Solar irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa: economic feasibility and development potential
Agricultural systems are the backbone of human society, providing food, energy, and income for billions. Yet, they are highly vulnerable to environmental and socio-economic stressors. This vulnerability is most crucial in the developing world: in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) about 80% of the agricultural production comes from smallholder farmers.
Solar photovoltaic (PV) water pumping is a
promising solution to support uptake of irrigation by small-holder farmers , also as part of the emerging concept of agrivoltaics . According to
the International Finance Corporation , in SSA
the lifetime cost of solar irrigation is one third to 50%
lower than that of diesel-based pumping , despite upfront costs still being higher (an important barrier for poorer farmers lacking capital). Yet, in cropland cultivated with profitable cash crops the payback time of up-front costs can be as little as about one year. Success stories of rapid irrigation technology uptake have already been observed e.g. in India and South East Asia, where switching from rainfed to irrigated agriculture has allowed farmers to increase
their yield significantly in the second half of the twentieth century. This transition has recently gained new momentum and government support in
SSA with the rise of solar water pumping. Several studies indicate that the economic prospects for solar pumping are particularly favourable in the context of
SSA due to the large availability of aquifers and surface water basins combined with high solar irradiance and increasingly cheap PV-powered pumps.
Article Source: https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/19024/7/Falchetta_2023_Environ._Res._Lett._18_094044.pdf
