Solar Power Irrigation for Rural Farmers

Famers in Sub-saharan Africa have been at the mercy of the weather. That's all about to change, thanks to Really Solid Technology's (RST's) innovative Pay-As-You-Go Solar Powered Irrigation Solution. with RST pumps and agricultural tips, farmers can now reliably grow the crops that increase their income the most, and increase their harvest per year, all without breaking the bank. Goodbye to food insecurity, hello to sustainable income.

Africa is the only continent in the world where poverty and hunger are on the increase. The number of malnourished Africans is on the rise from one year to the next. African land can be able to provide fertile land, thriving crops, high quality and abundant yields, numerous healthy cattle, a better home, good education for children, financial security, and generally a better life for all. The continent is able to provide all this and more to the hardworking small-scale farmer, large-scale farmer, whole countries, Africa as a continent, and even the world as a whole. This continent has a lot of potential however; this potential remains for the most part untapped and most African farmers in the present day face great challenges on a daily basis. Most African farmers today are either smallholder or subsistence farmers who cultivate crops and look after animals just to feed themselves and their households. This article will seek to highlight some of the major farming problems in Africa.

The Solution

A solar pump encourages smart farming practices and makes the most use of the water available in a sustainable way. The FAO states that improved water management through sustainable irrigation and small, low-lift pumps holds the key to producing enough food to alleviate food shortages.

In many places, farmers are using expensive and inefficient petrol pumps to irrigate their plots. These pumps have a high extraction rate go water, some pumping over 300 L per minute! The SF1 solar pump from FuturePump mitigates this problem with a more sustainable flowrate of around 30 L per hour in full sunshine. As the energy supply is free, the pump can be used all day at this lower rate. This allows the water source to recharge and encourages better resource management. The lower flow rater also aids efficient water application as, unlike a petrol pump, it is compatible with drip irrigation and sprinklers which are known to be twice, if not three times, more efficient at getting water to the crop than traditional flood or furrow irrigation.

How it works

Smallholder farmers aren’t the only ones to benefit from solar-powered energy. Businesses stand to benefit, too. Overall about “50 percent of businesses [including smallholder farmers]in Sub-Saharan Africa view a lack of reliable electricity access as a major constraint to doing business,” according to U.K. Department for International Development’s Energy Africa Campaign. This perspective “is encouraging a solar revolution which is vitally important to transform lives across the continent.”