KickStart and its partners will focus on designing a clean energy solution with the farmer in mind—a high-performance yet easy to assemble, highly mobile, robust and durable unit that requires minimal maintenance. KickStart will design a foldable, flat pack solar irrigation pump that is easy for farmers to install. As Encap’s pumps are both low cost and highly efficient, they only require small solar panels. The addition of an innovative, flexible and reliable PAYG system will provide the farmer with affordable, alternative modes of payment and, by substantially de-risking the provision of credit, will attract investment from traditional lenders such as banks and microfinance institutions.

How does your innovation work?
The two financing solutions will be tested against each other and be compared with the traditional cash payment model. Results from the study will also help demonstrate the viability at scale of each financing mechanism and also how they could serve more broadly as means for breaking down barriers for asset acquisition for rural African farmers.