By Atoyebi Nike
BevAgro, an agritech startup, has launched a solar-powered electric vehicle transport system designed to reduce Nigeria’s post-harvest losses and improve farmers’ incomes.
Founder and Chief Operating Officer, Lanre Ashaolu, highlighted the urgency of tackling the country’s food loss challenge during the rollout of the company’s electric vehicles, battery-swap hubs, and pay-as-you-go financing model in Abuja last week.
He identified poor logistics, high fuel costs, and lack of affordable transport as key factors driving losses. “Nigeria loses more than $7 billion worth of food every year before it reaches consumers,” he said, stressing that sustainable transport can turn these losses into profits.
The company’s model connects farm clusters to local markets and urban centres through a solar-powered EV network. “Every battery swap and every kilometre driven on clean energy helps a farmer earn more and waste less,” Ashaolu explained.
BevAgro currently operates over 150 electric vehicles nationwide and recently secured a $1.7 million grant from a Development Finance Institution alongside $1.4 million in local financing. The funds will support fleet expansion, additional solar swap stations, and onboarding of more farmers, with a target of reaching two million farmers and traders.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, recently estimated Nigeria’s food losses at $10 billion annually, attributing the figure to poor storage, weak infrastructure, limited processing, climate change, and erratic rainfall.
BevAgro positions itself as a mobility company transforming food supply chains through clean transport and innovative financing models that make electric vehicles accessible to smallholder farmers and traders.
