SOLAR TO FEED AFRICA’S HUNGRY

Solar Electricity Powers the Fight Against Hunger in Rural African Villages; Stanford Study Confirms Solar Market Garden’s Positive Impact on Food Security, Nutrition and Income
January 19, 2010 (Solar Electric Light Fund)

"…[T]he successful results of the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) Solar Market Garden (SMG) project in the drought-stricken Kalalé District of northern Benin, West Africa [have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)]…The Program on Food Security and the Environment (FSE) at Stanford University released its findings after two years of monitoring three SMGs managed by two women’s farming collectives in the remote villages of Bessassi and Dunkassa.

"Researchers at FSE found that income and nutrition have improved significantly for women and their families since SELF installed three solar drip irrigation systems in 2007…Without access to an electric grid or municipal water infrastructure, women and girls in Bessassi and Dunkassa previously relied on carrying water by hand—sometimes over great distances—to grow their food, a process that consumed many valuable hours of labor each day. Each farmer’s plot was small and produced an inadequate supply to support a family’s nutritional needs…

From FSE via YouTube

"SELF partnered with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) to devise the marriage of solar-powered water pumps with highly efficient drip irrigation tubes, delivering water and fertilizer directly to plants even during the six-month dry season. The SMGs allow women farmers to cultivate larger plots and grow crops year round, breaking the cycle of starvation and malnutrition that accompanied traditional rainfall patterns in Kalalé."

[Professor Dov Pasternak, principal scientist, ICRISAT:] “It was a good combination—SELF came in with the solar and I came in with the drip, and we have now these two cutting edge technologies helping the women earn a good living. This changed their life totally, this combination, because now they can produce maybe 10 times more than before. They are making money, they are feeding their children…and the children are healthy…Solar pumping is a fantastic solution, because you have two advantages: the pump doesn’t break—it lasts ten years or even more—and you don’t have to pay for the fuel. You can irrigate 24 hours a day, every day, all day, and this makes a big difference…This solar pump is only starting. It will be used in thousands of places, all over Africa, because it requires no fuel and little maintenance. What’s more, the prices of the solar pump are coming down tremendously. In a very short time, everybody will be able to afford one.”

click to enlarge

"The SMGs have been so productive the women have excess produce to take to market and sell, nearly doubling their income. The average income in Kalalé District is less than $1.25 per day, but the women in the study group are earning an additional $7.50 per week…

"The Stanford study concluded that SELF’s Solar Market Garden not only considerably enhances household incomes and nutritional intake of villagers in sub-Saharan Africa, it does so in a cost-effective way. According to the research, the systems should pay for themselves in approximately 2.3 years. In addition, FSE researchers found the project’s design to be environmentally sustainable, citing the systems as durable, emissions-free and more economical over time compared with gasoline- or diesel-powered water pumps…"