A £1.5m, 24-month pilot building an integrated corridor operating system — from a modular mobile abattoir and solar-powered cold storage to electric fleet dispatch — across 180 km and 8 nodes of the Kitimbwa–Kayunga–Mukono–Jinja corridor.
180 km
Corridor network
8
Corridor nodes
45 m³
Cold storage
10
Electric vehicles
6
Consortium partners
24 mo
Pilot duration
Between Kitimbwa and Kampala, agricultural output loses value at every stage — weak cold chain, unreliable transport, and fragmented energy operations. CBC treats these as one problem.
Without reliable cold storage, product quality degrades quickly. Farmers accept discounted pricing — losing 30-40% of potential revenue at the farmgate.
The innovation is integration: a standardised architecture that orchestrates four networks under one OS. Solar energy powers cold storage and charges EV batteries; cold storage creates transport demand; electric transport connects farmers to premium buyers; revenue funds operations without ongoing subsidy. Components work — CBC proves the operating system that makes them investable.
CBC-1 builds, operates and commercially validates a single corridor — generating trading revenue within 12 months. Three customer groups: smallholder farmers gaining cold storage and premium prices, boda-boda riders accessing predictable battery swaps, and institutional buyers receiving certified produce. WP7 converts operational learning into a replication package — corridor‑as‑a‑service.
Solar energy powers cold storage and charges EV batteries. Cold storage creates demand for transport. Electric transport connects farmers to premium buyers. Revenue funds operations without ongoing subsidy. Each network carries a product innovation — the OS orchestrates all four.
Aegis + SVRG
70.2 kWp solar + 225 kWh BESS hybrid at Kitimbwa powers the cold room and charges EV batteries across 7 containerised hubs. Automated dispatch protects cold chain first (Normal / Low-Solar / Recovery modes), throttles EV charging when solar is low, and targets ≥95% compliance.
SVRG + LFF
45 m³ cold room at Kitimbwa (meat 0–4°C, veg 8–12°C, dairy 4–8°C) plus a modular mobile abattoir rotating three docking stations. Processing and chilling are decoupled — carcasses shuttle daily in custom chiller boxes while the 20ft container stays on-site. PCM thermal storage extends autonomy 8–12 hours beyond battery capacity.
Songa + Aegis
A mixed fleet optimised by segment: 5 eTrikes (500 kg cargo, rural collection), 5 e‑bodas (last-mile delivery), and a Canter Fuso 7.5t (83 km trunk route). Seven containerised swap hubs provide multi-OEM open charging across 180 km. No single vehicle serves the full corridor — multi-modal is the design, not a compromise.
HABF + LFF
8,500 farmers in HABF’s SAYE network aggregate demand. Parish coordinators schedule livestock at docking stations; farmer wallets register the named primary cultivator with automated mobile money reconciliation. Prepaid service credits from cooperatives create 30–60 day forward revenue visibility — transforming pay-per-use into bankable contracts.
Every day, the corridor moves meat from docking station to market and batteries from hub to rider. One cycle. Six handoffs. Six partners in sync.
Farmers walk livestock max 5 km to today’s docking station. The 20ft processing container — docked for 2–3 days at a time — handles slaughter, dressing, and inspection. Carcasses load straight into custom chiller boxes on the Canter Fuso flatbed.
Full chiller box loaded on the Canter Fuso heads to Kitimbwa main hub. Meanwhile, eTrikes collect produce from nearby farms (veg, dairy, 15–25 km radius). All corridor hubs open for community energy — phone charging, lighting.
Chiller box unloads via A-frame into 45 m³ cold room. Cutting room processes cut-to-order for restaurants and retail. Batteries — charged overnight by the 70.2 kWp solar + 225 kWh BESS — load into swap racks. Riders check the Songa platform for today’s routes.
5 e-bodas with insulated fridge boxes head out on two routes: Jinja (~50 km) and Mukono (~50 km). 5 eTrikes handle heavier cargo runs. IoT tracks location, battery level, cold chain temperature, and delivery status in real time across the corridor.
