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Uganda
Innovative Agricultural Cross-Subsidised Financing of Access to Clean Energy and Sustainable Cooling with Smart Agri-Centres in Uganda
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
In an EnergyCatalyst7 project, SVRG with Ugandan partners developed a game-changing approach to rural energy-access, economic-empowerment and agricultural-productivity. The SmartAgri-Centre(SAC) combines a50kW centralised solar-power plant with an integrated set of community productive use and agri-value-addition services, in a large central community hub. Feedback from the local community shows the social impact the Centre has brought, including improved environment, knowledge of farming practices, income, savings and positive impact on family life and education. In the first year of operation, analysis showed that the SAC services helped farmers quadruple average annual earnings (up from $800 to $3100), increase yields across a variety of crops, and reduce input costs by 30%. Across the community, in that year, the centre generated additional value of $211,500. GESI impacts were also apparent: the majority of the 110members of the newly-formed agricultural cooperative are women, and female farmers reported positive impacts from the SAC. 40% of Co-op board members, and 40% of the business committee are female. The SAC is designed to address specific priorities and needs of a community, so each is subtly different. But the average cost to SVRG and partners of providing the infrastructure, and years of community support/training is around$250,000. The data we have collected suggests that communities should be able to afford to repay this cost in less than 2 years from their increased earnings. Our challenge in scaling this solution is to determine the best business model and community engagement strategy for the community to be able to repay the costs of providing the SAC from their agricultural income. According to the data we have collected, the community earns enough to repay the costs in under 2 years. However, the mechanism for this is far from obvious. Individual farmers in these communities are highly risk-averse (as well as lacking financial skills and creditworthiness). Entering into contractual arrangements with 100+ separate farmers to ensure repayment would be unworkable. Alternative models (operating the centres ourselves and collecting revenues and taking a cut of agricultural earnings as a "benign middleman", or establishing/empowering a community cooperative to do the same, have other risk factors and disadvantages). In this project, SVRG and partners will construct and operate 6 of the SACs in new communities, trialling different business/repayment models, to establish the ones that will allow us to scale the roll-out of the technology to rural communities with the highest amount of success, impact and commercial return.
ACE DELIVERS: Distribution of Energy to the Last-Mile through an Inclusive Value-Chain Ensuring Responsible Services
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
African Clean Energy (ACE), in collaboration with The Challenges Group, seek to establish a scalable, decentralised and digitised distribution model for transitioning households from harmful charcoal usage to sustainable local fuel options. ACE has demonstrable demand for its sustainable briquettes, however, the existing method of ordering and delivering fuels through local agents becomes impractical and unsustainable as ACE expands its geographical market penetration. This project will demonstrate the advantages of developing an inclusive approach to reconfiguring and incentivising Uganda's current physical infrastructure -- including local retailers serving as satellite suppliers, and motorcycle riders -- to promote efficient and cost effective decentralised last-mile delivery. By then overlaying this infrastructure with a digital framework, the approach will enhance access to affordable sustainable cooking options. This will, in large part, be accomplished by further enhancing ACE's proprietary app, ACE Connect. The project's innovativeness revolves around the following three components: 1. Digital Technology: Inspired by companies like Jumia Foods, ACE will utilise digital technology to engage and incentivise decentralised distribution value chain players and drive the transition to sustainable energy. 2. Hybrid Finance Model: ACE will implement a hybrid finance model that utilizes measured carbon offset revenue and scalable digital systems. By utilising digital tools to measure, collect, and monetise impact data, the project aims to disrupt existing practices by introducing positive incentives and commercial operations that consider both the "ability to pay" of end consumers and the "willingness to pay" of Carbon Offset Buyers.This approach aims to alleviate the financial burden on the poorest households while ensuring their active engagement in the project. 3. Value Chain Replication: The project will ensure replication the innovative decentralised and digitised value chain approach in different contexts (including humanitarian, development and conservation) through partnerships with third parties. This strategy enables scalability and financial viability in multiple locations, promoting sustainable growth. Given 92% of energy consumed in Uganda comes from biomass, primarily charcoal, used for home cooking, this project is extremely timely. Uganda has experienced a significant loss in tree cover due to charcoal production, prompting recent executive orders to ban charcoal production in Northern Uganda. ACE's responsible approach to catalysing a just transition from the charcoal value chain will have a lasting impact on affordable, reliable and low carbon energy access in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond.
