Mama Eveline Lakot, member of the Binen Farmers Group in Amuru District, Northern Uganda.

Farmers feed Uganda, but the balance is shifting fast. Crop production has grown only about 2% annually, while population growth has outpaced it at 3.3%, widening the gap in food security. At the same time, nearly 90% of farmers still depend on manual labor to work their land.

For farming communities in Northern Uganda, these national pressures are felt daily through failed harvests and unstable incomes. Prolonged dry spells repeatedly destroyed vegetable crops, disrupting household earnings and making it difficult for families to consistently pay school fees or meet basic needs.

For Chairperson Apio Josephine and her 80-member Atek Ki Lwak Farmers Group, the constraint was not effort or land, but the sun and water, the very elements meant to sustain their crops.

“When we plant in February or March, by April, when our vegetables have grown properly, the sun comes and destroys them,” Josephine said. “In the time of harvest, we get only half of what we were supposed to get.”

Their fortunes began to shift when the group joined New Energy Nexus Uganda’s Productive Use of Renewable Energy (PURE) program.

Apio Josephine, Atek Ki Lwak Farmers Group chairperson, waters her cabbage farm using solar-powered pumps.

Working with farmers to find solutions

The PURE program helps agricultural cooperatives access solar-powered irrigation equipment through affordable financing. Alongside the equipment, farmers receive training in agronomy, business management, and cooperative savings models.

“A farmer does not earn income monthly, and that is why a different repayment model must be created for them to facilitate fair repayments,” said Joy Musiimenta, Project Officer at New Energy Nexus Uganda, in an interview with The Independent Uganda.

“With our model, a farmer can have time to produce, sell, and then repay the loan in quarterly installments.”

Joy Musiimenta, Project Officer at New Energy Nexus Uganda, greets members of the Atek Ki Lwak Farmers Group.

Together, this integrated approach helps farmers shift from reacting to the weather to planning production cycles, managing cash flow, and building resilience against climate variability.

Most participating groups also operate under the Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) model, in which members pool savings, access internal credit, and reduce dependence on external lenders. This strengthens financial resilience at the community level.

Since joining the program last year, Josephine and the Atek Ki Lwak Farmers Group now cultivate three acres of vegetables and expect to earn over UGX 3 million (US$807). With stronger relationships among members and improved yields, they are preparing to expand to seven acres next season.

“Unlike those days when the sun used to disturb us, now when the sun comes, we have our solar water pump… and we irrigate sufficiently for our crops,” Josephine said of their new equipment.

The impact is not limited to one group. In Lakang Village in Amuru District, about 100 kilometers from Nwoya, the Binen Farmers Group is experiencing similar shifts in how they farm and what they can produce.

Mama Eveline Lakot, member of the Binen Farmers Group, holds tomatoes she grew in her farm with the help of solar-powered irrigation.

The results

The Binen Farmers Group faced the same challenge on a larger scale. With 102 members, farming was once limited to small plots because water had to be carried manually, and dry seasons routinely destroyed crops.

“We used to fetch water from wells and carry it on our heads… we could only plant in a very small place,” said Mama Eveline Lakot, Member, Binen Farmers Group

The PURE program’s combination of energy access and financial coordination has shifted how farmers operate. Members now save together, borrow from group funds, and reinvest in tools and inputs that expand production.

Some, like Nyeko Micheal, have expanded their planting capacity.

“I used to plant a quarter- or a half-acre. But when I received this solar water pump… I now plant one or 2 acres,” Micheal said.

Others, like Achaa Magarete Oum, have used group savings to acquire individual pumps and scale their own farms independently.

“Now my capacity to grow has increased… I have planted 3 acres of eggplant, cabbage, and tomatoes,” said Oum

What was once largely subsistence farming is increasingly becoming coordinated, income-generating production for Oum, Micheal, and the wider group.

Nyeko Micheal, member of the Binen Farmer Groups, inspects a solar panel used to power their water pumps.

From survival to resilience

With year-round irrigation, farmers are no longer limited by seasons.

And when their production increases, their families experience immediate, positive changes. School fees are more consistently paid. Food security is improving. Families are investing in better housing and planning for the future, not merely worrying about the next harvest.

The PURE program shows what becomes possible when clean energy is designed for real economic use. By equipping farmer groups with solar irrigation systems, training, and financing pathways, New Energy Nexus Uganda is helping turn climate vulnerability into agricultural resilience.

Whether you’re in a farmers’ group looking for support in Uganda or an investor interested in backing this program, learn more about it here.

By Julius Mujuni, Country Director – New Energy Nexus Uganda

I recently had the privilege of engaging with Otto Scharmer, a global thought leader in systems change. His call to adopt a systems thinking approach was a timely reminder of the complex and interconnected nature of energy access in Africa—and a rallying call to those of us working to address it.

For decades, a persistent and troubling figure has hovered over the sector: over 600 million people across Africa still live without access to electricity. We’ve seen incredible innovation—yet the challenge remains immense and deeply systemic.

Decades of innovation are laying the foundation

At New Energy Nexus Uganda, we have worked hard to meet this challenge. Over the past decade, models like Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) have enabled households to access solar technologies for the first time, especially in off-grid rural communities.

