To complement various efforts on mitigating the climate change and increase farmer’s production and income, the Solar Water Pumping Project started on March 2020 and completed in August 2021.

During the course of project implementation, it was obviously that farmers are ready to embrace the technology however higher upfront costs for the solar pumps is the main drawback and therefore adoption level is still very low. Improvement of the cost structure through VAT exemptions and introducing smart financing programs through viable business cases, which make the technology more competitive and encourage more utilization. The project continues to bring the policy makers to further facilitate the enabling environment for the solar water pumping.

Availability of technicians at local level is another area which needs to be looked at especially when adoption of this sustainable technology expands and for appropriate maintenance to ensure long-term operation, even though solar powered water pumps require less maintenance than diesel generator in general.

Read more: Agroberichten Buitenland