Solar-powered cold storage empowers smallholder farmers

The effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels and hotter global temperatures, are already having drastic impact on many communities, especially the rural, agricultural regions of countries such as Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Mozambique. Earthrise explores how people in these communities are learning new skills, implementing new techniques, and are striving in every way possible to adapt to these environmental changes while creating hope for sustainable growth in the future.

As populations urbanize and the disparity between city and country grows, farmers in Japan are facing increasing economic challenges and a shortage of new farmers to work the land. But a new scheme may help farms to be more profitable by creatively doubling the productivity of their land. New projects allow farmers to grow produce or graze livestock beneath large swaths of solar panels, generating income from both energy sold to the grid as well as more traditional agricultural means.

Skagway Brewing Company built an aeroponic farm inside their brewpub to grow fresh lettuce year-round, successfully meeting the restaurant's full weekly demand and capturing brewing CO2 to boost yields.

Solar-powered irrigation systems are helping Nigerian smallholder farmers reduce fuel costs by over 60%, extend their growing seasons, and increase crop yields, while also improving local air quality and reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.

Sack farming—growing crops in soil-filled recycled bags within household compounds—has enabled farmers in Kwara State, Nigeria, to overcome climate challenges by producing vegetables and tubers that significantly reduce household food expenses, generate supplementary income from excess harvests, and provide up to 80% crop success rates.

The Nigerian Conservation Foundation donated two solar-powered freezers (and a private business investment in additional solar freezers) to the off-grid coastal community of Ayetoro. Now, affordable and sustainable alternatives to the (previously generator-powered) cold storage can meet the community's needs to preserve fish and reducing post-harvest losses.

Federal funding helped local food producers expand their operations to include processing plants which enables farmers to meet the demand of Montanans who sought an alternative to the empty grocery store shelves. The lack of processing plants has caused a bottleneck in the local food supply chain, a sore point which was amplified when the pandemic disrupted international supply chains, sending shoppers to their neighborhood farms. Small operators rarely have their own processing plants and must outsource that step in order to take their products to market.

Solar energy has provided an affordable and efficient source of energy to rural farmers in Argentina, who live too far off the electrical grid and have traditionally relied on powerful diesel-fueled water pumps. Solar panels have reduced carbon emissions, eliminated the need for expensive diesel fuel, as well as the hassle of transporting it to the countryside - often over rough roads. The initial investment in solar panels is recouped in a short amount of time and has resulted in a drastic reduction in water consumption.

High tech innovations are making agriculture more productive while creating skilled jobs. In Ghana, tech startups like Acquah Aviation and TROTRO Tractor offer technology-sharing services to farmers. With urbanization leading to a loss in farm-labor supply across sub-Saharan Africa, the drones and tractors help to boost productivity through mechanization, while supportive infrastructure for these services offers opportunities for high skill employment.

Entrepreneurs in the Navajo Nation face unique challenges finding talent and funding. One business struggling is the North Leupp Family Farm, which grows healthy food and employees local people. The Native American Business Incubator Network helped the farm grow by overcoming some of these challenges. This is part of a broader effort to create jobs and help young people stay in the region.