U.S-based global energy services firm Sunnova Energy International has partnered with non-profit organization Seeding Mercy to provide energy access to rural farmers in South Sudan through off-grid solar powered irrigation pump systems.
The two companies are providing farmers in Aweil, South Sudan with portable solar systems and irrigation pumps together with transportation assistance as well as farming tools and land to 1,000 farmers.
The aim of the solar-powered irrigation systems project is to improve food security and empower communities while paving the way for the deployment of decentralized and sustainable energy systems to boost access to energy in South Sudan.
Aken Tong, CEO of Seeding Mercy, states “By harnessing clean and renewable energy, we have reduced our dependency on scarcely available fossil fuels and have also ensured sustainable irrigation practices, even in remote regions—the first of its kind to be deployed in South Sudan.”
The projects are being deployed on 10,000 acres of land awarded by the South Sudanese government and which Sunnova Energy has divided into two 5,000-acre farms for distribution to local farmers.