Mozambique Solar Irrigation: Solar Irrigation for the Magunde Agroforest, Mozambique

Mozambique Solar Irrigation

Solar Irrigation for the Magunde Agroforest, Mozambique

Solar irrigation in Mozambique: a system for some 200 farming families in Magunde

A collective loan organised by Light Humanity financed a solar irrigation system in 2021 for the Magunde agroforestry woodland in Mozambique. According to its page on Solar Crowd, Light Humanity's lending platform, some 200 farming families in the area have been able to grow more, and a wider variety of, crops.

  • What it is: a solar irrigation system for the Magunde agroforest (Solar Crowd spells it “Mangunde”), in a rural area of Mozambique.
  • For whom: about 200 farming families in the rural region of Magunde, according to the project page on Solar Crowd.
  • How it was paid for: with a crowdlending loan from Light Humanity; its listing is now on Solar Crowd, Light Humanity's financing platform.
  • Outcome: according to Solar Crowd, irrigation has enabled these families to diversify and increase their farm output.
  • The origins: as early as 2019, Light Humanity was bringing solar energy to Mozambique in partnership with NGOs working there.

Before the irrigation project, Light Humanity was already bringing solar energy to Mozambique

Eugenio García-Calderón Huerta created Light Humanity in December 2018 to expand access to sustainable, affordable energy, according to Energías Renovables.

  • May 2019: Light Humanity had already brought energy to more than 1,000 people between the Amazon and Mozambique (Energías Renovables, 13/05/2019).
  • How it was funded: for each purchase on its website, it provided another solar lamp to families in the Amazon and Africa (more in Solidarity Solar Store).
  • June 2020: it was helping other NGOs bring solar energy to communities in Ecuador, Mozambique, Madagascar and the Philippines, with financing for the equipment and a method for distribution and maintenance (EFEverde).
“We have worked with NGOs that were already in those places” — Eugenio García-Calderón Huerta, founder of Light Humanity, on his work in Mozambique and other countries (Blog de Lenovo, 28/01/2021)

Solar irrigation for the Magunde agroforest and its farming families

In 2021 came a different kind of project: Mozambique Solar Irrigation.

  • What for: this time solar energy was not for lighting, but for watering the Magunde agroforest, in a rural part of the country.
  • Agroforestry: it combines trees with crops and livestock. According to the FAO, it can improve growers' food security, soil health and water management.

A Light Humanity crowdlending loan paid for the Magunde irrigation system

Today, Light Humanity's crowdlending loans are published on Solar Crowd, its crowdfunding platform: energy companies from around the world post their solar projects there and the community lends them the money in return for a yield.

  • September 2021: in the same year as the Magunde irrigation project, Light Humanity presented on video its solar loans for communities that depend on fossil fuels and want to save on energy.
  • Learn more: how the platform works and what it has financed, on the Solar Crowd Investment Platform page.
Vídeo: Préstamos Solares para apoyar a comunidades locales. Light Humanity
“Solar Loans to support local communities”: the video in which Light Humanity explained its solar loans in September 2021. Video: Light Humanity (YouTube).

Kenya, La Guajira, Honduras and the Amazon: other Solar Crowd solar loans

Magunde was not the only destination for these loans. Solar Crowd has also published crowdlending loans for other Lab projects that bring solar energy to people without electricity.

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