"Born in Rwanda but pan-Africa in Vision": 2026 - Putting words into practice through The ACES SPOKE programme.

With the Clean Cooling Network’s Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-Chain (ACES) campus operational in Kigali, Rwanda; the first of our Specialised Outreach and Knowledge Establishment (SPOKE) teams up and running in Kenya and delivering positive results; a wide range of in-person and online training courses now in the delivery phase; and a myriad of playbooks and operating manuals written, 2026 is set to be the year of decisive operations and rapid scale-up.

Our overarching objective is to combine training, support and technology demonstration to accelerate the deployment of sustainable, resilient and equitable cold-chains across the Global South. But not only this, more broadly, we also aim to deliver a new socio-economic model for rural farming and fishing communities which increases the value returned to them from their production efforts (for example, through realising community-level food processing opportunities) and builds inclusivity and value sharing at community and household levels, especially in relation to women and youth. In so doing, we can help smallholder farmers, small-scale fishers, and their rural communities become more inclusive, equitable and resilient partners in the food supply value chain, fostering strong relationships, and working collaboratively together towards the common objective of a well-functioning society and economy. 

To extend the impact of this new, radically different food supply model, the Clean Cooling Network (CCN) has designed a "Hub and SPOKE" delivery model to drive a flow of knowledge, training and support across Africa, and ultimately the wider Global South beyond. The CCN online platform will connect all our Hubs and SPOKEs together, providing them with access to a consistent, single source of data, delivery models, tested technologies, training, governance structures, operating manuals and standard operating procedures. Through continuous monitoring, evaluation and learning, we will ensure CCN remains relevant, fit-for-purpose, and provides leading-edge resources. 

ACES serves as the first regional Hub and its associated SPOKEs are now being developed with in-country expert partners. These key collaborators provide the local/near to market training and community support required to demonstrate and put into practice tested real-world solutions, driving roll-out and delivering impact. Each SPOKE team will undertake outreach engagement, capacity building and support, as well as the development of "model" local communities which will become training, evidence base, and demonstration centres. The latter will act as a cascade point for distribution of knowledge and best practice to other rural communities in the surrounding area.

Try Before You Buy – a key to unlocking the power of the SPOKE

Try Before You Buy (TBYB) is a unique and powerful concept developed by the CCN. It involves a package of basic cold-chain and food processing equipment being temporarily installed (free of charge) in a rural community to enable them to test new business models, gain hands-on experience, and realise value adding opportunities in a safe, low-risk, supported operational environment. Located in the reality of their day-to-day living conditions, these loaned installations are supported by the SPOKE team, who provide mentoring throughout the period. In this way, the TBYB model bridges the gap between initial interest and long-term adoption. It provides communities with the concrete evidence of feasibility, economic viability, and potential return on investment that they need for collective decision making when considering a possible purchasing commitment.

We believe the primary advantages of the TBYB approach include:  

• Farming and fishing communities and households gain first-hand experience of the tangible benefits of a cold-chain and value-added food supply activities.  
• Communities have a low-risk opportunity to develop, test, evaluate, and refine their business models and operational details while simultaneously testing and validating their cold-chain and food processing equipment needs.  
• By demonstrating proof-of-concept and practical viability, the model builds confidence among investors and financial institutions to provide financing, as well as among farmers, fishers and cooperatives to invest in their own fit-for-purpose cold-chain and Community Cooling Hub (CCH) infrastructure.  
• The pioneering communities evolve into local demonstration and learning centres, providing benefit testimonies, first-hand evidence, and relevant real-world operational knowledge to other surrounding communities. Underpinned by the SPOKE team as a local facilitator, each TBYB thereby both supports the creation of a "model" community and provides a basis for active engagement with other food producers across the country.  

The SPOKE Programme - A Deep Dive

The SPOKE programme works in three phases, taking a journey from initial community partnership scoping in Phase 0, then through Phase 1 establishing the engagement framework and support ecosystem, and finally in Phase 2 implementing the Try Before You Buy model on-the-ground and proving practical viability. Each of these three phases is described in detail below. 

Phase 0 – Engagement and Selection  

Through an open call in the SPOKE’s area of operation, up to 20 community groups (typically either a Micro, Small or Medium Enterprise (MSME), Cooperative, or Community-Based Organisation (CBO) working with at least 50 small-scale food producers) are shortlisted and invited to a first engagement. Following selection, receptive host communities are provided with an introduction to cold-chains through basic training on their composition and use, along with workshops designed to explore their cooling needs and the opportunities to meet them through cold-chain technology. A dialogue then takes place on their current business models and how to best integrate cooling and increase value. 

At the close of this initial engagement activity a maximum of 5 communities are selected to move through to Phase 1. However, the SPOKE team continue to offer on-going engagement and support to the wider cohort through training and capacity building programmes – and these communities are eligible to re-engage in future calls.

Phase 1 – Building the community ecosystem for resilient cold-chain

The goal of Phase 1 is to build both the capacity necessary within the community and the underpinning business model for it to be able to position itself as a key pillar in the food system, with the aim of it becoming a self-sustaining, resilient and adaptive engine of sustainable growth. In doing so it will boost rural incomes, build resilience, and create inclusive job opportunities, including for youth and women. To this end the SPOKE team provide the essential enabling mechanisms; tools; technology selection; business model; targeted training; governance framework; and operational systems necessary to support community leaders and members in establishing a grassroots-based community cold-chain ecosystem which efficiently and effectively integrates cooling into their operations.

