At dawn in Enugu State, a crate of tomatoes begins a race against the heat. For the woman who grew them, the harvest should mean income: school fees, wages and seed for the next planting season. But without reliable cold storage, she faces a difficult choice. Sell quickly, often at the price offered, or wait and risk watching her harvest spoil.
This is the economic cost of unreliable energy. When a farmer cannot refrigerate, irrigate or process what she produces, she loses more than electricity. She loses the opportunity to turn her harvest into a profitable business.
As 2026 enters its final quarter, the International Year of the Woman Farmer has brought welcome attention to the women sustaining Africa’s food systems. The commemoration must be more than recognition; it should prompt a more fundamental question: what would it take to turn recognition into greater economic power for women farmers?
Women are already central to Africa’s agrifood systems, which provide enormous opportunities. The Food and Agriculture Organization’s April 2026 report estimates that 76% of working women in sub-Saharan Africa are employed in agrifood systems. Closing gender gaps in productivity and wages could increase the region’s GDP by approximately US$53 billion, yet the infrastructure needed to unlock this potential remains inadequate. According to theIEA’s 2026 energy progress report, more than 560 million people in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity. Meanwhile, World Bank research published in 2025 found that 37% of locally produced food in Africa is lost in transit because of inefficient processing, inadequate infrastructure and trade barriers.
For women running agrifood enterprises, these are not abstract figures. Unreliable electricity limits production, increases operating costs and restricts access to higher-value markets.
The question is therefore not simply whether women have access to electricity but whether they have access to energy that enables them to improve production. Productive renewable energy offers a practical way forward. Solar-powered irrigation can improve yields and extend growing seasons, while refrigeration and processing equipment allow entrepreneurs to preserve produce, improve product quality and negotiate better prices.
The opportunity extends beyond increasing farm output. Reliable energy enables women to expand into processing, storage and distribution, creating businesses that capture more value locally and generate employment.
But energy alone will not achieve this. Scaling these solutions requires investment models that reflect how agrifood enterprises operate.
Women-led businesses face a persistent financing gap. World Bank research in Nigeria found loan rejection rates of 56% among women-owned businesses, compared with 17% for male-led firms, with collateral requirements among the barriers limiting access to credit. Without appropriate financing, even commercially promising enterprises cannot acquire the equipment needed to expand.
This also requires a broader investment ecosystem. Governments can integrate productive-use energy into agricultural and economic development strategies, while financial institutions design products aligned with seasonal revenues and agrifood cash flows. Development partners can use guarantees and catalytic capital to reduce investment risks and unlock private finance into commercially viable enterprises. And investors can begin to see women-led agrifood enterprises not simply as beneficiaries, but as businesses with the potential to grow, create jobs and strengthen local economies. This approach is central to the Energizing Women and Youth in Agrifood Systems (EWAS) programme, led by the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation. The three-year initiative aims to enable 17,000 jobs, particularly for young women in Nigeria and Ethiopia, by expanding access to clean-energy technologies, finance and business support.
Importantly, EWAS recognizes that access to electricity alone is insufficient. By connecting productive energy solutions with enterprise development and commercial opportunities, the programme seeks to strengthen women-led businesses and build more resilient local agrifood markets.
In Enugu State, this approach is taking shape through Manamuz’s deployment of two solar-powered cold rooms and 15 solar-irrigated greenhouses, designed to serve at least 500 young farmers, 70% of whom are women. By combining reliable energy, production, storage and market access, the project aims to reduce post-harvest losses and enable farmers to retain more value from their produce.
The model offers a pathway for similar investments across Africa. Integrating clean energy into agricultural value chains can help businesses withstand climate-related disruptions, strengthen local food supply and create new commercial opportunities.
The International Year of the Woman Farmer should therefore be a moment not only to celebrate women’s contribution to agrifood systems, but to invest in conditions that allow them to capture more of the value they create.
The woman farmer is not only a producer. She is also a processor, trader, employer and entrepreneur with the potential to build businesses that strengthen local economies. If we are serious about unlocking that potential, we need to look beyond the farm gate. Reliable energy, access to finance and business support are not simply development interventions. They are investments in women-led businesses, local economies and Africa’s productive capacity.
A crate of tomatoes should not have to become a race against time. With the right infrastructure and investment, each harvest builds a thriving business, creates jobs and retains more value in the hands of the woman who produced it.
Sarah leads the Energy and Opportunity portfolio at the Global Energy Alliance, overseeing the strategy that connects clean energy access with women’s economic opportunity across sub-Saharan Africa. She has been directly involved in shaping the Energising Women and Youth in Agri-Food Systems (EWAS) programme referenced in the piece.
