Press Release - Powering Agriculture: An Energy Grand Challenge for Development

[nReporter]

Today 1.4 billion people live without access to modern energy services, and this severely limits their opportunities for social and economic development. Limited access to energy particularly affects the agricultural sectors of developing countries. Increasing access to clean energy is critical to sustainably intensifying agricultural production and meeting growing global food demand.

In many locations, farmers and agribusinesses are not aware of the clean energy technologies that might increase productivity/profitability of their operations. There are few examples of proven business models. Many available technologies do not match the performance and/or price points required in emerging markets.  These constraints are compounded by a lack of available credit for distributors and interested customers of clean energy products and services.

To address these barriers, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) partnered with the Government of Sweden, Duke Energy, USDA, OPIC, and AfDB to launch Powering Agriculture: An Energy Grand Challenge for Development (PAEGC).  The PAEGC program pools over $20 million, with the goal of increasing clean energy access and supporting economic growth in the developing world through funding and support for market-based clean energy innovations for farmers and agri-businesses. 

In its first round of funding, Powering Agriculture is offering awards of between $300,000 and $1,500,000 for projects that develop innovative solutions for expanding clean energy access to farmers and agribusinesses.

To learn more about this opportunity and to find information on how to apply for funding, please visit: www.PoweringAg.org. Grant applications will be accepted from 1/15/13 to 2/6/13 5PM EST.

Source: Powering Agriculture: An Energy Grand Challenge for Development (PAEGC)