The challenge and what we wanted to achieve 

Growing up in a farming community in Cameroon, Moses Afopezi repeatedly watched farmers lose up to 40% of their harvested produce within days because they did not have access to proper storage or reliable markets. These losses meant reduced income, food insecurity and avoidable waste,” he states.  

Motivated by these lived experiences, Afopezi set out to create a solution. The long-term objective was to reduce post-harvest loss while improving farmer incomes, strengthening food security and restoring dignity within rural communities. His ambition aligns with MTN’s purpose of enabling the benefits of a modern connected life and contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Zero Hunger, Decent Work and Economic Growth and Climate Action. 

What he did 

He co-founded AgricFresh, a tech-enabled platform that integrates solar-powered cold storage with improved farm management and enhanced market access. Building and deploying the solution, however,  presented significant challenges. “The hardest part was developing affordable cold storage technology with limited resources and deploying it in the rural community with poor infrastructure,” he notes. “What kept us going was seeing farmers preserve their harvest longer, earn better incomes and regain dignity in their work.” Participation in the Africa PachiPanda Challenge provided critical incubation support, workshops and mentorship that helped strengthen the business and prepared it to scale. 

Outcomes and impact 

Through the Africa PachiPanda Challenge, AgricFresh achieved a step change in both operational maturity and visibility. Reflecting on the experience, Afopezi says: “The MTN PachiPanda experience helped us refine our business model, strengthen impact measurement and improve our scalability through workshops and incubation.” The programme’s exposure also unlocked further global recognition, including the Misk 20 Under 30 Global Award and the TIC Impact Award 2025 that AgricFresh received since.