Seven counties partner with global agency to strengthen locally-led food and energy systems
Smart Harvest
By
Patrick Vidija
| Oct 16, 2025
A global development agency, SNV, has collaborated with some seven counties to launch a power for food partnership.
The partnership with Kakamega, Bungoma, Busia, Nandi, Uasin Gishu, Kericho, and Nakuru aims at strengthening renewable, regenerative, and resilient locally-led food systems across Kenya.
Rebecca Hallam, Country Director Kenya and Burundi, SNV said this strategic partnership is building a collaborative ecosystem that brings together communities, institutions, and enterprises across Kenya and the wider East Africa region, mobilising a movement for stronger, more integrated food and energy systems.
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According to her, in Africa, nearly 80% of the rural population is employed in agriculture, yet many remain trapped in low-productivity, uncertain systems.
She said inputs are expensive, returns remain uncertain, and access to clean energy is limited leaving rural communities vulnerable and economically constrained.
“The climate crisis is making farming harder. Most rural farmers still lack access to energy. Without energy, farmers cannot irrigate, process, or store produce,” she said in a statement, adding, “Pure technologies; solar irrigation, cold storage, agro-processing exist, but uptake remains low due to affordability, policy barriers, and infrastructure gaps.”
Ms Hallam said marginalised groups, particularly women and youth, face structural barriers in accessing land, finance, technology, and decision-making spaces.
Addressing these inequities, she said, is central to any meaningful and inclusive shift in the systems that shape people’s lives.
“The Power for Food Partnership will tackle these challenges by promoting integrated solutions that combine regenerative farming practices with renewable energy innovations,” said Ms Hallam.
Hallam said together, these solutions will improve productivity, enhance resilience, reduce emissions, and expand economic opportunities, particularly for women and youth who are often excluded from decision-making spaces.
The partnership will support the transformation of our food systems through the combined adoption of regenerative agriculture (RA) and the productive use of renewable energy (PURE).
“This partnership is an opportunity to think differently about how systems can work together, and who gets to shape them. Beyond a technical overlap, the focus on nexus points between regenerative agriculture and productive use of renewable energy, through better coordination, smarter, more inclusive investments and the primacy of stronger local leadership are vital to scaling outcomes,” she said.
Hallam argued that in a time of increasing fragmentation, values-driven partnerships like this are a way to build the kind of enabling environment that long-term, inclusive and sustainable development actually requires.
The statement further said by strengthening stakeholder engagement, supporting policy action, and building an enabling environment, the Power for Food Partnership will build a collaborative ecosystem where the opportunities and needs of farmers in RA and the needs-based approach to PURE are collectively harnessed more effectively to further a more sustainable and resilient future.
Through a systemic approach to address interconnected crises, the programme will catalyse locally led innovations such as solar-powered irrigation, regenerative soil practices, and decentralised energy for post-harvest processing.
It will also work with both the national and county governments, civil society, and the private sector to improve policy and investment conditions, while gathering evidence to inform future scale.