Priorities affordable and reliable clean energy access to boost agriculture production
hand holding young plant and ligh bulb. concept saving energy. eco earth day
By Gerald Barekye
Worth Noting:
- This has limited farmers’ levels of production and a lot of postharvest losses that happens during and after harvesting due to unpredictable seasons. The parish model talks about 17millions that will be given each parish which is a good idea but depending on the need of rural people the cash handout will not yield any results.
- People in rural areas need power to boost their production and small businesses and best and affordable power in this case is solar that doesn’t need monthly payments. These solar panels will power irrigation equipment and help farmers to carry out production throughout the year without depending on nature.
Last week the president of Uganda instructed the ministry of defence to see all army barracks in country transiting from hydro electricity to solar power giving the reason that the ministry has been running a constrained budget and one of stress was high power tariffs.
This was a good idea and it came at right time where every Ugandan is crying of high power tariffs that have resulted into close sure of some business due to failure to pay bills and to make the matter worse some people have resorted to stealing power as one way how they can dodge the bills and this has resulted into death of many people in the country, for example the recent electrocution that happened in kasenge trading center where 3 people died on spot in January this year.
It should be noted that Uganda is among the countries with the highest solar energy resource through the year with the mean solar radiation of 5.2 kwh per square meter per day on horizontal surface. This level of sun is favorable for the application of a number of solar technologies according to experts. In addition sun is free of charge and is everywhere the country as this supports solar power through the year without monthly bills.
During the launch of parish development model the president of Uganda said that Uganda should not conserve poverty and to me this was a very big statement that I had to seat and realize on how people will be moved out of poverty using the parish development model. It should be noted that agriculture is the back born of Uganda’s economy employing about 70% of the total population. Most of agriculture production is carried out by rural people in rural areas where there is insufficient or no power at all.
This has limited farmers’ levels of production and a lot of postharvest losses that happens during and after harvesting due to unpredictable seasons. The parish model talks about 17millions that will be given each parish which is a good idea but depending on the need of rural people the cash handout will not yield any results.
People in rural areas need power to boost their production and small businesses and best and affordable power in this case is solar that doesn’t need monthly payments. These solar panels will power irrigation equipment and help farmers to carry out production throughout the year without depending on nature.
Last year, Ntungamo was hit by a lot of sun and many crops dried off including the income generating cash crop coffee where I witnessed farmers cutting the young dried coffee trees for firewood and this was embarrassment that wouldn’t have happened if the government had established solar powered irrigation schemes in remote areas where farmers can connect pipes to their gardens.
Furthermore about 6o% of people in rural areas have animals which produce cow dung that would be used for biogas production which produces power that can be used for business and domestic work, All these are options that government should priorities such that rural people are helped to move out of poverty.
The government of Uganda should work with solar distribution companies to provide solar at affordable prices to people in rural areas and it should negotiate with solar companies for the people to pay at reduced balance basis. The government should also put in place consumer protection law since there are now fake solar products in Market as this has made people make losses and remain on using fossil fuels due to fake products in market. Finally more of mindset change trainings should be done by the government on the use of solar power such that people can be saved from high electricity bills that have made them leave the business sector ,some imprisoned due to stealing of power and some dies due to electrocution.
Gerald Barekye
Research Associate Afiego
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