Solar Market Gardens as a Tool for Rural Development

In the northern region of Benin, in the Sudano-Sahel region of West Africa, the dry season between rains can last six to nine months at a time. Because most of Benin’s smallholder farmers rely on rain-fed agriculture for both their food supply and their income, the dry season can be a time not only of food insecurity but of poverty, illness and malnutrition. Groundwater is often too deep for traditional wells to reach, and the high price of fuel makes it difficult to rely on electric irrigation pumps.

In 2007, Center on Food Security and the Environment joined with a US-based NGO, the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF), which had just launched a project in Kalalé, Benin, to help electrify all 44 villages in the commune with solar power. Both the specific technologies involved and the project scale were unique, so SELF teamed up with FSE to measure the impact of the project.

SELF helped the villages install solar arrays to power drip irrigation pumps, which farmers now use to grow high-valued crops in “solar market gardens.” This work expands on the African Market Garden project pioneered by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).

The solar arrays, which are paid for by SELF and installed and maintained by villagers, use the sun’s energy to power water pumps that tap into deep wells. The pumps deliver water to plants through a system of rubber hoses with small perforations, so that water drips onto the roots of individual plants throughout the day, reducing water waste and improving plant growth. In the dry season these crops provide a steady food source, better nutrition, and higher household incomes as families sell extra produce at nearby markets.

View full project details at the Center on Food Security and the Environment.