This webinar explores opportunities for synergies between the expansion of mini-grids and strengthening Africa’s agricultural value chains.

1. Why increasing the role of renewable
energy mini-grids is essential to
transforming agricultural productivity
and food security in Africa

2. Agenda
1. Welcome remarks - MaMo Panel
2. Introduction - Power for All & AGRA
3. Challenge/opportunity
4. Decentralized renewable energy & agri-food
5. Solar irrigation
6. Mini-grids & “beyond irrigation”
7. Productive use applications
8. COVID-19 & “re-localization”
9. Conclusion
10.Resources

3. KEYNOTE
Prof. Nuhu Hatibu
Regional Head – East Africa
Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
MODERATOR:
William Brent
Chief Engagement Officer
Power for All
WELCOME REMARKS
Dr. Ousmane Badiane
Malabo Montpellier Panel Co-Chair
PRESENTER:
Roberto Ridolfi
Assistant Director-General
UN-Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

4. Welcome remarks
Dr. Ousmane Badiane
Malabo Montpellier Panel Co-Chair
Tuesday, March 31, 2020

5. #PoweringAg
William Brent
Chief Engagement Officer
Power for All
william@powerforall.org

6. 80%live in rural areas
640M in energy poverty
Steps:
Objective:
A campaign to advance fiscal and
institutional support for mini-grids and
decentralized renewable energy (DRE)
solutions that will enable agricultural
productivity to scale, while ensuring food
security.
Awareness: Data &
Communications Show the
central role that mini-grids and
DRE play in scaling agricultural
production and food security.
Advocacy: Grow support
within agriculture and food
institutions for increased finance
and inclusion for mini-grids and
DRE.
Activation: Demonstrate
new opportunities for youth and
women (connect the skills set
need for DRE to energy sector
more broadly).
1 2 3
Key audience: agri/food policy-makers, industry, funders
Campaign snapshot: PoweringAg

7. DECENTRALIZED
RENEWABLE
ENERGY
LABOR
EDUCATION
HEALTHCARE
AGRI / FOOD
Co-benefits

8. KEYNOTE
Prof. Nuhu Hatibu
Regional Head – East Africa
Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
Scalable and decentralized energy solutions are most critical
for sustainable Africa's food systems that are globally
competitive

9. We are driving transformation of agriculture & food
systems in sub-Saharan Africa
Through 3 Integrated
Intervention Thrusts
• Food Systems
Leadership
• 2030 Vision: Building Resilient
and Competitive Food Systems
that Ensure Food and Nutrition
Security in SSA as well Adequate
Incomes for Stakeholders.
New Frontier

10. From a Gender Equity Lens, is the fact that …
it is the children and women who provide (on their
heads or backs), all the transportation of inputs and
outputs, between the farm and the home (or rural
markets). This by itself is enough a reason to
accelerate “POWER FOR ALL” - from farm to
markets in Rural Africa

11. Under Business-as-Usual – by 2030, absence of
universal access to electricity will remain a SSA issue

12. Impact of electrification on economic development

13. “Access to reliable, affordable,
sustainable, and modern
sources of energy to prepare
land, plant, harvest, process,
distribute and cook food will
ensure that Africa’s agriculture
sector can to respond to
growing food demand and
changing nutrition
requirements, both domestically
and globally.”
~ Malabo Montpellier Panel’s 2019 report

14. Challenge
people suffering
from chronic
under-
nourishment in
sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA)
30-50%
of produce is
estimated to be
wasted or lost
post-harvest in
SSA,
representing
US$ 1.2B – US$
1.6B annually
is the agriculture
sector’s
contribution to
SSA’s GDP,
despite the
sector employing
50%+ of its
population
land in SSA is tilled,
ploughed and
weeded by human
or animal power. A
transition to
electrical power can
increase efficiency
by 5-fold
16%90%230 M

15. Opportunity
Agricultural-Energy
Nexus
Stimulate
growth in real
economy
Improve food
security
Create
employment
opportunities
Increase
farm
productivity

16. Source: RES4Africa
Renewable energy impacts energy and food sectors
in many ways

17. Decentralized renewable energy & agro-food
● Irrigation/pumping
● Heating and cooling for protected
cropping
● Food drying
● Cooling
● Refrigeration
● Pressing
● Grinding
● Milling
● Cooling and refrigeration
ENERGYINPUTS
TRANSPORT
AND
DISTRIBUTION
PROCESSING
Agri-food chain where DRE technologies can be implemented
POST-HARVEST
AND STORAGE
PRIMARY
PRODUCTION
Traction,Electricity,Mechanical,Heat/Cooling

