The agricultural sector is one of the facilitators of economic growth in developing countries. This sector, however, is not independent. Energy plays a vital input across the entire agricultural value chain. Energy is required for land preparation and cultivation process. The power to drive this can be from machinery, draught animal power or human labour. Tractors(machinery) can be deployed for agricultural processes and use different attachments to till, make beds and rows, and plants. According to FAO, 65% of the power used in land preparation and cultivation was from human effort in Subsaharan Africa. Furthermore, productivity analysis also showed that 1.5 hectares could be cultivated yearly by relying on human power, 4 hectares by draught animals and over 8 hectares by deploying machinery like tractors. This shows the impact of mechanisation on farm productivity.
Water plays a crucial role in determining land productivity; drought impedes the growth of plants. However, Power is required to pump water and for irrigation which improves the productivity of crops. It involves water storage and pumping to increase productivity. The source to power the water pumping and irrigation process could be solar, wind or fossil sources. Water is needed in all the subsectors of the agricultural value chain, from livestock, poultry, fishery and crop production.
Energy also plays a role in reducing Post-harvest losses. In 2011, FAO estimated as much as 37 per cent of food produced in Sub-Saharan Africa is lost between production and consumption. Clean energy adoption presents an opportunity to reduce post-harvest losses across the agricultural sector. Energy is needed to power cooling or drying technologies required to preserve food. Energy as heat is needed in incubators and hatcheries. Increased energy access is crucial in commercial agriculture and vital in enhancing food security. Food security is important to attaining SDG 2- zero hunger by 2030 and improving the livelihood of over 8 billion people living on earth.