Smallholder agriculture underpins livelihoods in Kenya, with more than 70% of the rural population relying on farming as their primary source of income. Most of these farmers rely on rainfed production in an environment marked by rising temperatures, increasingly variable rainfall, and frequent economic and climate shocks. Research led by Duke University and the University of Nairobi evaluated the SunCulture model—a Kenyan social enterprise providing small-scale solar irrigation systems bundled with financing and support services.

Smallholder agriculture underpins livelihoods in Kenya, with more than 70% of the rural population relying on farming as their primary source of income. Most of these farmers rely on rainfed production in an environment marked by rising temperatures, increasingly variable rainfall, and frequent economic and climate shocks. Research led by Duke University and the University of Nairobi evaluated the SunCulture model—a Kenyan social enterprise providing small-scale solar irrigation systems bundled with financing and support services.

The study ends with three sets of implications:

This policy report aims to support policymakers and practitioners in understanding and advancing the nexus between sustainable energy transitions and social inclusion in Eastern Africa, focusing on Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. This report is grounded in existing research and enriched by the experiences of policymakers and practitioners working in diverse local contexts. It identifies critical barriers to inclusive energy transitions and energy poverty’s disproportionate impacts on women. The report also highlights emerging opportunities and key recommendations.

The global coal value chain is extensive and spans countries. Nearly 7,000 coal mines collectively produce over 8.5 billion tons of coal every year. More than 2,400 coal-fired power plants across the globe operate with a capacity of 2,175 GW. Then, there are numerous rail networks, trucks, and port terminals that constitute parts of the coal value chain. Yet in a net-zero world, this value chain will need to shrink rapidly, which could negatively impact the economies and communities that currently depend on it.

Pairing electric irrigation systems with mini-grids in communities that currently lack electricity has the potential to both increase the productivity and resilience of smallholder farms and contribute to rural electrification in Africa. This research develops a solar mini-grid irrigation viability model to assess the feasibility of such a technology setup.

Small-scale fisheries in Kenya support more than 1.5 million livelihoods but face mounting climate and market shocks that threaten food security and income stability. Research led by Duke University and the University of Nairobi evaluated the Keep IT Cool model—a private enterprise linking fishing communities around Lake Victoria and Lake Turkana to higher value markets trough solar-powered cold storage and logistics.

Fishing plays a central role in the livelihoods and food security of many rural communities in Kenya, particularly around Lake Turkana, where climate variability, spoilage of catch, and limited market access have historically constrained economic opportunities. Keep IT Cool (KIC) is a social enterprise that provides solar refrigeration and cold chain logistics for smallholder chicken farmers and fisherfolk in Kenya.

Household biogas can significantly contribute to sustainable energy transition by supporting the decarbonisation and modernization of the cooking energy sector. Nearly 450,000 household biogas plants were reported to have been installed in Nepal as of 2023. This study assesses their sustainability using large-scale household survey data combined with statistical analysis. The findings in this article inform recommendations to improve the performance and sustained use of household biogas systems in Nepal and other countries with similar geographical and socioeconomic conditions.

The authors estimate the marginal willingness to pay (WTP) for improved electricity service reliability in a nationally representative sample 1,047 grid or mini-grid connected households in Sierra Leone, using two complementary valuation approaches. Analyzing data from a discrete choice experiment, they find that, on average, households exhibit strong preferences for shorter outages; fewer daytime and evening outages, compared to nighttime outages; and prior notification, though there is heterogeneity in the relative weights ascribed to each of these attributes.

A central challenge in the global transition to cleaner energy is how governments can design policies that deliver large social benefits while facing trade-offs in energy security, fiscal costs, and household adoption frictions. The authors studied this question in urban Nepal, where cooking is dominated by imported liquid petroleum gas (LPG), but abundant hydropower makes both large-scale electrification and improved energy security feasible.