Riders arrive at urban hubs, deliver product, and swap depleted batteries at containerised hubs — 2 minutes per swap. Mid-corridor swap points bridge the 100 km range gap. Open network: community riders and other OEMs can also swap here.
Riders return depleted batteries and empty fridge boxes to Kitimbwa. Canter returns with the empty chiller box for tomorrow’s fill. Overnight, the solar+BESS system recharges all batteries. Order data shapes tomorrow’s slaughter. The corridor resets.
45 m³ partitioned storage baseline with 0-4°C compliance-critical zone. Three thermal zones for meat, dairy, and vegetables — monitored continuously.
Mixed fleet: 5 eTrikes (500 kg cargo), 5 e-bodas (last-mile fridge boxes), Canter Fuso 7.5t (trunk + abattoir repositioning). Seven containerised swap hubs along the corridor. Open, multi-OEM charging network.
70.2 kWp solar + 225 kWh BESS at Kitimbwa main hub — hybrid architecture (grid available 13–16 hrs/day). Powers cold storage, battery charging, and community energy. Rural corridor hubs add distributed solar capacity. Automated dispatch: Normal / Low-Solar / Recovery modes.
Operational evidence capture for M&E, lender confidence, and replication decisions. IoT telemetry, dispatch logs, and cold-chain compliance data feed the platform layer.
Innovate UK funds innovation, not operations. These are the four areas where CBC pushes beyond current practice — each designed to be tested, measured, and replicated.
Fixed abattoirs require animals to travel 20–70 km. Low utilisation. Processing and chilling in one unit — truck tied up in daily transit.
Processing container stays at station 2–3 days; only chiller boxes shuttle daily. Kill decoupled from chill. 3× catchment area of a fixed facility. If demand shifts, move the container — zero new CAPEX.
Manual temperature checks. Paper records. No traceability from farm to point of sale. No alerting on excursions.
Automated cold chain monitoring with threshold alerts. Digital chain-of-custody from slaughter to delivery. ≥95% time-in-spec target.
First-come-first-served charging. No state-of-health tracking. Riders get whichever battery is available — range is unpredictable.
SoH-aware battery dispatch matching battery capacity to route distance. Predictive routing that accounts for payload, terrain, and degradation.
Fragmented e-mobility market — Zembo, Spiro, Ampersand, Rome all use different battery standards. Riders locked to one network. Infrastructure underutilised.
Open, multi-OEM charging network across 7 hubs. Dual track: open charging for any EV + franchise for closed systems. CBC becomes infrastructure provider, not vehicle vendor. Community riders welcome.
Each network carries a product innovation. Each partner owns a lane. The Corridor OS orchestrates all four under common commissioning protocols, acceptance tests, and service levels — this is what replicates.
70.2 kWp solar + 225 kWh BESS hybrid • Automated dispatch (Normal / Low-Solar / Recovery) • Cold chain always protected, EV charging throttled when solar is low • ≥95% compliance target.
45 m³ cold room + modular mobile abattoir • PCM thermal storage for 8–12h grid-free autonomy • Processing decoupled from chilling — chiller boxes shuttle daily, container stays on-site.
Multi-modal fleet (eTrikes + e‑bodas + Canter Fuso) • Open multi-OEM charging across 7 hubs • Health-aware battery protocols targeting 2,500 cycles over 8 years • Fleet dispatch + IoT platform.
8,500-farmer SAYE network • USSD wallet with payment integrity • Prepaid service credits from cooperatives • Parish coordinators aggregate demand at docking stations.
Four networks, six partners. Each has a lane — non-overlapping roles that map directly to the integration architecture. Built for execution, not committee.
Energy system specification, dispatch logic, IoT platform, programme governance, and replication architecture. The OS custodian.
UK energy portfolio; FLF ScanSpot grant (10107189); Powerfarm Tanzania (10155036). Without Aegis, the pieces don’t connect — integration is the innovation. UKSmart Agri Centre design and build, cold room commissioning, PCM specification, Innovex IoT monitoring, community engagement, and impact M&E.
Multiple IUK-funded solar agri-centre deployments across Uganda. Without SVRG, there’s no facility — proven deployments in Uganda. UKeTrikes, e‑bodas, swap cabinets, fleet IoT, dispatch platform, mobile money wallet, and multi-OEM interoperability. Full-stack from vehicle to software.
