Scaling Innovation at the Energy-Agriculture Nexus in East Africa - Sectoral Business Condition Brief

This sectoral business condition brief examines the role of clean and renewable energy technologies in strengthening agricultural productivity and sustainability in East Africa, with particular relevance for Kenya and Uganda. It outlines how energy is essential across agricultural production, processing, storage and value chains, while highlighting the potential of decentralised renewable technologies to improve food security, reduce costs, and lower greenhouse gas emissions. The document draws on desk research and interviews with enterprises, policy actors, financiers and researchers to identify current innovation trends, barriers to scaling solutions, and the institutional ecosystem supporting the sector. Key challenges include high technology costs, limited finance, weak policy incentives and low awareness among farmers.