In the early days of the global energy access movement, success was often measured by the number of lightbulbs turned on or households connected to mini-grids. There was a widespread expectation that expanding access to electricity would naturally catalyse economic development. This was anchored in the energy ladder theory, which suggested a gradual progression from basic energy access to more productive uses and, ultimately, economic growth. Yet, the anticipated ripple effects of electrification often failed to materialize at the expected pace. Development practitioners came to an understanding that energy access alone does not automatically drive economic development. A solar lantern may light a home, but it doesn’t cultivate a harvest or chill milk to preserve its value.

As the sector matured and new technologies emerged, the focus shifted toward Productive Uses of Energy (PUE)—the deployment of renewable energy technologies for income-generating activities. PUE quickly became a sector buzzword, embodying the promise of electricity to transform rural livelihoods through agricultural processing, refrigeration, irrigation, and more. The consensus grew: productive energy use is essential not only for achieving SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) but for unlocking broader development dividends.

Yet despite this consensus, the PUE sector has not skyrocketed as expected. This is not due to a lack of technology, but rather a severe gap in consumer financing, for ongoing capacity building and a failure to design truly enabling ecosystems for access beyond basic domestic energy services. Take the example of a rural Tanzanian farmer who installs a solar water pump. If she lacks access to reliable borehole infrastructure, farming skills or a viable market for her surplus crops, the pump becomes an expensive disappointment. The same applies to solar dryers and cold storage units rendered idle by poor aggregation or market access.

What is needed is a new generation of programs, ones that move beyond technology deployment toward holistic ecosystem integration. It is time to break the silos and embed energy interventions into the very veins of agri-food value chains.

REEEP and the PURE Growth Fund

The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), with over two decades of experience advancing clean energy in emerging markets, has taken this challenge head-on. Building on its track record from programs like Beyond the Grid Fund for Zambia (BGFZ) and the expanded Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa (BGFA), REEEP has launched the PURE Growth Fund, a pioneering results-based financing (RBF) facility with a bold ambition: to catalyse and integrate income-generating clean energy solutions within agri-food systems.

Launched on May 21, 2025, the PURE Growth Fund targets the intersection of agriculture and energy—two sectors that, according to the FAO, employ over 70% of the labour force in sub-Saharan Africa and account for nearly 20–30% of the continent’s GDP. In Tanzania, the program’s pilot country, agriculture already contributes 24.3% of GDP and accounts for 55% of total employment.¹

PURE (Productive Use of Renewable Energy) is more than just an RBF mechanism. It’s a systems-level intervention designed to empower clean energy and agriculture SMEs across the agri-food energy nexus. In addition to milestone-based incentive capital, the program offers comprehensive technical assistance, benefits from the SOARING first-loss facility to de-risk local debt through a REEEP sister initiative and comes with a unique enabling environment task force that helps relay private sector needs to policymakers.

But what makes the PURE Growth Fund truly transformative is its methodological rigor and ecosystem-centric design.

Beyond Kilowatts: Measuring Impact Across Ecosystems

One of PURE Growth Fund’s most groundbreaking features is its adaptation of both the World Bank’s ESMAP Multi-Tier Framework and the BGFA energy tiering system—pioneering the first such framework for PUE applications. This allows for a comparative analysis of disparate PURE technologies not just on their energy capacity but their value-chain outputs and by extension their potential income generation.

In essence, the PURE Growth Fund asks: how does the deployment of 100 small solar-powered refrigerators compare to 20 large-scale solar dryers in terms of income potential and productivity gains? By translating this into a standardized impact language, PURE Growth enables funders, implementers, and governments to compare apples and oranges—and make smarter investment decisions towards improved value-chain outcomes, business viability and economic development.

From Hardware to Human Systems: Incentivizing the Right Services

Equally important is PURE Growth’s recognition that technology alone is not enough. That’s why the Fund directly incentivizes three critical support service categories through its evaluation process and subsequently through its incentive capital allocation:

1. Repair and Maintenance: Ensuring that technologies remain functional and deliver their promised benefits.

2. Market Access: Helping farmers and agribusinesses access fair, reliable markets for their produce.

3. Agricultural Best Practices: Entrepreneurial and agricultural skills development to enhance productivity and sustainability.

For example, the PURE Growth Fund would evaluate favourably a clean energy SME that not only sells solar-powered egg incubators but also facilitates off-taker agreements for its customers to secure a market for the farmers’ eggs. This integrated approach is valued more highly than simply selling the technology. Moreover, the Fund would provide incentive capital to the same SME to finance a partnership with agronomists who can provide technical assistance to farmers—helping them improve their poultry operations. In this way, PURE’s incentive capital is designed not just to subsidize clean energy technologies, but to enable the broader ecosystem that makes these technologies truly productive.

Bringing this all together: PURE Impact Index

The deployment of these services and technologies, in turn, are measured and weighted in the PURE Impact Index, a measure that assesses both the technology throughput and the quality of surrounding services, ultimately serving as a proxy for how deeply embedded a project is within the agri-food value chain. This approach ensures alignment with broader goals such as contributions toward the SDGs and the sustainability of market deployments. By enabling cross-sector and inter-company comparisons, the index serves as a foundation for the RBF reverse auction process, tracking SMEs’ progress toward their targets, and functions as a benchmarking tool to guide both policy and investment decisions. This index is not just a monitoring tool but a performance-based accountability mechanism, pushing SMEs to go beyond sales and embrace long-term impact.

PURE Growth’s design reflects a critical hypothesis: that businesses embedded within value chains and supported by competent partners—whether for market access, financing, or agronomy—are more likely to succeed than isolated technology vendors. This principle is already visible in successful African ventures that transcend sectoral boundaries. Consider how PAYGO solar companies evolved into fintech platforms or how Agri-Tech firms now bundle weather insurance and market analytics.

Convergence is not a luxury—it’s a necessity.

And this is precisely what PURE Growth champions: interventions that break silos, incentivize partnerships, and reward real integration over superficial installations and future “white elephants”.

Conclusion: The Future Is Integrated

Energy alone does not lead to development. But energy embedded in ecosystems, skilled local entrepreneurs with reliable energy that irrigates fields, powers cold chains, enables agro-processing, and links to markets—does. As we enter the next chapter of sustainable development, it’s time to align our ambitions with the realities of the wider ecosystem.

The time for ecosystem-based energy interventions is now. And if we get it right, the farmers of tomorrow won’t just have PURE appliances, but thriving agri-enterprises.