Cuba endured several prolonged, nationwide power outages in 2024, a result of its aging fossil fuel-based energy infrastructure. While media coverage has focused on the pitch-black metropolises, rural communities also suffered severe consequences.
Small-scale farmers need energy for everything from irrigating their land to safely storing their harvested produce. Without it, agriculture is less productive and post-harvest losses can be significant, slashing their incomes and food security.
But along the island nation’s eastern coastline, a clean energy transition is brewing. By turning to solar panels, small-scale farmers here are standing strong in the face of recurring crises – and protecting the planet we all depend on.
Shining a light
Martha and her husband grow aubergines, plantains, tomatoes and other crops in Holguín Province. Like other small-scale farmers, they have been reckoning with the impacts of climate change. Long dry seasons are normal in this part of Cuba, but the climate has become more extreme, and droughts are increasingly frequent.
The changing conditions make it especially important for Martha to have a reliable source of electricity – something that has not been easy to come by lately.
But Martha has been able to protect her crops thanks to new solar panels, which convert sunlight into clean, reliable electricity. Supported by the China-IFAD SSTC Facility, the Gibara Verde X Ciento project provided the panels to Martha and other farmers like her.
When rainfall is sparse, Martha can depend on her solar panels for the energy she needs to pump water and irrigate her field. Despite ongoing issues with the national power grid, Martha’s production has continued.
“We have a deficit of electricity,” says Martha. “But this modern system helps us ensure irrigation, and irrigation is key to ensuring production.”
Powering sustainable growth
Close to 760 million people around the globe still live without electricity, most of them in rural areas. Many small-scale farmers still rely on burning biomass such as wood, charcoal and animal dung to fill this energy gap, contributing to environmental degradation and climate change.
Clean energy sources offer an alternative. And as Martha has shown, decarbonizing our food systems doesn’t just benefit the planet. By making farming more efficient and sustainable, it can also boost productivity and transform rural economies.
As climate change heightens the energy needs of small-scale farmers, clean energy can restore the agricultural strength of communities in Cuba and around the world.
“This is a region that was once considered the breadbasket of Cuba, but climate variability has significantly impacted crop yields, leading many people to stop planting certain crops altogether,” says Robert Leyva, head of the UEICA-H Basic Grains Research Department.
With local production currently insufficient to meet demand, Cuba imports up to 80 per cent of its food. But if its rural communities continue the transition to clean energy, this could change.
Renewable energy can transform rural areas by boosting agriculture, raising livelihoods and improving public health. It’s also gratifying to small-scale farmers like Martha, who have found a way to bring light into their communities even when the power grid goes dark.
“We are convinced that using something natural, like solar panels, which convert sunlight into the electricity we use, helps us and benefits us,” says Martha. “This has brought us some joy.”
