The Kenyan milk processing company Brookside has partnered with an off-grid solar technology company Sunculture, in a bid to enable farmers access solar-irrigation system.
According to John Gethi, Brookside’s director of milk procurement and manufacturing, the system will enable farmers grow fodder crops and provide reliable drinking water for their animals.
He said that the company is currently running pilots on the project at demonstration farms in Uasin Gishu, Nyandarua, Kajiado and Kiambu .An adult healthy dairy animal requires between 75 to 80 litres of water daily. Besides maintenance of body temperature, water is important in the digestion of feed and fodder.
Solar-powered technology will provide technology that will power home appliances including lighting up to four bulbs.
Mr Gethi said that Brookside will continue to aggressively seek climate-smart technology for its farmers so that milk production increases across all milk shades.
Sun culture, a local non-governmental empowers smallholder farmers by offering off-grid solar technology to provide customers with reliable access to water, irrigation, lighting, and mobile charging among others.
A report released by Factor[e] Ventures, with support from The Rockefeller Foundation and the Windward Fund, found that Africa’s agriculture sector is failing to grow because of limited investments in energy and technology. The report noted that agriculture and agribusiness is projected to be a $1 trillion industry in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030 if powered by renewables like solar energy, and it concluded that “growing agribusinesses and smallholder farmers need modern energy to thrive.”