Agriculture is a major source of livelihoods in Ghana, yet most smallholder farmers remain highly dependent on rainfall because less than 3% of cultivated land is under irrigation. Climate variability, prolonged dry spells, and erratic rainfall are increasingly reducing agricultural productivity and farmer incomes. Cocoa farmers are particularly affected, with many producing well below attainable yield levels and earning incomes that are insufficient for a decent standard of living. Although solar-powered irrigation offers a promising solution, high upfront costs, limited access to finance, and a lack of sustainable service delivery models continue to prevent widespread adoption. The project addresses these barriers by testing an innovative financing model that makes solar irrigation affordable and accessible for smallholder farmers.
The project pilots a Pay-As-You-Grow (PAYG) lease-to-own solar irrigation model that enables farmers to access irrigation services without making large upfront investments. Under this model, a solar irrigation service provider acquires IoT-enabled solar irrigation pumps through a green lending facility provided by Fidelity Bank Ghana and supplies irrigation services to farmers. Farmers pay according to actual water and energy usage, measured through integrated IoT technology, making payments more affordable and directly linked to farm productivity. Over time, cumulative payments allow farmers to acquire ownership of the irrigation system.
The project's theory of change is that affordable access to solar irrigation, combined with innovative financing and reliable technical support, will increase agricultural productivity, improve incomes, strengthen climate resilience, and build confidence among financial institutions to invest in productive-use renewable energy. Key activities include site selection and farmer onboarding, structuring green financing arrangements, procurement and installation of solar irrigation systems, technical training and support, implementation of the PAYG platform, and ongoing monitoring, learning, and evaluation to validate the business model for future scaling.
Primary beneficiaries are smallholder cocoa farmers who gain affordable access to irrigation, improved productivity, higher incomes, and greater resilience to climate change. Secondary beneficiaries include financial institutions, renewable energy service providers, agricultural value-chain actors, and technical professionals who benefit from the development of a new green finance and solar irrigation market.
The project aims to validate a commercially viable and scalable PAYG solar irrigation model for smallholder farmers in Ghana. It combines renewable energy, innovative financing, digital monitoring technology, and agricultural productivity improvements within a single market-driven approach. The model reduces farmers' financial risk by replacing upfront investment requirements with usage-based payments linked to productivity. Real-time IoT monitoring enables transparent billing, performance tracking, and improved loan management. The pilot also strengthens the capacity of local financial institutions and service providers to invest in and support productive-use renewable energy technologies. Evidence generated during implementation will inform future expansion across Ghana's cocoa-growing regions and potentially other agricultural value chains. The project contributes to SDGs 2 (Zero Hunger), 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and 13 (Climate Action).