This campaign has now closed
To lift 6,000 men, women and children out of food insecurity, for good. They live in isolated, off-grid, poor rural communities. We want to help them improve the local economy, and particularly the agriculture sector where most of them work, by providing electric power for reliable irrigation.
Categories
Beneficiaries
Situation
Lack of food is the number one threat, with villagers dependent on food aid for half of the year. The problem is crop irrigation - rain is scarce and it’s hard to reach water in the (plentiful) underwater aquifers with manual pumps. Electricity would make this possible, and a sustainable, cheap source of power could also be used by small businesses, health clinics, schools, and homes, thus increasing the quality of life, and strengthening the local economy.
Solution
We will install solar PV mini-grids and help people use the electricity; smallholder farmers will grow more crops through powered irrigation; businesses will offer new services, e.g. welding; newly established ‘energy kiosks’ will lease batteries to households, e.g. for lights; health and education will improve as clinics and schools connect to the mini-grids. We have done similar projects before, and have found providing electricity has a ‘multiplier effect’, including on household income.