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Transcript/ScriptKENYA SOLAR PANELS AGRICULTURE (TV)
HEADLINE: Solar Panel Technology Boosts Yields for Farmers in Kenya
TEASER: Successful trials have shown that growing crops under solar panels reduces water loss and results in higher yields in areas prone to drought
PUBLISHED: 3/29/2022 at 12:50pm
BYLINE: Juma Majanga
DATELINE: Kajiado, Kenya
VIDEOGRAPHER: Jimmy Makhulo (Drone work: Juma Majanga)
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: MAS, Sharon Shahid
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA Original
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO __
TRT: 3:24
VID APPROVED BY: MAS
TYPE: TVPKG EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRO))
[[Scientists in Kenya are testing the region’s first project using solar panels to shade crops while generating clean energy. It’s called agrivoltaics. Successful trials of the technology have shown that growing crops under solar panels reduces water loss and results in higher yields in areas prone to drought. Juma Majanga reports from Kajiado, Kenya.]]
((NARRATOR))
Under Kenya’s scorching sun and clear skies about 60 kilometers south of Nairobi, Ann Watkins, a local farmer in Kajiado County, is learning a new technology called agrivoltaic.
((NATS, Anna speaking))
The technique involves using solar panels to shade crops, harvest rainwater and generate clean energy.
((Ann Watkins, Farmer (English, 25 secs)))
“This is a new technology which saves on so much. And with the climate change, and especially with the solar production, which I think it’s free, we have to maximize to save again on climate change. And basically to save on costs, especially in arid and semi-arid areas.”
((NARRATOR))
The agrivoltaic system has been used successfully in western countries like the United States and Germany, but this is the first such project in Africa. Yearlong research with scientists from the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom, World Agroforestry, and Kajiado-based Latia Agripreneurship Institute has yielded positive results for the project dubbed ‘harvesting the sun twice.’
((Judy Wairimu, Agronomist at the Latia Agripreneurship Institute (((English, 23 secs))
“We had two plots. We had the control plot that is grown under the normal conditions. And what we were able to know is that after the analysis, we were able to get that the
crops that were grown under the panels performed better. That is in terms of the quantity and quality.”
((NARRATOR))
According to World Bank data, more than half of Africa’s population did not have access to electricity by 2019. Agrivoltaic technology combines land dedicated to solar panels with land dedicated to agriculture to improve food security and grid connectivity.
(Aggie Konde, Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa ((English, 23 secs))
“Over the last 20 to 30 years, all the players that have been in the agriculture ecosystem, we have put the foundation for why agribusiness is viable for the continent. Most of the technologies that we are talking about, we know which technologies have a chance of success on the continent. What now needs to be done is to connect the dots.”
((NARRATOR))
After the successful rollout in Kenya, another trial is being set up in the neighboring Tanzania, the aim being to spread the technology across the continent. But farmers like Ann Watkins say they need help.
(Ann Watkins, Farmer (English, 20 secs))
“Being a capital-intensive project, the government maybe can put up policies in place when it comes to funding. Maybe providing cheaper loans to farmers and maybe organizing farmers into cooperatives, which may end up being a community project as a cooperative.”
((NARRATOR))
While adaptation of climate smart technologies like agrivoltaic offers hope to farmers in the face of a changing climate, the challenge remains in the rollout to farmers in rural Africa who need such technologies the most.
((Juma Majanga, for VOA
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
Kajiado, Kenya
Embargo DateMarch 30, 2022 17:45 EDT
Byline((Juma Majanga, for VOA News, Nairobi))
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
