While many businesses have fled Sudan’s devastating war, Alaa Salih Hamadto has chosen to stay — and build. From Kassala, near Sudan’s border with Eritrea, she leads Solar Foods, a startup using solar technology to preserve food and empower local farmers amid one of Africa’s worst humanitarian crises as reported on TechCabal.
The war, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced over 12 million people, has pushed Sudan’s economy to the brink. Yet, through resilience and innovation, Hamadto has transformed crisis into opportunity. Her company now supports over 5,000 farmers and 40 cooperatives, many of them led by women displaced by conflict — a feat that earned her the 2025 Bayer Foundation Women Empowerment Award.
Carrying a Legacy Forward
Solar Foods’ story begins with Hamadto’s late father, a scientist who designed Sudan’s first solar dryers in the 1980s. Inspired by his belief that “sunlight is Sudan’s greatest resource,” Hamadto left her dentistry career to continue his work. After years of research, testing, and personal sacrifices — even selling her gold to fund operations — she founded Solar Foods in 2017.
Her turning point came during the 2020 floods, when she used solar dryers to save a harvest of molokhia, a leafy green vegetable, that farmers couldn’t transport due to washed-out roads. “That moment made it clear,” she said, “solar drying isn’t just a preservation technique — it’s a lifeline.”
How the Technology Works
Solar Foods’ dryers use 80–90% solar heat, with small solar panels powering sensors and fans to regulate temperature and humidity. This system prevents contamination, shortens drying time, and preserves nutrients — a sustainable alternative to costly electric or diesel drying systems.
The startup processes crops such as onions, garlic, okra, and tomatoes, with quality control following HACCP and GMP standards. Before the war, IoT-enabled monitoring systems helped track drying performance in real time. Although the conflict disrupted connectivity, Solar Foods continues to innovate through automation and plans to reintroduce IoT once stability returns.
Building a Business in a War Zone
By 2021, Solar Foods had evolved into a social enterprise with multiple revenue streams: drying services for small farmers, B2B ingredient sales, B2C branded products, and the sale of solar dryers to NGOs and agribusinesses. Its model integrates farmer training, women-led cooperatives, and export readiness, creating jobs and ensuring sustainability.
When fighting broke out in 2023, the company’s Khartoum office was destroyed. Hamadto and her team relocated to Kassala, decentralizing operations and deploying solar-powered mobile drying units that can function off-grid. Today, the startup operates six dryers capable of processing up to six tons of produce daily.
“We simplified logistics and stayed cash-flow positive,” Hamadto said. “It’s ironic that in war, we finally had room to grow.”
Empowering Women, Building Resilience
Many of Solar Foods’ cooperative leaders are women displaced by the conflict. Through training in agribusiness, hygiene, and packaging, they’ve achieved milestones like legally registering 13 cooperatives — unlocking $100,000 in funding and formal recognition.
“As a female entrepreneur, I’ve faced bias in a male-dominated business world,” Hamadto noted. “But these women are proving that even in war, we can lead and scale.”
A Vision for Solar-Powered Food Security
The Bayer Foundation Award has provided Hamadto with global recognition, mentorship, and funding opportunities. Her next goal is to raise $750,000 in blended financing to rebuild infrastructure, expand capacity, and construct a new 1,000-square-meter warehouse and packing line in Kassala.
Her vision is clear: to make Sudan a regional hub for solar-dried foods, supporting 50,000 farmers and exporting sustainably processed goods to Gulf and EU markets. Future plans include integrating AI for demand forecasting and quality control, and collaborating with humanitarian agencies to deliver nutritious dried foods to displaced communities.
For Hamadto, Solar Foods is more than a company — it’s a continuation of her father’s dream. “Our technology isn’t the most advanced,” she says, “but it’s the right one — a form of social innovation that makes real impact in the lives of those who grow our food.”
