African Development Bank-funded company produces affordable, healthy hydroponic vegetables on urban rooftops | African Development Bank

Africa is highly vulnerable to climate change and its impacts – floods, droughts, cyclones, sea level rise – are already shifting the way Africans grow food, live and make a living.

Yet most of the continent’s climate finance goes to climate mitigation rather than adaptation. This is a problem, in part because adaptation creates well-paid jobs and diversified economies, strengthening societal resilience. Agriculture is a sector where adaptation promises enormous potential.

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

With the support of the African Development Bank, the Global Center on Adaptation and its Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP), Soupah Kitchen uses smart technology to control the environment for growing lettuce, kale, leafy greens and herbs. The start-up produces cheaper and healthier vegetables through hydroponics on Ibadan rooftops than vegetables grown on rural farms.

Ifeloluwa Olatayo, CEO of Soupah Kitchen, was one of 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 tons of fresh food within an area of ​​650 square meters. It will enhance the urban landscape and improve the air quality in our cities.”

She added that Soupah Kitchen farms can plant sustainably using 95% less water than traditional fertilizer-free farms. Yields from the company’s farm are 30% greater than conventional farms and are produced in half the time.

Using vertical hydroponic technology, Soupah Kitchen can grow 1,600 kg 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 business received $100,000 in funding. This has helped immensely and the investment made so far in our implementation plan has demonstrably helped to strengthen our climate-conscious mission. The one-year accelerator program has enabled me to learn more about the best funding options to increase our impact,” said Olatayo.

Soupah Kitchen plans to tap into blockchain technology to replicate and scale the technology in other African countries.

In addition to the YouthADAPT funding, Soupah Kitchen received €10,000 from the Dutch Embassy in Nigeria as the winner of the Food Connection Challenge.

In recognition of the critical role of the private sector in closing funding gaps for green growth and building climate resilience, the African Development Bank Group has chosen as the theme for its annual meetings in 2023, Mobilizing private sector finance for climate and green growth in Africa.

The annual meetings will take place from 22 to 26 May in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

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