Promoting Clean Energy Adoption for Enhanced Food Security in Africa

Introduction

This page summarises the open-access article by Li et al. (2024), published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, which examines how clean energy adoption supports food security outcomes across Africa. The study links renewable energy access to agricultural productivity, food processing, storage, and overall resilience of food systems.

Background

Food insecurity remains a pressing challenge across many African regions. Lack of reliable and affordable energy exacerbates post-harvest losses, low productivity, and limited access to processed foods. Clean energy technologies — including solar irrigation, biogas digesters, and biomass systems — provide critical solutions to enhance agricultural and food system resilience.

Methodology

Review of clean energy interventions in African agricultural value chains. Cross-country evidence synthesis highlighting successful cases of solar irrigation, solar-powered cold storage, and renewable-based food processing. Policy analysis linking energy access, climate change mitigation, and sustainable food security.

Key Findings

Solar irrigation: Access to solar-powered irrigation reduces dependency on erratic rainfall and increases crop yields. Post-harvest storage: Solar cooling systems and mini-grids enable cold chains, cutting food spoilage and improving nutrition. Bioenergy: Biogas systems contribute both energy and organic fertilizer, closing nutrient loops in farming. Livelihood resilience: Clean energy use in agriculture raises incomes, improves diets, and strengthens resilience to climate change. Adoption barriers: High upfront costs, lack of technical know-how, and limited finance slow adoption.

Policy and Practical Implications

Promote financing mechanisms (e.g., pay-as-you-go, microcredit) to overcome cost barriers. Integrate clean energy into national food security and agricultural policies. Build local capacity for system maintenance and knowledge sharing. Strengthen partnerships among governments, NGOs, and private sector actors to scale clean energy adoption in food systems.

Conclusions

Clean energy is a critical enabler of food security in Africa. Scaling solar irrigation, renewable cold storage, and bioenergy technologies can simultaneously tackle hunger, rural poverty, and climate change impacts.

Further Reading

Li, X., et al. (2024). Promoting clean energy adoption for enhanced food security in Africa. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. DOI link

Attribution & Licence

This page summarises material from Li et al. (2024). The original article is open access and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (CC BY).