used, the seed and the watering. We should have planted probably something else and benefited from it, but that had not been possible.” Faced with losing the entire harvest, the family searched for a way to preserve it. “The idea was, how do we dry it so that we can make pumpkin flour? And that’s how James Nyamai, my co-founder, came up with the innovation.”

The family’s first dehydrator was built inside a 40-foot shipping container to rescue the pumpkin harvest. While effective, it proved too costly for most farmers.

Recognising the need for a more affordable option, James Nyamai, who is an engineer, redesigned the technology into smaller, scalable units that would be more affordable for customers who would want to value-add or to dry their products.

Today, BioAfrique Energy manufactures dehydrators ranging from compact household units to industrial-scale systems measuring 20 by 30 metres. Prices range from KSh40,000 for small solar dryers to KSh1.2 million for the largest custom-built units.

Achieng said the innovation addresses one of agriculture’s biggest challenges. “Based on our own personal experience and looking at the data, about 70% of farm products that are harvested actually go to waste.” She attributed much of the loss to seasonal gluts and limited market access. “Farmers don’t have a market to take a product because they have either planted at the peak season, the market is flooded, or there’s just a surplus within the marketplace.”

Instead of forcing farmers to sell immediately at low prices or watch produce spoil, dehydration extends shelf life and creates opportunities for processing into higher-value products.

BioAfrique Energy specializes in fabricating food dehydrators that can process a wide range of crops, including cassava, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, mangoes, bananas, apples, plantains, millet, sorghum, herbs, ginger and garlic.

The technology enables produce to be sold in dried form or further processed into products such as flour. For example, Achieng noted that fresh cassava selling for about KSh10 per kilogram can fetch between KSh40 and KSh90 after value addition, depending on quality.

“That is the opportunity we are giving farmers, that they can peacefully focus on their core business, which is growing crops and know that there is a system through which they can preserve, value add and get more value for their products,” she said.

Through its partner company, Taliana Foods, BioAfrique Energy also processes dehydrated crops into gluten-free flour for consumers with dietary restrictions.

Unlike conventional dryers, BioAfrique Energy’s systems use solar energy with automated temperature control as Doreen explains. “What sets us apart in the market is the fact that our system is temperature-automated using solar, so you can monitor the temperature of your product within the dryer and the moisture within the dryer. The hybrid systems also incorporate a heat exchanger that uses farm waste as fuel, allowing drying to continue during cloudy weather and at night.”

The dehydration process begins immediately after harvest.

Using cassava as an example, Achieng explained that the crop is peeled, thoroughly washed to address food safety concerns such as cyanide, coliforms, yeast and mould. It is then sliced and placed inside the dehydrator. Once moisture content falls below 10 per cent, the product can either be vacuum sealed for storage or milled into flour.

“It is possible to get a grade one cassava that is snow white. After it has reached a moisture of less than 10, they can now vacuum seal and keep it as it is,” opined Doreen.

Recognising that not every farmer can purchase a dehydrator, BioAfrique Energy also provides dehydration as a commercial service from its processing facility in Machakos County. Farmers deliver harvested produce, pay a processing fee and collect the dried products ready for storage, marketing or further processing.

The company also serves microprocessors and agricultural off-takers seeking dehydrated raw materials for food manufacturing.

Nearly a decade after losing a market for 50 tonnes of pumpkins, Achieng’s family has transformed that painful experience into a practical solution for farmers facing similar challenges.

By combining renewable energy with value addition, BioAfrique Energy is helping farmers reduce post-harvest losses, extend the shelf life of agricultural produce and access more profitable markets.

For many producers, the innovation represents more than a drying technology—it provides an opportunity to protect their harvests from the uncertainty of volatile markets and turn what might have become waste into products with lasting value.