Based on market studies and needs assessments across Africa and India and desk-based research, a framework was designed taking a comprehensive, needs-driven, system of systems approach to deliver cold-chains:
- sustainably with minimum environmental impact;
- equitably, providing access for all, including poor, disadvantaged, and marginalised farmers and their communities, as well as women and youth;
- whilst ensuring that they are future-proofed and resilient against changes to the system as well as future risks, shocks and disruptions.
There are six key pillars with content being developed by academic partners across the cold-chain:
- Training and capacity building;
- Finance and Business Models;
- Enabling Policies;
- Technologies (applied research, testing and demonstration);
- System Design and Modelling;
- Future-proofed sustainable vaccine cold-chain.
These are underpinned by a dual physical and online delivery approach:
- Centres of Excellence – the first of which is the Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-chain
- SPOKEs – the first of which is a reference SPOKE in Kenya
- Clean Cooling Network and Online Knowledge Platform – launched this year
