Deadline Date: September 04, 2026
The Bridging the Cold Chain Gap Challenge invites organizations to develop and pilot innovative, scalable, and affordable cold chain solutions that reduce post-harvest food loss while improving the livelihoods of fruit and vegetable vendors across India.
The challenge focuses on reducing post-harvest food loss, strengthening last-mile cold chain infrastructure, extending the shelf life of perishable fruits and vegetables, reducing distress sales, increasing vendor incomes, supporting women and youth vendors, promoting sustainable value chains, improving food and nutrition security, protecting dignified livelihoods, and building a resilient, low-carbon agricultural ecosystem.
The initiative seeks solutions that provide accessible mobile cold chain units for last-mile fruit and vegetable vendors, including hawkers, pushcart sellers, and footpath traders who currently operate without cold storage. By addressing the lack of affordable cooling and preservation technologies, the challenge aims to help vendors reduce spoilage, minimize food waste, and prevent income losses caused by unsold produce.
India experiences significant post-harvest losses of fresh produce, with existing cold chain infrastructure largely serving aggregation centers and organized retail. This challenge is specifically designed to bridge the infrastructure gap faced by small street vendors who play an essential role in providing fresh fruits and vegetables to millions of households.
Selected pilot projects may receive grant funding of up to USD 450,000, with a 10% co-financing requirement. Participants will also have the opportunity to test and validate their solutions in a new market, collaborate with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and key local and international stakeholders, gain visibility among governments and financiers across Asia and the Pacific, and create measurable impact.
Applications are open to for-profit entities, not-for-profit organizations, civil society organizations, research institutions, and government-owned enterprises that are legally and financially autonomous of the government in the implementation country. Individuals are not eligible to apply, and all team members must be at least 18 years of age.
For more information, visit ADB.
