This paper reviews the evidence available on the provision of financing for African smallholder farmers to purchase irrigation equipment such as pumps, pipes and drip irrigation systems. It sets the scene by first reviewing the literature on experiences with providing microcredit and other microfinance services as a poverty reduction strategy.

This report takes stock of the experiences with solar powered irrigation systems (SPIS) around the world. What are the real costs and benefits of SPIS compared with other technologies? What rules, regulations and policies are needed to manage the risks and realize the potential of such systems? What are viable business models?

This brief prepared for COP24, the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), highlights the sharply falling costs of solar, wind and other renewable power-generation options, along with the growing viability of energy storage technologies.

Growing shares of solar and wind power call for increasingly flexible grid operation. This report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) outlines a planning approach to boost flexibility, specifically to accommodate the largest possible shares of variable renewable (solar and wind) energy sources.