Promoting the Autonomy of Women Entrepreneurs through the Sale of Solar Pumping Systems for Agriculture

Promoting the Autonomy of Women Entrepreneurs through the Sale of Solar Pumping Systems for Agriculture

Electriciens sans frontières
Electriciens sans frontières

Nepal, Asia

Asia
Projet soutenu Project supported in 2024: Women & Environment

Project presentation

 

In Nepal, during the dry season (November to March), female and male farmers face difficulties irrigating their fields. Solutions such as thermal pumps exist, but they consume a lot of energy and cause significant pollution. Other more manual solutions create an additional burden for women farmers, as they are usually the ones responsible for fetching water.

Electriciens sans frontières aims to make solar pumping solutions more accessible, allowing farmers to produce more in an environmentally friendly way. The distribution of irrigation systems will be carried out by the local partner organization Kalpavriksha (KGG), which runs a network of “women entrepreneurs” (called Suryamukhis) for distributing hygiene products and household equipment in rural areas.

The project also seeks to empower these women entrepreneurs by training them in the sale of renewable technology—a growing and attractive sector. Indeed, Nepali women face significant inequalities: they are rarely landowners, have lower literacy rates than men, and have limited access to training.

Electriciens sans frontières Key figures

20

women entrepreneurs will be trained to sell solar pumping installations.

Electriciens sans frontières
The association

Electriciens sans frontières is an international solidarity NGO founded in 1986. It fights inequalities in access to electricity and water worldwide and promotes economic and human development through renewable energy. To carry out its activities, the NGO relies on a large network of volunteers (1,200 in 2023). In Nepal, ESF partners with Kalpavriksha, a woman-owned company whose primary goal is to empower women through entrepreneurship.

 

In the field

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