The Federal Government has commenced a scheme that would see the deployment of 10,000 mini-grid solutions to power rural farmers in the country by the year 2030.
The scheme, Energizing Agriculture Programme which would be anchored by the Rural Electrification Agency, REA, with the support of Rocky Mountain Institute and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, will. accelerate the deployment of energy-agriculture solutions to farmers in Nigeria.
The Managing Director of the REA, Engr. Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad, who spoke recently at the launch of the programme in Abuja,explained that the scheme would unlock various opportunities in the sector by developing projects that will accelerate the productive use of electricity in rural communities.
He added that in the past one year the agency has developed a unique relationship with the Rocky Mountain Institute to develop the concept for the EAP.
He said:“We ventured into the Energy-Agriculture space to create a nexus that allows us to utilize the key activity in rural communities to improve the productive use of electricity, which includes agricultural activities.The key priority for the REA is to ensure that the solutions we deploy in rural communities have both social and economic impacts on the lives of the people in those communities. Therefore, ensuring that electricity is used productively is a major priority for the REA”, he added.
In his remarks,the Special Assistant to the President on Agriculture, Dr. Andrew Kwasari ,said that power supply is relevant to boosting agricultural production in rural communities.
He said:”Data has shown that power is important to rural economies not just because it lights up the homes, but also it solves the problem that is driving the contributions of rural smallholders’ agriculture to climate change, deforestation as source of power to either process local produce”
