AfDB funded start-up in Nigeria produces healthier vegetables using urban rooftop hydroponics

Soupah Kitchen & Grocery Technology Company, a woman-led agribusiness based in Ibadan, Nigeria, is unlocking innovative solutions to climate change to advance the continent’s energy transition.

With support from the African Development Bank, the Global Centre on Adaptation, and its Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP), Soupah Kitchen uses resource-smart technology to control the environment for growing lettuce, kale, leafy green, and herbs.

The start-up produces cheaper and healthier vegetables through hydroponics on Ibadan rooftops than those grown on rural farms.

Ifeloluwa Olatayo, Soupah Kitchen’s CEO, was among 15 winners of the 2021 African Youth Adaptation (YouthADAPT) Solutions Challenge organized by the AAAP, a joint initiative of the African Development Bank and the Global Center on Adaptation.

Olatayo said, “Our resource-smart technology is designed to grow up to three tonnes of fresh food within a 650 square-meter area. It will enhance the urban landscape and improve the air quality in our cities.”

She added that Soupah Kitchen farms could sustainably plant with 95% less water than traditional farms without chemical fertilizers. Yields from the company’s farm are 30% larger than those of conventional farms and are produced in half the time.

Using vertical hydroponic technology, Soupah Kitchen can cultivate 1,600kg of vegetables within a 26-day cycle.

A desire to expand her business and impact led Olatayo to apply for the YouthADAPT program.

“With the YouthADAPT opportunity, my enterprise received funding of $100,000. This has been enormously helpful, and the investment made thus far in our implementation plan has had a demonstrable impact in strengthening our climate-conscious mission.

“The one-year accelerator program has enabled me to learn about the best financing options to scale our impact,” Olatayo said.