Kenya EV fleet and swap platform; rural multi-vehicle corridor validation. Without Songa, there’s no mobility — meat stays in Kayunga. Kenya / UgandaDay-to-day hub operations, butchery team, Canter driver, site management, local procurement, and mobile money administration. The corridor’s operational backbone.
15-acre site in Bugerere sub-county; established government and community relationships. Without LFF, there’s no local presence — SVRG can’t operate in eastern Uganda alone. Uganda8,500-farmer SAYE network, parish coordinators, livestock scheduling at docking stations, demand aggregation, and cooperative service credit management.
Without HABF, there’s no demand — 8,500 farmers don’t walk in. UgandaCommunity development, gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI), independent M&E support, and community engagement across the corridor.
Without the NGO, there’s no independent voice — community trust is earned, not assumed. UgandaPython financial model: 4-layer cascade, Monte Carlo stress-tested. No loss scenario under extreme assumptions. Revenue from 8 streams.
How per-unit pricing and margins evolve as the corridor matures — the direction of travel.
Grant-supported. 30–50% utilization. Building operating evidence and validating demand.
Commercial pricing. 60–70% utilization. Unit costs drop as fixed costs spread. Approaching breakeven.
Multi-hub network. 80%+ utilization. Platform licensing fees. Carbon MRV unlocked. Unit costs ~30% below pilot.
Pricing is indicative — validated through pilot operations and adjusted at each gate review. Direction of travel, not commitments.
Every element of CBC maps to a causal chain. This is how grant-funded infrastructure translates into measurable poverty reduction and climate outcomes.
24-month pilot validates Outputs + early Outcomes. Scale-out (3–5 corridors) delivers full Outcomes + Impact within 48 months.
Every milestone is linked to a Go/No-Go decision. If a gate fails, the project descopes or pauses — not drifts.
GO criteria
If NO-GO
Descope to minimum viable configuration; defer non-critical components; revisit at next quarterly review.
GO criteria
If NO-GO
Extend acceptance test; withhold installer retention; escalate if unresolved.
GO criteria
If weak
Not blocking — defer scale-out to post-pilot. Focus on evidence consolidation.
The corridor model has been designed, costed, and validated. Partners are engaged. What’s needed now is the funding decision.
Hub location shifted from Galiraya to Kitimbwa Trading Centre. Mobile abattoir design, 8-node corridor model, 3 infrastructure types defined. Budget rebuilt from scratch (v4, £1.17M, 7 IUK-prescribed work packages).
Python model: 4-layer cascade, 8 revenue streams, 41% net margin. Monte Carlo stress-tested — no loss scenario under extreme assumptions. Breakeven at 52% utilisation. 4.6-year payback.
70.2 kWp solar + 225 kWh BESS hybrid system at Kitimbwa (grid 13–16 hrs/day). 45 m³ 3-zone cold room: meat 0–4°C, veg 8–12°C, dairy 4–8°C. Automated dispatch: Normal / Low-Solar / Recovery modes.
Aegis Energy, SVRG, Songa Mobility, LFF, HABF, and NGO partner engaged. Songa pricing confirmed ($31,500 hardware). SVRG scope agreed (£140k, 12%). HABF brings 8,500-farmer SAYE network.
Songa handling Kenya-side hub (EV charging focus). Dual deployment (Uganda + Kenya) within existing budget envelope. Tanzania CFI grant (Powerfarm, Apr 2025) provides additional credibility evidence.
13 scored questions being drafted using three-layer answer framework (ATRPP persuasion + DRIVE35 depth + source material). Portal deadline: 25 March 2026. Appendices (PM, risk register) complete.
Upon funding: consortium MoU signed, equipment RFQs issued, Kitimbwa site preparation begins, baseline study launched. Gate 1 (demand validation) at Month 2.
We are building CBC as an evidence-led operating system for practical scale across Uganda's agricultural corridors. If you work in climate finance, cold-chain infrastructure, electric mobility, or rural development — we'd like to hear from you.