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The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with GIZ project Powering Agriculture on behalf of BMZ is happy to announce The Benefits and Risks of Solar-Powered Irrigation – a Global Overview. The report was made possible through the global initiative Powering Agriculture: An Energy Grand Challenge for Development (PAEGC) and can be downloaded via: https://poweringag.org/docs/benefits-risks-solar-powered-irrigation-overview.

SPIS offer a viable, low-tech energy solution for irrigated agriculture, providing a reliable source of energy in remote areas. Nevertheless, SPIS have a significant initial investment cost and require innovative financing models to overcome this barrier to adoption, especially for small-scale farmers.

The report provides first insights to end users, policy makers and financers into the world of solar-powered irrigation, giving a state-of-the-art overview of policies, regulations and incentives for the sustainable use of SPIS around the world. The report guides the reader through the history and evolution of SPIS until today’s challenges, using case studies from different countries to exemplify the benefits and risks of solar-powered irrigation.