Productive use of renewable energy (PURE) offers the opportunity to lock in low GHG emission development pathways for rural areas of countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, improving lives and livelihoods and building resilience to future threats such as the current triple energy, food and finance shock. Standing in the way of scaling up PURE in agri-food are challenges for actors at all levels: scant knowledge of the possibilities on most sides, nascent or early-stage markets for distribution and a lack of local financing solutions. The business environment in developing countries is often volatile, with a lack of coherence in policy, and market information for business plan development is uncertain or unavailable.
Drawing on lessons learned in over two decades of experience in clean energy market development, REEEP has designed a comprehensive response to these barriers – PURE Growth: Market Development for Productive Use of Renewable Energy in Agricultural Value Chains – which brings multi-pronged support to catalyse sustainable markets for renewable energy use in agricultural value chains.
With the renewable energy community gathered in Vienna, home to REEEP’s International Secretariat, we launched this innovative new programme at the International Vienna Energy and Climate Forum (IVECF) 2023 on 3 November.
Leonore Gewessler, Federal Minister for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology of Austria, gave the keynote speech. “Austria has supported REEEP since 2003 as part of our commitment to limiting global warming in accordance with international climate goals and increasing the ability to adapt to the negative consequences of climate change. We are proud to continue our support for REEEP by funding their new PURE Growth programme,” she said.
The event highlighted REEEP’s in-depth experience in supporting innovative productive use projects in agri-food, which gives us strong insight as to the vitality and potency of productive use interventions in these developing agri-food markets. “REEEP has shifted the market conditions in Zambia in a way that redefined the role of the private sector in increasing energy access in the country as well as how the government collaborates with a range of stakeholders towards joint objectives; we simultaneously pioneered private sector delivery in the country and reached significant socio-economic impact for one million Zambians”, says Eva Kelly, CEO of REEEP.
For more information, please visit the REEEP website.