Food, energy and water insecurity are concomitant challenges facing many communities in East Africa. Agrivoltaic systems – agriculture integrated with photovoltaic panels – address all three challenges, providing low carbon electricity, food production and water conservation on the same land area.
Agrivoltaics have proven benefits for the food-energy-water nexus in the USA, Europe and Asia, but research is lacking in sub-Saharan Africa, where energy access remains low, and climate change and water scarcity threaten food systems.
This study presents evidence for concomitant electricity generation, food production and water conservation from agrivoltaic systems in Tanzania and Kenya, demonstrating the viability of these systems for both grid-tied agribusinesses and rural, off-grid communities.
- Performance of some crops improved under agrivoltaics, generating higher incomes for farmers and agribusinesses while reducing energy bills and/or enhancing energy supply.
- Crop survivability during a warm period was greater under the agrivoltaic system, indicating potential for climate change resilience.
- Panel shading reduced irrigation demand, thus some crops achieved greater yields while needing less water input.
- Rainwater harvesting from panel runoff further reduced irrigation needs.
Combining energy infrastructure with agriculture enhanced land productivity for all crops at both sites. Agrivoltaics, whether grid-tied or off-grid, could address multiple Sustainable Development Goals in East Africa simultaneously by contributing to energy security, climate change-resilient food production, and water conservation in the region.
Conclusion
The study provides a multi-site, multi-season, and multi-crop assessment of agrivoltaics in a tropical semi-arid region, informing how the development of on- and off-grid PV infrastructure can address the food-energy-water nexus in East Africa, and potentially other semiarid locations. Several crop yields either increased or were maintained under agrivoltaics, while those that had lower yields still generated economic returns expected for the region. The benefits for energy security were clear, as were those for water security: the results show a clear reduction in evaporative water loss and irrigation demand – a critical issue for farmers facing unpredictable rainfall and water scarcity under future climates.
These results contrast with those found from existing agrivoltaics research in temperate regions, highlighting that agrivoltaic systems must be based on locally relevant assessments, rather than transferred from existing regions where the contexts and environmental conditions differ. With the potential for generating low-carbon, off-grid electricity concomitantly with food production, water conservation and better resilience to climate change, agrivoltaics could address multiple Sustainable Development Goals simultaneously. This technology could therefore offer significant benefits to governments and decision-makers seeking to optimise development investments for maximum impact.
Excerpt of: Harvesting the sun twice: Energy, food and water benefits from agrivoltaics in East Africa (Elsevier 2024)