Solar Brings Long-Awaited Water to Ethiopian Farmers

A pilot project in Berbere, Ethiopia, replaced costly and unreliable petrol-powered irrigation with solar pumps, enabling farmers to shift from subsistence staple crops to high-value produce and significantly increasing their seasonal earnings.

• Solar-powered irrigation has enabled farmers in the Gebe Keku and Gora Hido villages to transition from single-season subsistence farming of maize and teff to harvesting high-value crops like onions, peppers, and cabbage three to four times per year.
• The economic impact of the solar pumps is substantial; during the April-June 2025 production season, farmers earned an average of US$709 from onions, $274 from peppers, and $77 from cabbage, which is 4 to 10 times more than their previous annual earnings from staple crops (approximately US$207).
• While solar pumps require a higher initial investment of US$19,200 compared to US$2,700 for petrol pumps, they are more cost-effective over their lifecycle due to a longer lifespan (20 years vs 10 years) and significantly lower maintenance costs (under US$10 per year vs over $1,300).
• Scaling the project beyond the initial 14 hectares and 48 households could potentially irrigate 30–142 hectares per village, supporting up to 260 farmers per site and indirectly benefiting up to 1,500 people.

APA

World Resources Institute (2026). Solar Brings Long-Awaited Water to Ethiopian Farmers. https://www.wri.org/insights/solar-transforms-farming-berbere-ethiopia

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Solar Brings Long-Awaited Water to Ethiopian Farmers. 2026. https://www.wri.org/insights/solar-transforms-farming-berbere-ethiopia.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Solar Brings Long-Awaited Water to Ethiopian Farmers |date=24 February 2026 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/solar-transforms-farming-berbere-ethiopia |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2026solar, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Solar Brings Long-Awaited Water to Ethiopian Farmers}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2026}, month = feb, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/solar-transforms-farming-berbere-ethiopia}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }