How Solar Energy Is Driving Value Addition In Agriculture In Kisii County

By Elizabeth Angira

Charles Omwoyo, at 69, would be slowing down his activities and enjoying his pension while playing with his grandchildren.

That, however, is not the kind of life Mr. Omwoyo, a retired Chief Inspector with the National Youth Service (NYS), either aspired for or is living today.

“I longed for the day I will retire and venture into agriculture where I will apply all I had learnt while at NYS,” Mr. Omwoyo says, referring to a training in agriculture he underwent sponsored by the Israeli Government.

Upon retirement, he hit the ground running.

He ventured into growing of nutrient-rich but perishable indigenous vegetables, including spider flower (saga), black nightshade (managu), amaranthus (emboga), pumpkin, African Spinach (enderema) and cowpeas.

Value addition

During the training he learnt that small-scale farmers lose between 30 per cent and 40 per cent of what they harvest annually in the face of poor market.

“I knew I had to find ways to reduce my post-harvest losses and value addition was the way to go,” he says.

He decided to invest in preservation and packaging of his vegetable produce in an effort reduce wastage and access to a wider market within the county, across Kenya and even exporting to foreign markets.

“I installed a solar power system, incorporating a solar powered drier, in 2019 to power my value addition processes,” he explains.

Besides powering the drying and packaging of his vegetables, the system enabled to cut energy-costs in his poultry and dairy farming activities.

“This process (drying vegetables using solar powered driers after harvest) gives the vegetables a longer shelf life and farmers are able to benefit from their farming enterprises without incurring high costs of post-harvest losses,” Nathan Soire, the Kisii County Director of Agriculture, says.

“It served even the tenants in my rental houses,” he says with a chuckle.

Jared Omiso, Chairperson of Nyangorora Banana Processing Plant, says the Kshs 800,000 solar energy system they invested in has significantly boosted productivity and earnings.

“We have been able to diversify into drying a variety of vegetables, herbs, and fruits, which has helped prevent spoilage and reduces waste thereby boosting our earnings,” says Mr. Omiso.

He says solar technology has opened up new markets, including outside Kenya, for them who have a growing interest in indigenous vegetables.

“We have noticed a change in eating habits among those abroad,” he says, “They are placing more orders for traditional vegetables.”

Lydia Nyaboke, a vegetable vendor, recalls how she used to sell her produce at very low prices out of fear that it would spoil.

However, since installing a solar system, she has been able to preserve and package her produce without worrying when she will sell them.

“I am now happy because I can make a good profit,” she says, urging other vendors to consider value addition as a way to boost their earnings

Cost-cutting

Mr Omwoyo and many other farmers in the County have embraced smart farming that combine their modern agricultural knowledge with sustainable energy, providing a model of how small-scale farmers can utilize solar power to enhance productivity and reduce post-harvest losses.

“We are able to process, dry, and store our produce more efficiently, thereby boosting our product quality and shelf-life,” he explains.

Adoption of solar-powered technology is offering the farmers a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to the traditional energy sources.

This way they are cutting their post-harvest losses, managing fluctuating market prices, and high-energy costs for processing of their produce.

“My earnings from my farm have improved,” he says.

Challenges

Mr. Omwoyo says they incur occasional losses due to pests, which he manages by applying ash as a natural deterrent, and hailstones, which can damage the plants.

He says that due to unpredictable weather patterns, which affects his supply of the vegetables to the market, he purchased irrigation pumps to meet his customer demand consistently.

“Since I have solar, I can pump water and irrigate my vegetables, “he says.

Demand

Mr Soire says vegetables are nutritious and have a high demand because of fluctuations of its demand and supply in the market.

“This poses a great risk to farmers who run into huge losses when the supply of vegetables, highly perishable crops, surpasses its demand,” he says.

He says solar energy reduces dependency on grid electricity and fossil fuels, which are often costly and unreliable in rural areas.

“By using solar, farmers now will cut down operational costs and improve profitability,” he says.

He says solar-powered processing aligns with Kenya’s commitment to sustainable energy reducing, greenhouse gas emissions and reliance on clean energy.

“Solar energy supports the country’s climate action goals,” he explains.

He says farmers have embraced using solar dryers for vegetables, bananas, and other perishable goods.

“This prevents spoilage and retains the nutritional content of the produce,” he says.

The Kisii County Government has integrated the use of solar energy at Kisii Agriculture Training Centre for both the banana and avocado processing plants for drying, pumping water from the borehole, heating, and cooling.

“We have also advised the use of solar energy in irrigation systems in greenhouse farming,” he says.

The County has installed solar powered coolers at the Magena Vegetables Aggregation Market.

“The solar system offers many benefits- cost savings, healthy living, saving on time, clean and cheap sources of energy, and environmental conservation,” he says.

Mr. Soire says the County Government’s vision is to mainstream the use of solar powering irrigation systems, drying, and in agro-industrialization.

“Some of the challenges we are facing as a County is affordability of solar energy devices, declining agricultural land sizes, climate change, and slow adoption of modern technologies,” he says.

He encourages farmers and cooperatives to adopt the use of solar energy to realize the benefits associated with the technology.

Mr. Soire vouches for a policy that makes solar power harvesting or roofing of agro-processing and value addition investments, irrigation systems, farm structures and housing, etc. mandatory.

“The government can then provide subsidy on the cost of solar energy devices,” he says.

COP 29

The 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) took take place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11 to 22 November 2024.

“We are here to respond to a key challenge: turning the energy transition towards justice,” says UN Secretary-General António Guterres, challenging participants at a roundtable discussion to weigh in on the work of his Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals.

The Panel was launched last year at COP28 in the United Arab Emirates with the aim of bringing together governments, international organizations, industry and civil society to develop common and voluntary principles to guide extractive industries “in the name of justice and sustainability”.

Mr. Guterres says that the renewables revolution is powering forward. Last year – for the first time – the amount invested in grids and renewables overtook the amount spent on fossil fuels.

According to the International Renewable Energy 2022 Report Agency (IRENA), Africa receives an annual average solar irradiation of 2, 119 kilowatt hours per square metre (kWh/m2), with most countries across North, West and Southern Africa receiving an average over 2,100 kWh/m2 annually.

IRENA estimates the continent’s solar photovoltaic (PV) technical potential at 7,900 GW3 indicating the vast potential for solar power generation.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that Africa boasts of 60 per cent of the world’s best solar resources, yet it only has installed one per cent of its solar capacity.

Under a Sustainable Africa Scenario (SAS), universal access to affordable electricity can be achieved by 2030. This means big connections to 90 million people yearly, three times more than the recent connection rate.

Currently, 43 per cent of the population, or 600 million people, lack access to electricity. Most of them live in sub-Saharan Africa.

The report’s analysis shows that extending national grids is the least costly solution for almost 45 per cent of those gaining access by 2030.

In rural areas, where 80 per cent lack electricity access, solar-based mini-grids and stand-alone system electricity are the most feasible solutions