Sun4Water – Promoting climate friendly, water- and energy efficient solar-powered irrigation systems

Context

In Sub-Saharan Africa, over 240 million people face food insecurity. At the same time, about 80 per cent of the population in the area relies on rain-fed agriculture. In a world where erratic rainfall patterns, droughts and extreme weather conditions are on the rise, this poses an immense threat to smallholder farmers.  

To counter these challenges, smallholders must have affordable access to reliable water supplies. One solution lies in installing solar-powered irrigation systems (SPIS). They can increase agricultural productivity, improve farmers' access to water and power in rural areas, as well as ease adaptation to climate change.

Objective

Smallholders in Sub-Saharan Africa have access to climate-friendly, energy- and water-efficient solar-powered irrigation systems. The necessary capacities, technologies, and services to operate them are available.

Approach

Sun4Water is financed by the German Climate and Technology Initiative (DKTI) as a contribution by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to the joint international initiative Water and Energy for Food (WE4F).

In collaboration with GIZ partner projects, the program:

• Contributes to increasing agricultural productivity and food security, thus improving resilience of smallholder farmers in the agri-food value chain.
• Supports MSMEs by offering capacity and business development, improving access to finance and strengthening cross-sectoral dialogues. 
• Promotes sustainable use of SPIS technologies and mainstreams them in political frameworks and processes.

Last update: ​June 2023​