By Grace Ademulegun
Africa is extremely vulnerable to climate change, and its effects such as cyclones, droughts, flooding, and sea level rise, are already changing how Africans live, work, and grow food.
More adaptable climate solutions are required because, despite all the efforts and steps implemented to lessen it, climate change is still having an influence on the entire world today and doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon.
It has been claimed that adaptation increases societal resilience by generating diverse economies and well-paying jobs.
One important industry where adaptation has enormous promise is agriculture.
However, rather than adaptation, the majority of the continent’s climate money is allocated to climate mitigation.
Using resource-smart technology to manage the environment for growing lettuce, kale, leafy greens, and herbs, a woman-led agribusiness in Ibadan, Nigeria (Soupah Kitchen & Grocery Technology Company), is unlocking creative solutions to climate change to further the continent’s energy transition.
Who would have thought that the infamous brown roofs that everyone talks about could be so beneficial?
The company uses hydroponics on rooftops in Ibadan to produce cheaper and healthier veggies than those grown on rural farms.
The goal of Soupah Kitchen & Grocery Technology Company is to increase profitability and promote sustainability through a variety of thematic focusses, including farm, kitchen, and logistics.
According to Soupah Kitchen CEO, Ifeloluwa Olatayo, the resource-smart technology can produce up to three tonnes of fresh food in 650 square meters. According to her, it will improve our cities’ air quality and urban landscape.
In just 26 days, Soupah Kitchen can grow 1,600 kg of veggies, using vertical hydroponic technology.
In one of her interviews, she stated that Soupah Kitchen farms may use 95 percent less water for sustainable planting than conventional farms that don’t use chemical fertilisers. The company’s farm produces 30 percent more yields in half the time compared to conventional farms.
They purchase agricultural goods straight from farmers in rural areas and arrange them according to consumer demand. After that, retailers may obtain information like the product’s origin, harvest time, cost, quantity, and transportation duration by scanning a QR code.
The produce is shipped to its destination once payment has been received.
By removing exploitative intermediaries, the platform gathers data to improve transparency, optimize distribution, and enable end-to-end food traceability.
Soupah Kitchen on the other hand, as a climate-conscious part of the company uses their network of urban hydroponics and mushroom farms to acquire culinary ingredients and environmentally friendly packaging because they think that food is an instrument of change.
Their culinary endeavours demonstrate not just how the foods are prepared, but also how they are farmed, cooked, and distributed to contribute to a healthy population and, eventually, a healthy planet.
Their food philosophy is based on nutrient-dense goodness within planetary bounds.
Through the combined usage of energy-intensive restaurant appliances, this ghost kitchen platform also generates positive efficiencies that reduce carbon emissions, having a major environmental impact.
Ifeloluwa was one of 15 winners of the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP)’s
2021 African Youth Adaptation Solutions Challenge, which was organised in collaboration with the Global Centre on Adaptation and the African Development Bank.
In order to ensure effective administration of food data and trade records, Soupah Kitchen & Grocery Technology Company is integrating blockchain technology for safe, direct transactions (including offline capabilities for rural farmers).