18. Current vs potential status of irrigation in Africa
smallholder farmers lack
access to any modern
irrigation solution
500M
Irrigation could benefit 113-369 million
people
of arable land
currently irrigated
6%
Up to 38 million ha of land could be irrigated
in SSA
of crops are rainfed62%
Groundwater: 120-fold increase in irrigated
land
Current status Potential
US$14-22 billion p.a could be earned from
improved irrigation

19. Why solar powered irrigation is a game-changer?
Solar pumping systems:
• Can be installed anywhere where water is available
irrespective of remoteness
• Reduces the net present cost (NPC) compared to diesel
due low running and maintenance costs in addition to
comparable long service life; and
• Have nearly three times lower Cost of Energy (COE)
($/kWh) compared to or diesel systems.

20. Creating a new sector - solar water pumps in sub-
Saharan Africa

21. What is a mini-grid?
Source: RES4Africa

22. Mini-grids & “beyond irrigation”
● Provide the ability to add
value higher up the value
chain, increasing revenue
● Eases labor burden,
especially for women
Agro-Processing
Example: Agsol
Produces solar agro-processing
machines, e.g. hammer mill, maize
sheller, and more
● Refrigeration to rural
farmers can extend the
life & quality of produce
● Additional applications in
ice-making for fishing
etc.
Cold Storage
Example: Inspira
Provides solar-powered cold rooms
on a pay-as-you-store model for
farmer produce
● Cold storage facilities to
reduce spoilage at
farm/first collection point
● Cold chain transport to
reduce spoilage in transit
Transportation
Example: Solar Freeze
Pioneering mobile cold storage units
powered by solar energy for rural
smallholder farmers
Energy Inputs in Agricultural Value Chains
Almost one-third of the food produced for human consumption – roughly 1.3 billion
tonnes – is lost or wasted each year, with a value of USD 1 trillion. The per capita
food waste in in sub-Saharan Africa and South / Southeast Asia is estimated at 6-11
kg/year. (FAO)

23. Mini-grids & agro-processing use cases
Access to Energy Institute (A2EI) conducted research to evaluate 10
productive-use technologies by modeling SME business cases in
East Africa and evaluating unit economics, desirability, and
scalability concerns.
Likely Go Uncertain Likely No-Go
Oil Press Mill Maize Shelling
Rice Huller Spice Grinding
Peanut Sheller Sugar Cane Juicing
Fruit Juicing
Coffee Pulping
Electric Food Dehydration
Report preview available at www.a2ei.org. Full report in May.

24. Mini-grids use case: oil pressing
Example: Hydraulic presses were found to use energy more
efficiently and be more productive than expellers.
2.2kW Oil Expeller 3.5kW Hydraulic Oil Press
Hourly Revenue $1.82 $4.88
Hourly OPEX $2.20 $0.94
Hourly Gross Profit ($0.38) $3.94
Next steps: product development based on research results.

25. Courtesy of CrossBoundary Innovation Lab
Mini-grids use case: milling
The electric mills use 2.2 kW of power to produce
90 kg/hr of flour through a 0.8mm sieve, making
the flour fine enough for ugali.
A productive use grain miller consumes 50 times
more energy than a typical customer, and 96% of
their consumption happens when the sun is shining.
Courtesy of CrossBoundary Innovation Lab
The Mini-Grid Innovation Lab has worked with mini-grid developers
and manufacturers to develop an off-grid electric mill that is four
times more efficient than existing diesel mills.

