Publication - HOW CAN ENERGY ACCESS PRACTITIONERS ENERGISE REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE SETTINGS?

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Title
HOW CAN ENERGY ACCESS PRACTITIONERS ENERGISE REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE SETTINGS?
Publisher
EFFICIENCY FOR ACCESS
Author
Richa Goyal
Published in
April 2023
Abstract
Productive use appliances powered by renewable technologies have direct impacts on user resilience. The type of agricultural system a farmer is embedded in has a big role in influencing the farmer’s resilience and adaptation capacity and by virtue of that, has an indirect impact on the resilience that the farmer can gain by using solar appliances. Therefore, when energy access practitioners design interventions aimed at introducing solar technologies to farming systems, it is important that they are mindful of these interlinkages between farming systems, solar appliance access, and farmer resilience.

This report uses five diverse case studies of crop value chains in Kenya to help document how energy access for farmers can be aligned with efforts aimed at transitioning farming systems to regenerative agriculture.

Regenerative vs more mainstream agricultural systems While there is no universally accepted definition of regenerative agriculture, common practices used across existing definitions include no or minimum tillage, integration of livestock with crops, reduction in chemical inputs, and crop diversification (through agroforestry, intercropping, crop rotations, or cover crops). These practices aim to deliver common outcomes of improved soil health, carbon sequestration, increased biodiversity, improved water resources, and increased social and the economic well-being of communities.

On the other hand, more mainstream agricultural practices include but are not limited to excessive soil tillage, use of heavy farm machinery, monoculture cropping, and unabated use of chemical inputs. Soil degradation in agricultural land is largely the result of prevailing (Conventional) agricultural practices and associated environmental implications. The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) estimates that human-induced soil degradation affects 34% of all agricultural lands which has far-reaching implications for food security as 95% of human food is produced directly or indirectly on soils.

The prevailing conventional agriculture system is at odds with several sustainable developments

goals (SDGs), whereas regenerative agriculture is aligned with SDGs in the following ways: 1, 2, 8, 12.



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