{"id":42,"date":"2009-08-16T22:51:00","date_gmt":"2009-08-16T22:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ec2-54-213-215-163.us-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com\/?p=42"},"modified":"2022-10-25T21:59:05","modified_gmt":"2022-10-25T21:59:05","slug":"food-security-using-solar-power-to-transform-rural-agriculture-in-benins-kalale-district","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bobfreling.com\/index.php\/2009\/08\/16\/food-security-using-solar-power-to-transform-rural-agriculture-in-benins-kalale-district\/","title":{"rendered":"Food Security: Using Solar Power to Transform Rural Agriculture in Benin’s Kalal\u00e9 District"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I’ve just returned from\u00a0Benin, West Africa<\/strong>\u00a0where I had a chance to see firsthand the remarkable transformation that has taken place in the villages of\u00a0Dunkassa<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Bessassi<\/strong>\u00a0since the launching, less than two years ago, of SELF\u2019s\u00a0solar irrigation project in Kalal\u00e9 District<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0— a poor, dry region in the northern part of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"women<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kalal\u00e9 District\u00a0consists of 44 villages<\/strong>\u00a0(~100,000 people),\u00a0none of which are connected to Benin\u2019s electric power grid.<\/em>

There is precious little rainfall during the six-month dry season that runs from November through April each year.\u00a0 During this period, the land of Kalal\u00e9 is parched and its people are hungry. Malnutrition is widespread, as evidenced by the many children walking around with distended bellies\u2014a telltale sign of\u00a0kwashiorkor<\/a><\/strong>, a condition caused largely by a lack of protein and micronutrients.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our involvement in Benin began some three and a half years ago when I was first contacted by Dr. Mamoudou Setamou<\/a><\/strong>, a native of Kalal\u00e9 who had received a Ph.D. in agricultural entomology from the University of Hanover in Germany.  Mamoudou, now a Professor at Texas A&M University, had just returned from a home visit to Benin, where he had participated in a meeting of Kalale\u2019s district council to explore alternative options for electrifying Kalal\u00e9\u2019s villages since the national grid was not likely to reach this remote part of Benin anytime in the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intuiting that solar represented a way forward for his people, Mamoudou turned to SELF for help.  After a series of discussions, it became clear that Kalal\u00e9 District, with its 44 unelectrified villages, offered a great opportunity for SELF to scale its work beyond the scope of a single village to encompass an entire region.  After all, with much of Africa still without access to modern energy services, it was time to think and act boldly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the next few months, we put together a plan to generate solar electricity for a wide range of end-uses\u2014including schools, health clinics, water pumping systems, street lighting, and wireless Internet access<\/strong>\u2014in each of the 44 villages that comprise Kalal\u00e9 District<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of priority, however, an on-the-ground needs assessment revealed that the first concern among the local communities was food security<\/strong>: to find a way to overcome the endemic lack of water and agricultural produce that condemns the people of Kalal\u00e9 to an endless cycle of poverty and poor health, especially during the 6-month dry season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To address this problem, we approached Professor Dov Pasternak<\/a><\/strong>, a leading drip irrigation expert who, for the past eight years, has been working for the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics<\/a> (ICRISAT).  While at ICRISAT, Pasternak developed what he refers to as the \u201cAfrica Market Garden<\/a>\u201d \u2013 a simple but highly effective method of using drip irrigation to grow high-value fruits and vegetables on small plots of arid land in the Sahel region of Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to working with SELF, Pasternak had relied upon diesel generators to power the water pumps used in his drip irrigation systems. Needless to say, we felt that solar represented a more viable alternative, economically and environmentally. Dov agreed to try it our way, and now with the successful launch of the first solar-powered drip irrigation systems in Benin, he has become a solar convert. (In a white paper SELF recently put together, it is shown that the payback period for solar pumping \u2013 as compared with diesel \u2013 can be less than two years, and that’s at today’s diesel prices which are going up, and solar prices which are going down.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My recent trip to Kalal\u00e9 was the first time I had visited the project since its launching in November 2007. I was accompanied by a French film crew that is going to feature SELF in an upcoming segment of Earth from Above<\/em>, a National Geographic\u2013like program hosted by well-known French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"bobinbenin.jpg\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was great to return to Benin and spend time with the people of Dunkassa and Bessassi, the two pilot villages where solar drip irrigation systems have been installed.\u00a0 I immediately noticed a difference in the women, who looked stronger since our last encounter.\u00a0 Not only are the women better fed, but so are their families and the rest of the villagers who now have year-round access to a steady supply of highly nutritious fruits and vegetables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s more, the women are earning an<\/strong> extra $7.50 per week<\/strong> from the sale of fresh produce at the local market.  I was there on market day, and was delighted to see the women march off proudly into town with their baskets filled to the brim with leafy green vegetables. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"off<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So not only has nutrition improved<\/strong> in Dunkassa and Bessassi, but income levels also have risen<\/strong> \u2014 income which will help pay for school fees, medical treatment, and overall economic development.  Indeed, the women are already starting to think about other types of income-generating schemes that can be launched in the villages.  It appears their entrepreneurial spirit has been kindled!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"market<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Phase II of this project in Benin, scheduled for launch next year, will involve the \u201cwhole-village<\/strong>\u201d electrification of Dunkassa and Bessassi, whereby solar electric systems will generate power for the school, health clinic, homes, street lighting, community center, and a WiFi network in each of the pilot villages.<\/strong>  We\u2019re also planning to install additional solar pumps that will provide fresh drinking water to the residents of Dunkassa and Bessassi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While much remains to be done, we\u2019ve gotten off to a promising start in Benin.  The tandem use of solar energy and drip irrigation can be replicated in many other parts of sub-Saharan Africa that are poor in water resources but rich in sunlight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s particularly exciting is the fact that in this one project we now have a sustainable model that is simultaneously combating climate change, improving food security, supplying clean water, alleviating poverty, and empowering women.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"benincollage.jpg\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Stay tuned for further updates…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve just returned from\u00a0Benin, West Africa\u00a0where I had a chance to see firsthand the remarkable transformation that has taken place in the villages of\u00a0Dunkassa\u00a0and\u00a0Bessassi\u00a0since the launching, less than two years ago, of SELF\u2019s\u00a0solar irrigation project in Kalal\u00e9 District\u00a0— a poor, dry region in the northern part of the country. Kalal\u00e9 District\u00a0consists of 44 villages\u00a0(~100,000 people),\u00a0none…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":161,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bobfreling.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bobfreling.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bobfreling.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bobfreling.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bobfreling.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.bobfreling.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":426,"href":"https:\/\/www.bobfreling.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42\/revisions\/426"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bobfreling.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bobfreling.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bobfreling.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bobfreling.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}