Challenge
Many farmers, especially in Uganda, face challenges with low productivity, and quality due to reliance on rainfall. Additionally, Farmers lack awareness of long-term benefits and cost savings of solar irrigation solutions, which prevents scaling of productivity-boosting technologies. The majority of smallholders, who use irrigation, use diesel pumps that have a low initial cost but higher operating costs that deplete farmer margins and income potential in the long term. But even smallholder farmers that are aware of solar water pump technology typically cannot afford these systems, because of the significant upfront cost and lack of financing from formal financial institutions.
Solution
Tulima Solar provides access to affordable and modern farm equipment by offering farmers financing to acquire solar-powered water pumps for irrigation. Their approach focuses on mutually beneficial partnerships, consumer finance, and after-sales service:
- Partnerships with key value chain players in training and education including installation of demo sites, marketing events and distribution.
- Financing to cover prohibitive upfront costs by offering 22-month financing to provide an affordable, complete solution.
- After-sales customer service, technical support and 2- year warranty to farmers
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