Agriculture employs 70% of Uganda’s population and contributes more than 24% of GDP, yet rural electricity access remains just 8%. Low-carbon technologies, including solar irrigation and post-harvest equipment, could raise productivity, incomes and climate resilience. Researchers assessed whether parish-level meetings and radio advertisements increased smallholder farmers’ awareness, ownership and willingness to pay.
The findings show that community meetings increased awareness of government financing support, while radio advertisements had no significant effect. However, neither intervention increased equipment ownership by the study’s endline, although purchases rose gradually during follow-ups. Farmers were willing to pay, but adoption was constrained by costly site surveys, distance from technology firms, limited trust, and weak after-sales support. Piloting community service centers could help address these last-mile barriers before scale-up.
Policy Brief 317| Working paper coming soon | Supported as part of the Rural renewable energy MSMEs operating to modernize agriculture in Sub Saharan Africa and South-East Asia Programme
