Chinese solar legacy powers Kenya's farming revolution

The well-manicured, lush vegetation at Hassan Yussuf's land in Garissa Township stands in stark contrast with the neighboring area in one of Kenya's arid lands.

Compared with the cracked, dry soil left by months without rain, the mix of orchard, fodder and vegetable crops on his 6-hectare farm in Galbet ward — just 7 kilometers from northern Kenya's main town — offers a refreshing oasis under the scorching sun.

Through solar-powered irrigation, the farm on the banks of the River Tana has transformed harsh climatic challenges into an opportunity, boosting food security for the marginalized community.

"Garissa is a gold mine for fresh produce — everything I grow flies off the shelves," said Yussuf, an enterprising farmer who cultivates mangoes and papayas, among others.

His secret lies not only in what he grows, but in how he grows it — pairing drip irrigation with mulching and powering the system with solar pumps instead of costly diesel engines, ensuring every drop from Kenya's longest river is put to use.

The farm, once a patch of barren land, now hums with activity. Young men harvesting vegetables for the local market and baling fodder for livestock keepers, as traders flock to the farm to get fresh produce.

"This area was known for hunger and relief food queues," he says, smiling as he gestures toward rows of green vegetables. "Now we are capable of producing fresh food even in the dry season."

The solar revolution in Galbet and other regions of Garissa was boosted in 2019 when a 50-megawatt solar power plant — the largest of its kind in East Africa, which Chinese engineers built — was commissioned on the outskirts of Garissa as part of Kenya's broader strategy to diversify its energy sources and advance rural electrification in marginalized areas.

Other than addressing the frequent power outages, the operation of the massive grid that mainly feeds into the national electricity network has demonstrated the viability of large-scale solar plants and spurred local farmers to adopt their own panels for irrigation.

"When you have the largest solar plant in East Africa right in your backyard, you stop doubting the sun," Yussuf said. "People here saw it could power thousands of homes and decided to power their farms too."

The power plant replaced the expensive and unreliable diesel with clean energy, enough to supply about 70,000 households.

With the support of other development partners and in their own initiatives, farmers across Galbet and neighboring communities have today pieced together their irrigation systems to tap into renewable potential.

However, with the growing complexity of solar technology and the desire to expand beyond basic pumping, many farmers are now appealing to the government to consider engaging Chinese investors to develop community-scale solar-powered irrigation hubs, offer training, and introduce energy storage solutions to cut postharvest losses and keep the produce fresh for longer.

Helping hand

Yussuf, who is also the founder of Garissa Farmers Network Cooperative, termed it unfortunate that only 10 out of 150 farm groups practice green energy farming.

"We have shown we can grow food here. What we need now is technical training, how to maintain larger systems, store power and maybe even sell surplus energy like the big plant does. The Chinese who built the Garissa station could help us take this to the next step," he said.

For Abdul Latiff, despite his farm being just 4 km along the banks of the River Tana, he says he is unable to pump the water from the river to his adjacent 10-hectare piece of land.

"It's painful to watch the river flow past while my crops wither," Latiff says. "Without affordable solar pumps or support to tap this water, the land will just remain a desert."

Mohamed Sheikh Hassan, an agriculture officer of Garissa Township, said less than 5 percent of farmers in his county use solar despite the untapped solar bounty.

"There is a huge potential for arid land farming along the areas like Fafi, Balambala, Garissa Township, Lagdera, Masalani and parts of Ijara," he said.

The county has written proposals to international organizations such as the World Food Programme to strengthen their capacity and scale up the utilization of solar farming.

"We are also exploring opportunities to work hand in hand with Chinese experts to expand solar farming in Garissa for our farmers to cut reliance on fossil fuels and fully harness this untapped resource," he said.

The withdrawal of the Sustainable, Transformational and Accessible Water Interventions project, funded by the US Agency for International Development, caused a major setback for more than 200 beneficiaries before it could be completed, he said.

To reduce postharvest losses, he said the completion of the Garissa Industrial Park will include cold storage facilities and is expected to enable local farmers to add value to crops such as tomatoes, lemons and rice.

"This initiative seeks to transform Garissa's image from a climate-vulnerable county into a hub of innovation in arid land farming — demonstrating that even the desert can bloom," he said.