Solar Irrigation in Kenya: The future of agriculture

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1 AFRICA FOOD SECURITY CONFERENCE SEPEMBER 2017 NAIROBI Solar Irrigation in Kenya: The future of agriculture

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3 INTRODUCTION According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation by 2020 agricultural productivity in parts of Sub-Sahara Africa will drop by 50% Kenya s agriculture is 96% rain-fed and hence highly affected by changing climatic conditions. Only 12% of Kenya is considered to be high potential for farming or intensive livestock production. A further 5.5%, which is classified as of medium potential, mainly supports livestock especially sheep and goats. Only 60 % of this high and medium potential land is devoted to crops and the rest is used for grazing and forests. The other 82% of the total land in Kenya is classified as arid and semi-arid lands

4 The problem Small scale farmers produce 75% of the food we consume but remain poor. Longer dry seasons Agricultural productivity is decreasing Food prices are going up Kenya is staring at a looming catastrophe in terms of food production and security in 2018

5 The problem Rainfall patterns are no longer regular or predictable When it rains, it pours Irrigation has long been seen as an option to improve and sustain rural livelihoods by increasing crop production. Large scale irrigation schemes have ran into operation and maintenance challenges

6 Solution Smallholder irrigation technologies Transformation in how agriculture has previously been done Farmers must be at the center of every effort to improve agriculture They must be involved in innovation and coming up with solutions that address their pressing challenges

7 Solar irrigation pumps More cropping seasons Planting high value crops Higher productivity Higher income for farmers No fuel costs unlike diesel pumps Minimal maintenance required

8 Are farmers willing to adopt SIPs? Kenya Agricultural Value Chain Enterprises (KAVES) There are more than 5 million small scale farmers in Kenya and about 20 million in East Africa. There is a market for at least 200,000 pumps in Kenya

9 Factors inhibiting greater adoption of SIPs Limited awareness of the existence of the technology High upfront costs Lack of access to finance Poorly developed supply chains few options Limited institutional support

10 Opportunities Cost of solar panels has been decreasing over the past decade Many countries launching programmes to accelerate deployment of SIPs e.g. Bangladesh - 50,000 solar pumps by 2025; India, 100,000 by 2020; Morocco, 100,000 by 2022; Malawi, over 500 hectares of farm land are expected to benefit from solar-powered irrigation through a government programme, funded by the African Development Bank. Kenya government recognizes the role of irrigation development as a key drought mitigation measure in the country s development blueprint, Vision The government plans to boost agricultural production in the country by placing an additional 100,000 acres under irrigation, each year up to the year 2030

11 Way forward Government intervention in making SIPs more affordable for farmers Building an enabling environment for the SIP value chain Importation/Local assembly (Kenya could be a hub for East Africa), distributors, financing mechanism. Awareness creation A support system that makes it easy for distributors to reach farmers even in remote areas.

12 Conclusion Agriculture is key to Africa s economic growth It is not about the farmers alone, it is about all of us coming together to ensure our country is food secure. What role are you playing