26. Mini-grids use case: cold storage
In Tanzania, Tilapia demand is higher than
supply
● A deficit of over 400,000 tonnes annually
● Currently, over 50% of Tilapia is imported
from China
JUMEME identified an opportunity on Lk.
Victoria sites
JUMEME collaborates with Tanzanian local
communities to collect and rear (tilapia cage
farms) Tilapia on islands in Lake Victoria
Fish is frozen on-site using mini-grid
electricity; and delivers highest quality frozen
Tilapia to the capital Dar Es Salaam

27. Mini-grids use case: cold storage
Currently: 60 permanent
+ 45 seasonal fishermen
earn revenue
Currently: 510 people in
108 families enjoy the
increased income
Currently: TZS 216 mil
(€90,000) of additional
cash injected into the
village economy
annually
July 2019:
Tilapia cage farming
creates local jobs for
women in fish-feed
processing
July 2019:
Tilapia collection in 4
islands creates 100+
jobs for fishermen
August 2020:
Start of expansion of
the model to Lake
Tanganyika

28. Mini-grids use case: cold storage
Bugarula is the port village for Idjwi Island,
DRC. Since December 2019 Equatorial Power
has been transforming lives in the village
through mini-grid, connecting 303 households
and businesses
Cold chain intervention
● Overview: Supporting the key agricultural
value chains of meat, fishing and milk on
Idjwi through cold chain interventions to
enable preservation for efficiencies and
increased earnings.
● Fridges and Freezers – cold storage at
key market locations to enable sales
beyond current restrictions
● Ice Making – Ice making enables
transportable cold storage for fishermen
Courtesy of Equatorial Power

29. Mini-grids & agro-processing: geo-mapping
● Power for All is using publicly
available geospatial data from IEA,
FAO and other major institutions,
on electrification infrastructure and
crop statistics along with a host of
other variables to identify areas
where electricity access may have
the potential to unlock agricultural
productivity
● The green cells represent areas
where stand-alone solar is
expected to be a dominant energy
source and where subsistence
agriculture is practiced
Source: Power for All

30. Conclusion
The feasibility, sustainability and scalability of decentralized renewable energy
solutions in the agri-food sector highly depend on appropriate institutional and
policy frameworks (IRENA 2016)
Effective policies and
regulations
Business models
Capacity building and
training
Market access Awareness-raising
Data
Potential policies to support the deployment of decentralized
renewable energy solutions in the agrifood chain include:
Image: Claro Energy

31. Thank you

32. Roberto Ridolfi
Assistant Director-General
UN-Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO)
Roberto.Ridolfi@fao.org
@robridolfi
COVID-19 & “re-localization”

33. Decentralized energy as a driver
• In lower-GDP countries FLW occurs mainly at post-harvest
stage, where (renewable!) energy is key
• Local, decentralized energy means local processing, close to
production site, cutting down losses
• COVID-19 emergency could catalyse the enhancement of
local/regional food systems when globalization is facing severe
challenges
• An example: the Mediterranean Diet, a regional, scientifically-
proven sustainable food system

34. Financing the transformation is key
• Sustainable SDG-compliant investments
• Blending renewable energy and food production in the
common ground of sustainability
• The trade-offs will foster:
→ Incentives in policy (taxation standards)
→ Incentives by financial market actors and driven by SDG
awareness of consumers
→ Synergic partnerships (governments/finance/private sector)
• FAO AgrInvest approach: enable solutions for policies and
conducive, regulatory institutional conditions for sustainable
investments

35. The role of FAO
• Solution-driven financing instruments (e.g.: blended finance)
• Coordinated action towards high impact and risk-prone
sectors to produce a sustainable development impact by
lowering costs, increasing efficiency, catalysing private capital
• FAO facilitates the emergence of a self-sustained process of
sustainability performance improvement through:
→ promoting enabling policies and policy dialogue;
→ de-risking mechanisms and financial services;
→ leveraging critical public investments;
→ capacity development;
→ innovative investment options.
• Normative guidance + customizable tools for SDG compliance
→ apply the SDG framework to address a variety of global issues
(e.g.: child labor, gender mainstreaming, climate change
mitigation, land tenure, soil and water management, etc.)

36. Q&A

37. Resources
• Africa Mini-Grid Developers Association: http://africamda.org
• Mini-Grids Partnership: https://minigrids.org
• Green Mini-Grid Help Desk: https://greenminigrid.afdb.org
• Platform for Energy Access Knowledge (PEAK):
https://www.powerforall.org/peak/
• PoweringAg Project Database:
https://energypedia.info/wiki/PoweringAg_Project_Database
Reports:
• PULSE Report: https://www.lightingglobal.org/wp-
content/uploads/2019/09/PULSE-Report.pdf
• MaMo Panel Report: https://www.mamopanel.org/resources/reports-and-
briefings/policy-innovation-power-transformation-africas-agr/
• World Bank Report:
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/31926
• FAO Report:
http://www.fao.org/3/ca5137en/ca5137en.pdf