How to keep Africa's solar irrigation boom from going bust

IWMI researchers underline both the promise and perils of Africa’s emerging boom in solar-powered irrigation in a Devex opinion article.

March 23, 2018 | By IWMI

IWMI researchers point the way forward in a Devex opinion article

Irrigating a farm using solar powered water pump in Kenya — Rodah Tiyoi, of Kapsokwony, Kenya, launches water from the Futurepump solar irrigation system onto her cabbage crops on her family farm. Photo: Jeffery M Walcott / IWMI

In an opinion article for Devex, a media platform targeting the global development community, researchers with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) underline both the promise and perils of Africa’s emerging boom in solar-powered irrigation. They outline a stepwise process – consisting of suitability mapping, environmental analysis and business case development – to help ensure that one of Africa’s brightest climate-smart solutions does not founder from the start but prospers, delivering benefits for millions of women and men across this continent and beyond.

Read the Devex opinion article

Video: Solar irrigation suitability mapping and business models

The opinion article is based on a new study published in the journal Applied Geography and IWMI Research Report 172, titled Business model scenarios and suitability: Smallholder solar pump-based irrigation in Ethiopia.

Read the report:

Otoo, M.; Lefore, N.; Schmitter, P.; Barron, J.; Gebregziabher, G. 2018. Business model scenarios and suitability: smallholder solar pump-based irrigation in Ethiopia. Agricultural Water Management – Making a Business Case for Smallholders. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 67p. (IWMI Research Report 172). [doi: 10.5337/2018.207]