Four key elements delivered in Phase 1 are:

The Business Model - The viability, resilience, and effectiveness of the investment in cold-chain technologies will depend on building the most appropriate business model for the community and its market opportunities. Clearly it has to create the income necessary to fund the capital investment and realise additional returns to the food producing farmers and/or fishers. However, additionally, the business model should transform the role of small-scale producers and their wider communities in local and global food value chains. A core pillar of the programme is to develop new community-based business models and approaches which deliver equitable and transparent shared value (economic and social). Importantly, Gender, Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) principles are woven deeply into the very fabric of the CCN’s community-based business models, ensuring all members - women, men, youth, and marginalised groups alike - share equitably in the value created. 

Training – Targeted training is at the core of capacity building and essential to equip community leaders and members with the knowledge and skills they will need to operate, grow and maintain their cold-chain ecosystem effectively. Required provision ranges from postharvest management (PHM) and market connectivity to value addition, inclusive business model development and the day-to-day operational processes, including health and safety.

Value Addition  – The CCN’s approach is not simply focused on reducing food losses and improving market connectivity, but rather to develop a community’s understanding of the full resource, need and cold-chain value web within which they sit. By doing so, opportunities can be explored, assessed, and potentially taken, for localised and micro-enterprise value addition built on access to cooling. These can include, for example, adding food processing, freezing, waste to energy and ancillary services to the community’s activities, thereby generating additional income streams and cascading socio-economic benefits.

Technology Enablement - Alongside physical hardware, accessible digital platforms and data analytics are critical tools for enabling market connectivity, tracking and tracing to make a community’s cold-chain ecosystems scalable and responsive. Through their ease of use and availability, such tools can empower micro-enterprises and underpin decentralised decision-making to drive innovation. 

The aim for every community leaving Phase 1 and progressing to Phase 2 is for them to have a strong business model and ecosystem in place which will enable the development of their cold-chains, and potentially a Community Cooling Hub (CCH), as well as value adding activities. 

Phase 2 – Try Before You Buy (TBYB) 

Once the foundational ecosystem, community engagement and appropriate business model are in place, in Phase 2 up to two communities are offered the opportunity to try out a cold-chain free of charge for a limited time, which for example might be one period of harvest and sale. The objective is to encourage cold-chain adoption by removing the upfront risk for the community.

In a TBYB implementation, a package of basic cold-chain equipment, which could include a pre-cooling unit, cold storage, processing equipment, temperature-controlled vehicles and telemetrics, amongst other items, is loaned to the community so that they can test their business model under real operational and market conditions. With continued mentoring and support from the SPOKE team during this period, they develop, test, evaluate and refine (fine-tune) their model and operations. This may include evaluating the logistics for aggregating produce, testing fee structures for cold-chain services and the bundling of other income streams, and validating market connectivity strategies, as well as further testing and validating their cold-chain needs/ opportunities and incurred costs. 

During Phase 2, the communities are assisted in troubleshooting operational issues, reinforcing best practices, and gathering critical performance data. This sustained guidance better ensures that communities are well-prepared and confident in their ability to secure finance and independently manage, sustain and grow their cold-chain operations/CCH beyond the equipment and technology loan period.

Learning from intervention failures by others to date has informed us that TBYB in isolation of well-designed training and capacity building, as well as appropriate business model development, would not provide a viable solution. Rather it would likely disengage producer communities and leave them with ineffective cold storage solutions (not integrated cold-chains) that are not market orientated, have no underpinning business model nor operation process, and are therefore unsustainable. Thus, TBYB is prefaced in our programme with establishing the foundational ecosystem, community engagement and business model necessary for success. 

Clearly, the programme does not allow for every farming community to have access to the TBYB so those communities selected for its implementation act as "model" communities and become a local learning centre. In this way, by providing first-hand evidence and knowledge, and underpinned by the SPOKE team as in-country facilitators, each TBYB can both support the model community and act as a beacon for active engagement with other producer communities in the surrounding area. Although the programme starts by selecting a group of (up to five) communities to work with, its reach rapidly extends beyond the original set of TBYB host sites. As such, if a SPOKE delivers two TBYB deployments twice a year, through this approach it could conceivably influence a further 16 communities (four per model community) annually. 

Taking the first steps to turning words into practice

Our first SPOKE, established in Kenya and led by the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS), is working with a new Farmer Co-operative, Lari Horticulture Co-operative Ltd., to turn this phased programme approach into a reality by delivering the first-of-a-kind model community. The Co-operative has already grown from 15 to almost 200 farmers this year and membership is continuing to rise. Overall, farmers within the community are averaging a 50% uplift in the per ton value for their produce, though increases of as much as 300% have been achieved. A second model community is now in development, and further SPOKEs, as well as regional Centres of Excellence, are in planning. Indeed, our second CoE, established in Haryana, India, is already in Phase 1. 

In summary, a traditional intervention that only consists of hardware being deployed into a community is likely to fail for any one of a variety of reasons - lack of new, higher value market access, training or maintenance, etc.  We aim to ensure the success of the pilot through using training to ensure maximum value is derived from the equipment and an ecosystem to support users and catalyse market access. Equally, these interventions enable us to increase the impact of a programme. By capturing the correct physical and market data, we can help prove the business model - a crucial step in unlocking funding in combination with demonstrating transfer of necessary skills to finance recipients. It also ensures that sufficient data is captured to generate high-confidence, data-driven national policy advice, thereby achieving greater impact.

We look forward to reporting on progress during 2026.