Powering Change from the Ground Up: Rural Enterprises Leading a Low-Carbon Future

Issue 18 of Southern Lens on Development by Prof. Jane Mariara 

Across Africa and Asia, small rural enterprises are proving that the path to low-carbon agriculture starts locally, powered by evidence, innovation, and community.

PEP has long worked to advance the generation and use of locally produced evidence to inform policy across the Global South. Building on two decades of supporting Southern-led research and policy engagement, PEP continues to promote inclusive growth through initiatives that connect evidence, enterprise, and equity. One such initiative is Leveraging Renewable Energy MSMEs for Sustainable Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia, implemented with the Environment for Development (EfD) initiative and supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

Through this programme, research teams in Burkina Faso, Kenya, Uganda, and Vietnam are examining how rural micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) can accelerate the transition to low-carbon agriculture while ensuring that women and youth—who form the backbone of the agricultural workforce—benefit equitably. The emerging evidence underscores a crucial point: when local enterprises are empowered with information, financing, and supportive policies, renewable energy can drive both productivity and inclusion.

Why renewable energy matters for inclusive growth

🌍 Over 80% of farmland in Sub-Saharan Africa is rain-fed, making solar-powered irrigation a game changer for resilience and food security. (Source: FAO & World Bank, Solar Irrigation in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2020)

Across the Global South, smallholder farmers face the twin pressures of climate change and energy poverty. Erratic rainfall, rising fuel prices, and declining soil fertility have made production more unpredictable and less profitable. Renewable energy technologies—particularly solar irrigation—offer a pathway to resilience, yet adoption remains limited by cost, awareness, and access to finance.

The PEP–EfD project tackles these barriers through research designs that blend rigorous evaluation with co-created interventions. Each country team is testing context-specific approaches to help farmers adopt clean energy technologies and inform policies that can scale sustainable, inclusive agriculture.

Evidence from four countries

Burkina Faso – From rain-fed uncertainty to solar resilience

In Burkina Faso, water scarcity and rising energy costs have long constrained productivity. The national team, in collaboration with Africa Energy Solaire and Graine Microfinance, is testing how information campaigns, cost–benefit training, and live demonstrations can promote adoption of solar-powered irrigation pumps.

By integrating pay-as-you-go financing and farmer-led demonstrations, the project strengthens both technical capacity and affordability. Findings are informing Burkina Faso’s Strategy for Renewable Energies (SNER 2024–2028) and Vision 2050, illustrating how multi-stakeholder collaboration can advance both climate resilience and gender-inclusive agricultural growth.

Kenya – Turning awareness into adoption

Kenya’s agricultural landscape has seen significant investment in renewable energy, yet uptake among smallholder farmers remains low due to limited awareness and affordability.

In six counties studied, only around half (49%) of surveyed households had adopted solar irrigation, highlighting both progress and persistent gaps, particularly among women- and youth-led households. To address this, the Kenyan team partnered with SunCulture to test whether testimonial-based campaigns known as the “Marketing+” model can boost adoption.

Through short videos, farmers hear from peers who’ve used solar pumps to improve yields, income, and time management. Complementary “rainmaker parties,” where farmers see the technology in action, further enhance uptake. The evidence is helping align grassroots innovation with national policies such as Kenya’s Green Fiscal Incentives Policy Framework (2023) and Climate-Smart Agriculture Strategy.

Uganda – Bridging the information divide

Uganda’s agriculture remains heavily dependent on rainfall. Recognising that limited access to information hinders the adoption of low-carbon technologies, the Uganda team is testing two approaches: community workshops through farmer groups and radio campaigns reaching wider rural audiences.

The workshops, integrating women’s cooperatives and MSME partners, provide practical information on technology benefits and access to financing under the Electricity Access Scale-up Project (EASP).

🌾 “Women make up 76% of Uganda’s agricultural labour force—yet remain largely unaware of financing opportunities for renewable energy technologies.” (CEDCA Uganda Research Progress Brief, 2025)

By identifying which dissemination channels are most effective, this research will help refine Uganda’s Energy Policy (2023) and Vision 2040, ensuring outreach strategies reflect farmers’ realities.

Vietnam – The power of shared decisions

In Vietnam’s highland Đắk Lắk province, farmers face acute irrigation shortages during the dry season. The team is testing whether gender-inclusive workshops—for both husbands and wives—can increase adoption of solar water pumps.

Early findings show that 71–80% of major farm investment decisions are made jointly, underscoring how shared decision-making shapes technology uptake. Similar patterns are emerging across other project countries, reinforcing that inclusive approaches where women and men participate equally can accelerate renewable energy adoption and strengthen community resilience.

Co-creation for sustainable policy impact

A defining feature of the Clean Energy for Development in Africa (CEDCA) initiative is its emphasis on co-creation—an approach advanced by both PEP and EfD to ensure that research is jointly designed and implemented with local stakeholders.

In Burkina Faso, MSMEs co-designed financing schemes; in Uganda, government agencies guided outreach strategies; in Kenya, county governments validated recruitment plans; and in Vietnam, women’s unions facilitated community engagement.

“Our role was to make the solutions fit local realities—affordable credit, live demonstrations, and farmer-to-farmer learning.” (Cooperative leader, Burkina Faso)

This participatory process builds ownership and trust while producing policy-ready evidence that can be integrated directly into national frameworks and programmes.

The way forward – from evidence to equity

Across all four countries, the research shows that renewable energy is not only a tool for decarbonisation but also a catalyst for empowerment. When local enterprises are supported and farmers, especially women and youth, are included in the design of solutions, adoption becomes both feasible and transformative.

The lessons extend beyond agriculture, highlighting the importance of strengthening monitoring and evaluation, embedding inclusivity in research and policy processes, and broadening “impact” to value local relevance and policy influence alongside traditional metrics.

Equally, promoting cultural sensitivity, equitable partnerships, and mutual respect among collaborating institutions remains key to achieving lasting and just development outcomes.

I hope you enjoyed reading this edition of my newsletter and learning how organisations like PEP are working to empower local enterprises and promote equitable, sustainable development through evidence-informed policymaking.

How can we better empower local enterprises to lead in the low-carbon transition? I’d love to hear your thoughts as we continue exploring these themes of localisation, inclusion, and equity in future editions.

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