1,451 smallholder farmers getting access to 99 small-scale solar irrigation systems. The project directly led to
PROVIDING SOLAR IRRIGATION FOR SMALLHOLDER FARMERS IN RWANDA
Smallholder farmers in Rwanda, the majority of whom are poor, are exposed to increasingly unreliable weather pat- terns and thus precipitation, increasing the need for irriga- tion to maintain and improve their livelihoods. Yet, meeting
developing the market for solar irrigation with smallholders in Rwanda. Some other project achievements include:
• Increased consumer awareness and training of farmers: The project successfully installed 10 SSSI demonstration projects in 8 districts, trained over 1,000 farmers in irrigation and other agronomic practices, organized mobilization events and education days attended by nearly 10,000, and ran four radio shows with an estimated audience of over 50,000. • Engagement with local distributors: The project installed SSSI systems through six distributors, which also received additional support for their ongoing sustainability and vi- ability to ensure further scaling of the initiative beyond the scope of this grant. • First financial contributions by smallholder farmers in Rwanda for solar irrigation equipment: In an effort to en- sure buy-in and project sustainability, and testifying to the perceived usefulness of the project, over 60 percent of the farmers benefited by the project contributed be- tween 5 to 30 percent of the cost of their equipment. • First-ever loans for solar irrigation equipment granted to smallholder farmers by Rwandan banks: Five loans were disbursed from five different local banks for up to 30 per- cent of the cost of the equipment. The approval of these loans marks an important first in a banking sector that known to be risk averse, and can create a path for the future self-sustainability of the solar irrigation market in Rwanda.
the energy needs for irrigation systems can be challenging in the often remote areas in which the land is located.
To enhance access to energy for people living in rural areas more generally, the Scaling Up Off-Grid Energy in Rwanda (SOGER) program was launched in 2016 with the aim of developing off- grid renewable energy in Rwanda.
As part of this program, and to address the need for better irrigation services in poor rural areas, the OPEC Fund ap- proved and implemented a US$1 million grant to promote the adoption of small-scale solar irrigation (SSSI) in Rwanda through a project designed and implemented by Energy 4 Impact (E4I). The project was implemented over a 34-month period starting in February 2018.
It aimed to enhance the livelihoods of Rwandan smallholder farmers and to improve the country’s food security by in- creasing adoption of SSSI systems.
The project was carried out in ten districts of Rwanda: six in the Eastern Province and four in the Southern Province. It supported the implementation of SSSI projects fed by mobile and stationary solar water pumping systems. The portable systems used trolleys, while the stationary ones used fixed structures and elevated reservoirs. The projects were designed for irrigating one to ten hectares of land by pumping surface water from rivers and lakes. Targeted maize and horticulture crop growers organized in groups of 4 to 60 farmers.
The project directly led to 1,451 smallholder farmers get- ting access to 99 SSSI systems and played a vital role in
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