In rural Masindi District of Western Uganda, where access to electricity is very limited, a woman holds a solar panel that lights her home.

We’ve seen the catalytic role of micro finance institutions, helping families overcome high upfront costs. And through our own Results-Based Financing (RBF) program, we’ve delivered targeted support to Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) and Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs)—trusted local actors uniquely positioned to drive last-mile distribution.

This approach is working:

• In 2023 alone, 19,200 people were connected with clean energy products and 1,117 green jobs were created.
• We’ve supported 654 entrepreneurs, 33% of whom are women.
• We partnered with over 200 CBOs and VSLAs, expanding access to solar lighting, clean cookstoves, water filters, and briquettes​.

Why a systems lens matters

Otto’s insight reminded me that energy access isn’t an isolated issue—it’s intimately tied to income, resilience, and opportunity. Even when the grid reaches rural areas, low-income families often can’t afford electricity or use it productively.

So what if we centered productive use of energy—clean energy that directly powers livelihoods? What if access to Productive Use of Renewable Energy (PUE) technologies is the answer to low income earners getting sustainable access to other off-grid energy products? What if access to PUE technologies enables increased access to health services and other health related products?

The PURE program: Energy for income and impact

That’s what we’re testing through our PURE (Productive Use of Renewable Energy) initiative. This program is designed to empower rural entrepreneurs and farmers with income-generating, solar-powered assets like irrigation systems to increase agricultural output, milling machines to process produce locally, and other small-scale tools that can boost productivity.

We believe this approach can create a self-reinforcing cycle: energy drives income, income drives further adoption of other off-grid technologies up the energy ladder, and communities become more economically and environmentally resilient.

Asiazu Farmers’ Group in the West Nile region of Uganda receiving their solar-powered irrigation kit.

Community success stories: What’s already working

Take Utopia, a faith-based organization in western Uganda. With support from New Energy Nexus, they’ve:

• Brought clean energy products to over 9,800 people
• Launched an eco-tourism hub that distributes clean energy to surrounding communities​

Or look at KISE (Kitara Community Seed for Transformation) in Hoima, which has delivered clean tech to over 1,000 households and helped families redirect energy savings toward education and health​.

These are not just stories of technology distribution. They are case studies in systems change—where energy is an enabler, not the end goal.

This solar lamp is her only source of light at night, in her home in rural Uganda.

A call to donors and funders: Help us go further

We know that unlocking Uganda’s clean energy future requires more than hardware. It requires patient, flexible capital, support for local leadership, and the willingness to fund models that may look different—but deliver a deeper, longer-term impact that leads to the growth of rural economies to tackle poverty, job creation, and inequality.

As we continue to gather evidence from our PURE pilots and deepen our partnerships with community led groups like CBOs and farmer groups, we invite funders and partners to join us in this journey. A journey that will enable us to create a business case for farmer groups and other entrepreneurs in off-grid communities to thrive and prosper as a result of running sustainable enterprises that use energy productively.

Let’s build an energy system that not only connects wires—but connects people to opportunity. Let’s go beyond access—toward income, equity, and resilience.

Learn more about New Energy Nexus Uganda.

Our award-winning model harnesses the untapped power of Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) to incubate clean energy entrepreneurs. These CBOs provide many essential services – supporting better health, education, sanitation and work for local people. Since we started operating in Uganda in 2016, we learned very quickly that these organizations have the networks, trust, and community reputation to bring new technologies, such as solar lighting, water filters, briquettes and clean energy cookstoves to rural villages.

Hundreds of entrepreneurs are part of the quiet clean energy transition taking place in Uganda’s last-mile and refugee communities. Let’s meet some of them…

New Energy Nexus is proud to be backing these entrepreneurs. Through affordable loan terms and hands-on support from our expert team on the ground, these entrepreneurs have successfully expanded their businesses, created jobs, boosted their income, and contributed to Uganda’s transition to clean energy.

Join us in bringing clean energy technologies to the heart of last mile communities. https://www.newenergynexus.com/

Woman in rural Uganda using a solar-powered lamp

International Women’s Day is a time to celebrate the achievements of women and to recognize the challenges that women continue to face around the world. In Uganda, where more than 80 percent of the population lives in rural areas, the lack of access to energy is a major impediment to women’s economic and social empowerment.

Energy poverty in Uganda disproportionately affects women, who often spend hours each day collecting firewood, cooking on open fires, and using kerosene lamps for lighting. This not only puts their health at risk due to exposure to smoke and other pollutants, but it also limits their ability to participate in education, earn a living, and engage in other productive activities.

However, there are efforts underway to improve access to energy in Uganda, particularly through the use of renewable energy sources such as solar power. Distributed solar energy is particularly well-suited to rural areas because it is easy to install, low-maintenance, and does not require a connection to the national power grid. In Uganda, New Energy Nexus supports last mile clean energy entrepreneurs to deliver low cost and high quality entry-level clean energy technologies.

ENVENTURE helps women in northern Uganda to learn how to start a clean energy business.

