Solar Market Gardens
SELF’s Solar Market Garden (SMG) model combines solar power with drip irrigation to support farmers in unelectrified regions.
One-third of the world’s produce is grown by small-scale farmers. From Central America to West Africa and beyond, these growers are essential forces in the fight against food insecurity and malnutrition.
Many of these farmers live in areas without grid electricity. This means no power for irrigation technology, leaving farmers and their crops vulnerable to dry seasons and droughts.
The SMG model helps farmers improve resilience, increase their yields, and grow their income.
How it Works
Solar panels convert energy from the sun into electricity. The electricity is used to pump water from an underground aquifer into an elevated reservoir. The water is then gravity-fed through drip irrigation lines to water crops in the gardens. These systems can self-regulate for variable weather; solar radiation is the main driver of both evapotranspiration and solar pump speed, so on days where plants need extra water, the pump works faster to deliver it.
The Impact
Farmers not only avert crop failures, but they can also increase and diversify their yields. This improves farmer income and allows them to provide more nutritious food to their community year-round.
Because the SMG program works specifically with women’s farming collectives, there are additional benefits to gender equality as women become income earners and community leaders.
As climate change intensifies, our world is experiencing more frequent droughts and more variable rainfall. The SMG program helps communities adapt to these conditions, improve food security, and mitigate emissions.
Winner of UNFCCC Award
The SMG program was awarded the Momentum For Change Lighthouse Award, at COP21 in Paris, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Stanford University Study
Stanford University studied the SMG program, noting striking improvements to food production. The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.