Little SunAgriculture

Lack of access to energy locks people into poverty and malnutrition. In Ethiopia, an estimated 40% of crops are lost after harvest because they spoil without access to refrigeration.

Little Sun pilots new approaches using solar technology for agriculture. Our goal is to increase farmers’ income by increasing yields and sales, and help communities to meet the nutritional and livelihood needs of growing populations. 

Senegal

In Senegal, we are introducing solar power into post-harvest crop processing, beginning with millet, a key staple crop. Senegalese farmers either processed millet by hand, which is labor and time-consuming, or using diesel-powered mills, which is expensive and polluting. Little Sun is bringing solar powered millet milling directly to rural communities so that farmers – primarily women farmers – can mill their crops locally, at low cost, and with no environmental impact.   We are working with local communities to use the surplus energy generated in the off-season to help meet other community needs, such as for phone charging and refrigeration.

As a complement to solar powered milling, we are also introducing solar food dryers that allow farmers to preserve cereals, mangoes, bananas, and other vegetables and fruit – which means no energy costs and fewer carbon emissions. We’re organizing workshops to provide women farmers with critical market information so they can take advantage of new opportunities, anticipate potential challenges, and get a fairer price for their products. 

We are also working with farmers to install solar powered water pumps and taps so that farmers can irrigate crops. 

Zambia 

In Zambia, working with women farmer groups, we are piloting the use of solar powered  containers that cool raw milk quickly and maintain it until it can be sold. These innovative solar powered milk cooling containers allow farmers to establish climate-friendly, sustainable milk collection centers closer to their farms. This helps them sell up to 80% more raw milk because the milk does not spoil before it gets to market. This means less food wasted, more income for farmers, and more time that women can spend on other activities.

Burkina Faso 

In Burkina Faso, we are piloting solar powered egg incubators so farmers can increase hatching rates for baby chicks – dramatically boosting farmer incomes and adding to regional food security.

Burundi 

With our partner the One Acre Fund, Little Sun is piloting a new approach to maize milling using solar power.

A women in Zimbabwe with a Little Sun solar lamp harvesting food
A woman in Africa carrying wood and food to her community