GEA, Mastercard greenhouses target 17,000 jobs for women, youths

• One of the green houses and a participant

The Director for Powering Opportunity in Africa at the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEA), Chianda Njogu, has described the solar-powered greenhouse facility operated by MANAMUS Electric in Ugwuomu-Nike, in the Enugu East Local Government Area, as a model for modernising African agriculture.

Njogu, who led officials of GEA and the Mastercard Foundation on a site visit to the facility on Monday, said the Energising Women and Youths in Agrifood Systems (EWAS) programme was designed to create and improve jobs and livelihoods for 17,000 youth, particularly young women.

He said, “We’ve partnered the Mastercard Foundation to create and improve jobs and livelihoods for 17,000 youth, particularly young women. This is part of a larger programme called Energising Women and Youth in Agrifood Systems.

“We are working and supporting several initiatives in countries. The programme is also in Ethiopia. In Nigeria, we are working with some of our partners including RMI to support various partners such as MANAMUS Electric who we’re visiting today.

“The goal of our organisation is to bring an end to energy poverty. Ending energy poverty means not only addressing the needs of un-electrified communities through new and improved energy access but also introducing renewable energies.

The most important outcome we’re expecting to create is how to create and improve jobs and livelihoods, how to create economic prosperity for countries and communities.”

The GEA chief, who described the facility as “precision” after the tour, said the greenhouses represent modern agriculture with sustainable inputs such as bio char and rice husk to replace soil, while the cold storage and solar-powered water pump represent the future of energy.

“The community is off-grid but there’s nothing that’s lacking here. There’s power, there’s greenhouses, there’s water. And then the most important element is the people. Seeing how the greenhouses have been set up and the attention to details that the participants themselves have really brings that to life,” Njogu said.

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He noted that scaling up the initiative would require more than philanthropic funding, saying, “Scaling up will require private sector funding, investments as well as government funding. Together with the World Bank and SMAP, we have started the Centre of Excellence for Productive Use of Energy that will support the Mission 300 initiative to electrify 300 million people.”

Earlier in his remarks, co-founder and Innovation and Growth Officer of MANAMUS, Charles Aliozo, said, “The agreement we have with the government is that the state pilot is supposed to be 150 greenhouses with two cold box stores. They’ve already passed a policy that they want this project in their 260 farm estates.

“Each farming estate is made up of 200 hectares, and one per cent of every farming estate will be dedicated to the productive use of clean energy in agriculture, meaning integrated cold rooms with micro solar grid and greenhouses. It will also be youth-focused.”

The MANAMUS co-founder explained that the lease-to-own model was adopted because smallholder farmers cannot afford the N10.5m cost of a greenhouse.

A participant, Mrs. Nkoli Igbokwe, President of Donum Dei Cello Cooperative, said the programme had been impactful, noting that her cooperative was expecting its first harvest of bell peppers by the end of November.

Another participant, Mrs. Onyia Salomon, an apiculturist, said, “Being an apiculturist, we need greenhouse for the bees to get their nectars and then give us what we want. So this is a very big opportunity for me”.

The EWAS programme is supported by GEA, the Mastercard Foundation, and MANAMUS Electric.