View source for Renewable Energy for Agriculture

{{GBE ProjectDB
|GBE project name=Productive Use of Energy for Women's Farming Cooperative in Malawi
|GBE organisation=Modern Farming Technologies (MFT)
|GBE date start=November 2021
|GBE date end=April 2023
|GBE project description=The members of the women’s farming cooperative are the main beneficiaries of the project. By using solar-irrigated greenhouses as well as adequate cooling systems and through a resilient marketing strategy, the women are enabled to grow produce all-year-round and increase their income. The higher yields subsequently give them better access to the regional and national food trade. In the first step, a solar drip irrigation system and 15 greenhouses are installed. With these facilities, 45 women of the cooperative grow high-quality vegetables, herbs, and fruits in close coordination with potential future buyers. The women are trained in the use of a cultivation plan and deliver their produce to MFT, the implementing partner organisation, which stores the food in a solar-powered cold store and markets it to restaurants, lodges and exporters. The women in the cooperative jointly use the facilities and share the rent evenly among the members. When the facilities are paid off, they become the property of the cooperative. During the first two years of the project, 45 women gain meaningful and sustainable jobs. This will scale up to 267 jobs by year five, impacting 1,333 people through improvements to women’s income and food security. Each woman gains a yearly net income of about €627 rising to over €900, when they have completed the rent-to-own payments for their greenhouse. 


A modern form of agricultural production with an integrated renewable energy system, which is directly linked to marketing facilities, presents a new business model for Malawi. Furthermore, the gender-focused approach and the holistic setting of the project are innovative as they integrate renewable energy into a modern agricultural production system. In addition, the rent-to-own-approach is an innovative financing mechanism for the solar-powered irrigation and greenhouses, which allows full ownership after four years. The rent-to-own-approach is made possible by MFT facilitating access to solar-powered cold rooms and to markets of high-quality vegetables by negotiating with large retailers and through contracts on behalf of the women cooperatives.
|GBE financed=Small Projects Fund
|GBE category produse=Productive Use
|GBE category financing=Financing
|GBE category gender=Gender
|GBE category skills=Skills Development
|GBE category business=Business Development Support
|GBE countrySPF=Malawi
|GBE locationSPF=-11.83138, 34.1693
|GBE FS source=Wiki Upload
|GBE FS source Wiki=GBE-SPF_MFT_Projectfactsheet.pdf
}}