Millions in Clean-Energy Grants Can't Scale Africa Food Systems

For climate and energy professionals, this is a case study in the gap between grant-funded demonstration and commercial deployment. Africa's food producers sit at the intersection of climate adaptation, energy access and food security, but clean energy interventions are not scaling because investors, markets and technical expertise remain fragmented. The Kigali call to action signals a shift from technology provision to ecosystem integration.

At the Africa Food Systems Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, in September 2026, the Agri-Energy Coalition issued a blunt Call to Action warning that despite millions of dollars in grants and technical assistance for African businesses to power farming and other food production activities with renewable energy, most efforts remain stuck at early stages. The coalition, which brings together global institutions working on energy, water and agriculture, argued that the core problem is not a lack of initial funding but a failure to connect early-stage projects with the investors, markets and expertise they need to grow. Climate Home News reported the warning on 18 September 2026, alongside an interview with Olamide Niyi-Afuye, CEO of the Africa Minigrid Developers Association (AMDA), a body representing private-sector developers of small electricity grids.

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Climate Home News reported the warning on 18 September 2026, alongside an interview with Olamide Niyi-Afuye, CEO of the Africa Minigrid Developers Association (AMDA), a body representing private-sector developers of small electricity grids.

The diagnosis points to a structural gap between demonstration and deployment. Grants and technical help have enabled pilot projects and proof-of-concept installations, but these interventions are not maturing into commercially viable operations. The language used by the coalition is telling: the problem is less about technology gaps and more about the absence of a functioning ecosystem. Energy, agriculture, water and nutrition actors rarely design solutions together, the coalition said, which means renewable energy projects for food systems are often developed in isolation from the food producers they are meant to serve. That siloed approach leaves mini-grid developers with under-utilised capacity and food producers without reliable, affordable power.

The potential benefits of closing this gap are substantial. According to the coalition, using more renewables, especially solar power, to drive food systems would reduce food losses, ensure year-round availability and affordability of healthy foods, and improve productivity, income and resilience among farmers, food processors and other small enterprises. In African food systems, post-harvest losses and unreliable energy access are closely linked: without cold storage, milling, irrigation and processing capacity, perishable produce is wasted and value is lost before it reaches markets. Solar power can directly address these bottlenecks, but only if it is deployed as part of an integrated agricultural strategy rather than as an isolated infrastructure project.

The interview with AMDA's Olamide Niyi-Afuye highlights the private-sector perspective. Mini-grid developers have built generation and distribution assets, but they need dependable commercial demand to make those assets financially sustainable. Food producers can provide that demand, but they in turn need access to affordable equipment, working capital and market linkages. The coalition's call to action is therefore as much a call for demand aggregation and business model innovation as it is for more clean energy. Without anchor customers, predictable revenue streams and technical support for end-users, the millions of dollars already committed via grants will continue to deliver pilots rather than scaled businesses.