Agriculture is the lifeblood of Uganda’s economy, the country is reputed to be among the leading producers of coffee, bananas, oil seed crops, nuts, fresh fruit and vegetables, and essential oils. However, commercial productivity is limited by reliance on conventional methods, the changing climatic conditions, and the limited use of inputs including quality seedlings, fertilizer, pesticides, and irrigation systems.
At present, only about 2% of the irrigation potential (covering 77,000 hectares of irrigated land) is utilized. Uganda’s National Irrigation Policy however, sets an ambitious target to irrigate a total of 1.5 million hectares of land by 2040 with half of the irrigation potential close to surface water resources that reduce unit cost and major infrastructure requirements.
While Uganda possesses abundant freshwater resources close to the surface suitable for a more affordable micro-irrigation solutions, previous interventions have mostly focused on much larger and costly irrigation schemes connected to the grid for large commercial farmers, and only limited intervention exists for smallholder farmers who dominate the agriculture sector and are equally facing the challenges of drought. Small-scale irrigation systems offer several benefits including flexibility, modularity, technology sharing, affordability, water efficiency and rapid returns.
The Accelerating Climate Technology Transition (ACTT) project aims to foster diffusion of nationally prioritized technologies for climate mitigation (such as energy for productive use) by generating market assessments, connecting technology providers with end-users and investors and generating concepts, and financing models relevant for increasing uptake and investment into specific ‘ready to market’ climate technology solutions.
On this background, this consultancy aims to accelerate investments by building capacity with end-users and solution providers, connecting them to relevant investors and to promote partnership for policy uptake and continuation.
The Business and Finance Expert will work in close coordination with a Technical Expert.
Activities:
- Coordinate and collaborate through regular recurrent meetings with technical expert for market assessment being hired for the project under a separate ToR.
- Map existing SIP providers and consult with them about challenges in expanding the market and reaching end-users, including financial barriers, examples of best cases as well as map SIP providers project portfolios and investment needs.
- Consult selected potential end-users to map appetite for SIP and investment barriers.
- Identify potential sites for implementation of solar powered irrigation systems and conduct economic feasibility assessment of identified sites.
- Map existing solar irrigation financiers – their instruments and terms, as well as assess barriers to investments in SIP, and/or disbursement of existing funds.
- Conduct bilateral meetings and/or workshop(s) with potential financiers including private financial institutions, credit unions and development finance institutions and SPIS suppliers to identify specific matchmaking potential with existing financial offers and instruments as well as to identify and build capacity on specific demands for data and information for investor decisions (investment criteria).
- Work with relevant stakeholders (investors and technology providers) to model a financial transaction, targeting identified needs.
- Work with relevant stakeholders to design a potential financial support mechanism based on available financial offers and instruments with potential additional support needed for achieving bankability of the investments in SIP by end-users and / or SIP providers. The support mechanism should also consider policy and regulatory options to create enabling environments for investments. i. Consult policymakers about the proposed financial support mechanism / model transaction and potential integration into national strategies, policies and regulation.
- Develop a concept note addressing needs identified through stakeholder engagements and analysis of barriers, for attracting additional finance or funding to create enabling environments for investments in SIP.
Deliverables:
1.A) Work plan specifying a detailed implementation plan for the project’s duration.
1.B) Mapping report on existing solar-powered irrigation financiers and their instruments and terms, including specification of arranged working relationships with specific stakeholders and organizations established for the project’s design and implementation.
2. Draft report on solar powered irrigation finance including but not limited to barriers facing selected SPIS financiers and limited disbursement in Uganda
3) Workshop report documenting consultations, workshops and group sessions with financiers and companies.
4.A) Final report on solar powered irrigation finance
4.B) Concept note for upscaling Inputs
The Business and Finance Expert will have access to and use the following inputs to be provided by UNEP-CCC:
- Scoping report including stakeholder mapping, and links to reports on solar irrigation pump.
- Mapping of energy transition programs and investors in Uganda including on PUE and solar irrigation programs.
- The expert will work with UNEP-CCC project staff who will provide input and reviews.
- Organisational support for webinars will be provided by UNEP-CCC.
Result of Service
- Enhanced ability of local end users and solar irrigation solution providers (companies) to engage with financiers, including enhanced capacity to pitch high quality information to investors and enhanced understanding of investor’s investment criteria.
- Better-informed investors on market size, investment ready projects and investment ready companies and pipelines.
- Better informed policymakers regarding the needed framework conditions to support uptake and diffusion of solar irrigation technologies through private markets.
- Design of financial support mechanism / modeled transaction based on identified needs to further facilitate investments in SIP.
Target beneficiaries
- Gender disaggregated end-user smallholder farmers
- Local solar irrigation solution providers (companies)
- Financiers
- Policymakers
The expert should be located in Uganda.
Application deadline: 12/12/2024
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