Ghanaian startup Wobil Technologies brings solar power to rice farming

Ghanaian agri-tech startup Wobil Technologies is developing hybrid solar-powered agricultural machinery aimed at reducing post-harvest losses and lowering processing costs for smallholder rice farmers. Its flagship product is a patent-pending Multi-Stage Hybrid Solar-Powered Rice Thresher, supported by a solar-powered grain cleaner and winnower. Wobil designs its machinery for African farming conditions, with a focus on reducing losses, improving grain quality and lowering energy costs.

From University Project to Agri-Tech Business

Wobil was founded in 2019 by Erica Appiah and John Wobil while they were students at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. What started as a community project developed into a business after an early demonstration attracted immediate interest from farmers.

The founders had built a wooden, petrol-powered engine and taken it to a farm in Adansi Asarekrom. Farmers who saw the machine operating asked the team to bring it to their own farms to thresh rice and offered to pay for the service. That response prompted the team to investigate the problems farmers faced with threshing and post-harvest processing.

Market research conducted in 2021 found that farmers across Ghana and other African markets could lose up to 46% of their harvest through manual and delayed threshing. Poor grain quality added to the losses.

Using feedback from farmers and its engineering experience, Wobil developed its first metal, diesel-powered thresher. The company was officially registered in September 2021 and has since moved into renewable energy-powered machinery.

Building Affordable Machinery for Farmers

Wobil says its hybrid solar-powered machinery can reduce energy costs by more than 70% compared with conventional diesel-powered threshers. Its equipment is also designed to reduce post-harvest losses and improve grain quality.

Imported threshers can cost as much as US$10,000, putting the machinery beyond the reach of many smallholder farmers. Wobil has introduced pay-per-use and leasing models to make its equipment more accessible, alongside a community-based service and maintenance network.

Since 2021, the startup says it has served 900 smallholder farmers, processed 1,000 metric tonnes of rice and generated an additional GHS4.7 million (US$420,000) in farmer revenue. Wobil has also created 58 direct jobs, while women account for 36% of its paying customers. Appiah wants to increase that share to 50% by 2028.

Its solar-powered grain cleaner and winnower have received independent validation from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research–Crops Research Institute (CSIR-CRI) under Ghana’s Ministry of Food and Agriculture, recording a 98% cleaning efficiency.

Growing Through Grant Funding

Wobil has built the business primarily through grant funding and has not relied on venture capital. One of its key sources of support has been the Standard Chartered Foundation’s Women in Tech Accelerator, implemented in Ghana by the Ghana Climate Innovation Center with support from Village Capital. The programme provided Wobil with capital alongside hands-on business support, including portfolio management and fundraising-readiness training.

Wobil has also received support through the United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa’s INFoCAT programme. In January 2026, the company was selected as one of two Ghanaian innovators to receive funding to scale clean agri-tech solutions.

The INFoCAT programme supported Wobil’s development of its solar-powered multi-grain winnower, which can clean rice, maize, beans and other cereals while operating without fuel.

Expansion Across West Africa

Wobil currently operates in Ghana’s Ashanti and Volta regions, with plans to expand into Bono, Northern and Western regions before entering other West African markets. Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria are among the first markets identified for its regional expansion.

Ghana’s dependence on imported rice adds to the market opportunity for improved local processing. The country imports more than 60% of the rice it consumes, while inefficient post-harvest processing continues to affect farmer incomes. Locally manufactured machinery gives Wobil a way to address equipment costs while reducing farmers’ dependence on diesel-powered threshers.

For Appiah, building the company has also meant working in an engineering and agri-tech sector where women remain underrepresented. Her experience with farmers has reinforced the importance of developing machinery that responds directly to their needs.

Wobil now faces the challenge of securing the capital and resources needed to expand production, reach more farmers and take its technology into new West African markets.