Supporting woman entrepreneurs in Uganda’s last mile communities.

The majority of entrepreneurs we support at New Energy Nexus Uganda are women and 70% of the jobs created by our entrepreneurs are taken by women. Ultimately, the majority of these women have testified that their quality of live has improved due to access and use of these high-quality energy products in their households,, and those involved in Village Savings and Loan Schemes (VSLS) have increased their financial savings due to lower energy costs.

New Energy Nexus also teaches women entrepreneurs recordkeeping skills as part of its curriculum. We created the ENVision platform, an open-source web-based application to track inventory, sales, and orders in 2G and Edge networks for low-literate sales agents and micro-entrepreneurs. This helps women entrepreneurs to manage their sales and performance more effectively, and allows us to receive real-time product updates to help monitor and measure success. This also ensures that entrepreneurs don’t lose time and information on their businesses through cloud-based storage.

We put justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion at the heart of our work.

Efforts to improve access to energy in Uganda are still in their early stages, but the progress that has been made is encouraging. As we celebrate International Women’s Day, let us recognize the important role that access to energy plays in women’s empowerment and support the organizations and initiatives that are working to improve energy access in Uganda and the Global South. By doing so, we can help to create a more just, equitable and inclusive world for women and girls everywhere which is possible if we work with diverse clean energy entrepreneurs with a focus on women.

It’s a little known fact outside of this part of the world, that Uganda is a hotspot for entrepreneurs. My home of Uganda is brimming with an enterprising community ranked as one of the most entrepreneurial in the world. So as someone working in the climate space for 7 years, I didnt just see the climate talks in Glasgow as an opportunity to tackle climate change, but also as an opportunity for entrepreneurs to help Uganda leapfrog dirty fossil fuels and serve communities across the country with clean energy. 

This is particularly urgent for remote and marginalised communities that risk being left behind in the global clean energy transition. In Uganda, only 19% of the country’s rural communities have access to electricity, and less than 2% have access to modern cooking facilities. But rather than rely on highly centralised dirty fossil fuels, there’s an opportunity to transition directly to clean energy.

The nonprofit I work for, New Energy Nexus, helps create new markets for clean energy products in these remote areas – a model that won the Ashden Award for clean energy access at COP26.  There are several lessons we’ve learned in the last 5 years that can help scale the clean energy transition.

Firstly, access to funding in rural entrepreneurs is crucial to unlocking innovation.

Uganda’s startup scene is booming, but all too often, the benefits of clean energy don’t make it beyond the nation’s major cities or towns and the reason is often lack of access to stable funding.

For instance, if you look at the local economies in rural communities, most villages are dependent on agriculture and are exposed to its climate change-induced seasonal challenges. So if you run a shop and sell products there, you will have on average about six months of very good income and six months of very low income. And yet there are fixed costs over the whole period: you have to pay the rent and your employees. This is how easier access to funding can help an entrepreneur such as a farmer who may need to access a solar water pump for production during dry spells and rent it out to another farmer for a fee.

However, funding for such initiatives is not easily available for rural farmers or individuals because of the conditions that come with acquiring the fund with the most common one being high interest rates and collateral. 

Secondly, increasing uptake of clean energy products depends on a bottom-up approach.

In rural Uganda, community-based organisations (CBOs) provide many essential services – supporting better health, education, sanitation and work for local people. We learned very quickly that these organisations have the networks, trust, and community reputation to bring new technologies, such as solar lights, water filters, briquettes and clean energy cookstoves, to rural villages.  

Their vital social role can be leveraged to increase uptake of renewable energy through retail and advocacy. It is these CBOs that understand the buying patterns of their customers by providing credit payment facilities like installments payment, which are most favorable for customers. It is not just CBOs that can drive this change forward. 

Uganda, like much of Subsaharan Africa, is home to tens of thousands of village-level nonprofit groups like Farming Groups and SACCOs that are typically self organised and self managed to address gaps in service delivery. Working with such networks is one way an ecosystem can be built and grown from the ground up.

Finally, skills training is as important as technology and hardware.

Providing loans and hardware is only one part of the solution. Developing skills to run a business and maintain the products are an essential – though far less glamorous aspect – of the clean energy transition.

For example, we provided RFCare in the Rwenzori Highlands a US$2,000 loan to support the sale of cookstoves that create less air pollution than traditional models, as well as fuel briquettes and water filters. The loan also helped train young people in cookstove manufacture and repair and so far, the CBO has sold 1,800 stoves.

Entities like RFCare are staffed by passionate young people who are now exposed, more than ever, to the increasing innovation we see around today. If they are equipped with the technical or business expertise of running a clean energy enterprise, they are able to serve growing populations with solutions that fulfill our energy demands. 

Tackling climate change in Uganda provides essential lessons on how the continent can scale climate action, while also increasing access to clean energy products. Entrepreneurs are weighting in the wings – they just need the funding and the skills.  Local governments and funders must throw their weight behind supporting and scaling small and medium-sized clean energy businesses before it’s too late.

Marvin Tumusiime is the New Energy Nexus Uganda, Abundance Team Manager. This article was first published in Business Daily Africa as an op-ed.