3 April 2025: The report Beyond Silos: Strengthening Nexus Collaboration to Power Food Systems with Off-Grid Solar addresses the intertwined nature of energy use, efficiency, sustainability, and productivity of food systems in Africa, and calls for greater collaboration and ‘nexus’ approaches to maximize impact on food security.

The authors are a consortium of partners across the food systems and energy sectors, including GOGLA, IRENA, Efficiency for Access, GAIN, AGRA, GIZ, SNV and Wageningen University Research, with support from the IKEA Foundation.

Effective collaboration between food systems and the off-grid solar sector is crucial for transforming agricultural productivity and uplifting the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, who produce the majority of the food in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper forges a vital link between energy and agricultural stakeholders, deepening their mutual understanding of priorities and challenges. By aligning efforts, we can help accelerate innovation, strengthen food security, and make agriculture more climate-resilient.Jakub Vrba, Senior Research Lead, Energy Saving Trust, co-secretariat Efficiency for Access.

Africa’s goal to become food secure in the next decade, outlined in the recent Kampala Declaration includes transforming the continent’s agri-food systems and increasing agrifood output by 45% by 2035. However, smallholder farmers—who produce up to 80% of the food supply in sub-Saharan Africa—lack essential infrastructure, with more than two-thirds of rural communities still without electricity, restricting agricultural productivity, hindering economic growth, food security and rural resilience.

Off-grid solar energy, including irrigation, cooling and agri-processing solutions, is the quickest and most cost-effective solution for almost half of the people living without electricity today. It offers a stepping stone to clean, decentralized, and sustainable energy access for productive use, inclusive economic opportunities and growth.

It is already being used by 700,000 farmers, increasing their productivity year-round despite seasonal droughts, enabling access to new markets, increasing the value of their produce and benefitting communities with increased nutritional value in food.

Where the majority of food is produced by smallholder farmers without energy access, off-grid solar offers an opportunity to increase yield, productivity and economic growth. More broadly, through clean energy access we are decreasing reliance on fossil fuel and creating more sustainable food systems. Sarah Malm, Executive Director, GOGLA.

To reach its potential of serving 32 millions farmers and deliver optimal outcomes, food systems and energy sector stakeholders need to work together, learn from one another and build a common language and approach to integrating off-grid solar in food systems.

As global challenges grow more complex, this paper highlights the need for collaboration across sectors to build sustainable food systems. It brings together diverse expertise to find common ground, explore ways of working together, and showcase real-world examples of how integrated solutions can drive impact. The focus is clear: fast-tracking collaborative action to support smallholder farmers and value chain actors in producing and consuming food more efficiently and sustainably.Martijn Veen, Global Head of the Energy Sector, SNV.

Connecting technology push from the clean energy domain to the needs of agricultural development in LMICs requires mutual understanding and alignment to lead to effective interventions such as irrigation, processing, or cooling. This white paper creates awareness of the benefits of a multidisciplinary approach aimed at synergy to create sustainable impact.Jan Verschoor, Senior researcher/Consultant Postharvest Technology, Wageningen Food & Biobased Research.

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About GOGLA: GOGLA is the global association for the off-grid solar energy industry, representing over 200 members working to transform lives through clean, affordable, and high-quality solar products and services. More than 560 million climate-vulnerable people already benefit from off-grid solar to power their homes, farms, enterprises and public infrastructure. With the right support, our industry is poised to scale rapidly, aiming to improve the lives of 1 billion people by 2030. GOGLA drives this progress by serving as a central hub for the sector, offering vital market data, advocating for supportive policies and increased investment, and providing value-added services to our members. For more information, visit https://gogla.org/.