Programme links Nigerian minigrids and catalyses economic growth

The Nigerian Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has launched the Energizing Agriculture Programme. By linking minigrids and agricultural productivity, the programme aims to catalyse economic development and improve rural livelihoods in Nigeria.

The REA launched the programme in collaboration with Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), an independent nonprofit focused on securing a clean, prosperous, zero-carbon future.

The Energizing Agriculture Programme (EAP) is a three-year initiative with the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), with funding from The Rockefeller Foundation.

It’s goal is to stimulate the use of minigrid electricity in agricultural productive uses that drive local economic growth. It is focused on enabling market-led solutions and breaking the silos separating electrification and agricultural development.

Goddy Jedy-Agba, OFR, Minister of State, Nigerian Federal Ministry of Power, commented on the announcement in a statement, “As the renewable energy space improves yearly, we have continued to keep a keen eye on the deployment of programmes and solutions geared toward socioeconomic impact in unserved and underserved communities across Nigeria. The EAP is one of those programs.”

Agriculture-energy pipeline

Over the next three years, the EAP initiative aims to foster a pipeline of agriculture-energy projects. This includes those that demonstrate the impact of collaborative development efforts across the energy and agriculture sectors.

Across these activities, the EAP is designed to ensure local ownership of solutions and scaling by partnering widely and sharing insights.

The EAP will build on existing agriculture and electrification initiatives in Nigeria and then accelerate the deployment and adoption of the most effective solutions.

It hopes to achieve this by gathering local partners to validate commercially led business models, demonstrate agricultural appliances and scale proven solutions.

Dr. Mohammed Mahmoud Abubakar, Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, also commented, “This programme encourages the productive use of energy to deepen our objective of organising and managing the agricultural sector in Nigeria.

“Leveraging renewable energy technologies for productive use in off-grid communities greatly helps to strengthen production capacity of the average Nigerian farmer in rural communities.”

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Nigerian agriculture and economy

Agriculture is considered the economic backbone of rural Nigerian communities.

Minigrids, small-scale electricity grids that can power a community independently, are often the least-cost electrification option.

Experts estimate that Nigeria’s agricultural sector has the potential to generate $40 billion in exports.

Using electricity to power opportunities like these can drive a virtuous cycle for rural development. Enhancing income generation, community resilience and the minigrid utility’s financial performance are ways to do so.

“Addressing the energy deficit challenge in sub-Saharan Africa is fundamental to unlocking agricultural productivity, new income-generating activities and acceleration of global decarbonization efforts,” said Justin Locke, managing director of RMI’s Global South Program.

“The EAP’s potential to electrify agricultural loads can catalyse scaling the adoption of decentralized renewable energy systems and spur local community development.”

Supporting demand, jobs and SME growth by increasing agricultural productive use at minigrid sites are critical to uplifting low-income communities in Nigeria.

The EAP will contribute to these efforts by deploying productive use cases in rural communities and proving out business models to scale similar interventions at minigrid sites.

For example, equipment like electric grain mills and cold storage can plug directly into existing agricultural value chains once electricity is available.

“Despite incredible advances in renewable energy technologies, we haven’t seen these innovations spread at the speed and scale needed to reach the communities most in need, especially in the agricultural sector,” said Joseph Nganga, executive director for Africa at the GEAPP.

“The EAP will bring together farmer organizations, private agricultural companies, donors, equipment manufacturers and governments to surface innovations and embed them within existing value chains. If we are successful, some of these solutions will have wide uptake, helping to catalyse more equitable and sustainable economic development.”