In January 2016, The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and I WAD Ghana Limited, the private agricultural and irrigation development company, signed a Cooperative Agreement under which the two organisations will co-fund the Power Innovations in Commercial Agriculture (PICA) project. The goal of PICA is to enhance net incomes of the irrigated nucleus farm and 300 out-growers in the Sisili-Kulpawn basin through the provision of efficient alternative power systems.
Three specific objectives will be pursued to achieve this goal:
• Build infrastructure for a solar hybrid power generation system.
• Secure the provision of low cost power for irrigated farming.
• Improve productivity of smallholder out growers through application of smaller solar irrigation initiatives.
It is expected that with the generation of about 0.8MW of solar energy both IWAD’s nucleus estate and its smallholder outgrowers will have access to clean energy that significantly improves their net incomes through power cost savings up to 50%. The transfer of knowledge on modern irrigation and renewable energy is expected to enhance efficiency in energy and water use for commercial agriculture among local farmers.
The project location is Yagaba, in the Mamprugu-Moaduri district of the Northern Region of Ghana