Garissa, Kenya – In the heart of Kenya’s arid north, a Chinese-built solar plant is catalyzing a shift from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture. The Garissa Solar Power Plant, East Africa’s largest, has not only stabilized the local power grid but also inspired a wave of small-scale farmers to adopt solar-powered irrigation, turning parched land into lush, productive farms.
The transformation is evident at the 6-hectare farm of Hassan Yussuf, located just 7 kilometers from Garissa Township. His land, once barren, is now a vibrant oasis of mangoes, papayas, and various vegetables, thanks to solar-powered drip irrigation. Yussuf’s success in a region known for chronic food shortages demonstrates how technology can overcome harsh climatic conditions. “Garissa is a gold mine for fresh produce—everything I grow flies off the shelves,” he says.
The 50-megawatt solar facility, commissioned in 2019, has been a game-changer. By replacing expensive and unreliable diesel generators with clean energy, it has provided power to about 70,000 households and, more importantly, demonstrated the viability of solar technology on a large scale. This has encouraged local farmers to invest in their own solar panels for irrigation, tapping into the abundant sunshine.
Despite the progress, the solar farming revolution is still in its early stages. According to Mohamed Sheikh Hassan, an agriculture officer for Garissa Township, less than 5% of farmers in the county use solar power. Many small-scale farmers, like Abdul Latiff, are still unable to afford the necessary equipment to pump water from the nearby River Tana to their fields. “It’s painful to watch the river flow past while my crops wither,” Latiff says.
To accelerate the adoption of solar farming, local leaders and farmers are seeking external support. Yussuf, who also founded the Garissa Farmers Network Cooperative, notes that only 10 out of 150 farm groups in the area have adopted green energy farming. He is appealing to the government to engage Chinese investors to develop community-scale solar hubs, offer technical training, and introduce energy storage solutions to reduce post-harvest losses.
The county government has already written proposals to international organizations like the World Food Programme and is exploring opportunities to work with Chinese experts. These initiatives, along with the planned cold storage facilities at the Garissa Industrial Park, are part of a broader strategy to transform the region from a climate-vulnerable area into a hub for arid land farming innovation. Sources
