Step Change Policy Brief - Off-grid Renewable Energy in Agriculture in Uganda

Action for Rural Women's Empowerment (ARUWE) is one of the partners implementing the Science Transformation in Europe through Citizens involvement in Health, conservation and Energy Research (STEPCHANGE). The project focuses on establishing the evidence of, and bolster Off-grid Renewable Energy (RE) in agricultural production in rural Uganda, with particular focus on solar, charcoal briquettes and biogas renewable energy technologies. The main objective of the study is to provide evidence of the economic, environmental and societal potential of adopting off-grid renewable energy in agricultural production in rural Uganda. The study pursued four specific objectives, namely: a) Identify the impact achieved by ongoing projects in Kyankwanzi, Kiboga and Luwero districts where agricultural cooperatives have been trained and mobilized to use renewable energy technologies to promote agricultural productivity; b) Identify the impact achieved due to adoption of renewable energy technologies in agriculture production in other districts in Uganda; c) Provide evidence on the potential of up-scaling of the technology transfer experiences to the whole region and provides an estimate of the up-scaling potential at national level; and d) Analyze the current policy and institutional framework on the use of RE technologies in agricultural production in Uganda.

Based on the collected results, a policy brief was presented to the decision makers in a multi- stakeholders and fact-based dialogue conducted on the potential upscaling at regional and National levels of the process of technology transfer and adoption. Advised by the stakeholder, three separate policy briefs were prepared for systematic implementation advocacy and monitoring