Use of Unmanned Aerial vehicles (Medical Drones) to Support Differentiated Service Delivery Models for Elimination of HIV in Uganda
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
Context of Aims & Objectives: Fishing populations living on islands struggle to get their HIV medication and other medications, they have to travel long distances by boat to the closest health facility. Small unmanned aircraft (medical drones) are being tested in Africa for delivering medication and other medical supplies in areas where there are long distances to health centres or limited road transport. This research study hopes to compare the use of small unmanned aircraft (medical drones) to deliver medicines to people living with HIV in an island district in Uganda (Kalangala) that consists of 84 islands. We aim to see if delivering medicines by this method helps people to better manage their HIV. This will be measured by looking at the level of HIV in their blood (viral load) which gives an indication if they are taking their medicine, reacting well to their medicine. If we cannot detect HIV in their blood it is a good indication that they will suffer minimal health problems related to their HIV, and cannot pass it on to their sexual partners. We will also look to see whether people living with HIV are attending appointments for their HIV. We will also conduct research to see if people living with HIV and health workers are comfortable with using medical drones and what other medical uses, they think the drone could be helpful for. In addition, we will compare the financial costs of using drones versus boats. We will also look at different types of drones, including ones that look like the photography drones widely used by the public, to a large one that looks more like a small plane. We will also try a recyclable drone made mainly of cardboard. We will look at the carbon use of drones (which use batteries) compared to boats with petrol motors. b) Potential applications and benefits One may be tempted to ask why this study is needed. Aren't drones just transport vehicles like cars or boats? As long as they can travel the distance, why do we need to study them in a direct comparison? Drones are new and not widely used to carry medical goods. A key barrier to wider adoption has been the lack of rigorous data examining the impact of drones and their costs. The reason is that the real-life implementation of any intervention is almost always different than predicted. This has been the case for all kinds of medical and social interventions and is likely to be the case for medical drones. This study using rigorous methods, will allow us to document the real-world impact of drones beyond the estimations that people have used to justify medical drones so far. Over the last 12 months, we established a small medical drones pilot project in the Kalangala District. For three years before that, we collected data on patients' challenges getting to health centres and any problems in getting medication when they get there. Based on our observations of significant barriers to patients getting steady medicine supplies, we sought permission from the Ministry of Health and other authorities, including Civil Aviation Authority and the Ministry of Defence, to do a small medical drones project. To test to assess whether this kind of project is possible in this setting, we have managed to deliver HIV drugs to 99 people living with HIV by medical drone. Of these, we completed 12 months of delivery to 63 people using medical drones in September 2022. We have reached 5 islands and delivered to 17 peer support groups whose leaders have trained on safe drone drug delivery. It is now time for a more robust study. If this study shows that patients are comfortable receiving their medication by drone, or saves money, or helps the environment by using less petrol than boats, then we believe that medical drones could be used in many places around the world where it is difficult for people to get their medication. We would first try to extend the medical drones in East Africa and then move to other sites in Africa for further work.
Physics-Led Development of Brain Digital Twin Technology Using Low-Cost MRI and EEG in Sub-Saharan Africa
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
Digital twins - living, data-driven models that mirror real-world systems - are transforming engineering and medicine. A brain digital twin would enable researchers and clinicians to simulate, predict and personalise treatments for neurological diseases. However, this technology remains confined to a few elite laboratories that rely on multimillion-pound magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners and high-density electroencephalography (EEG) arrays to acquire essential in vivo data. To reconstruct a brain digital twin, for example using the virtual brain (TVB) platform, one must: 1) reconstruct the brain structural connectivity between grey matter regions (i.e. a personal connectome), 2) associate each grey matter region with a meso-scale neuronal model of its function and 3) run simulations of brain functional dynamics, optimising the simulated signal on empirical MRI data, and - when available - constrain it by EEG properties. This framework is complex and currently inaccessible to most. Our project aims to break this barrier by bringing the physics of brain digital twins to the heart of Africa. Unlike engineered systems, the brain has no blueprints. Yet, every neuronal spike, oscillating network, and macroscopic rhythm can be modelled using physics: electrodynamics, nonlinear dynamics, thermodynamics and network theory. And the instruments needed for in vivo data acquisition in humans (MRI and EEG) work on the physics principles of electromagnetism. The entire construction of a brain digital twin, therefore, has its foundations on core physics principles, translated by engineering into machines and computer simulations. By teaching and exploiting these principles, we can model the brain and develop a framework that works with minimal hardware while preserving scientific fidelity. Led jointly by investigators in the UK and Uganda, and partnered with experts in Pavia (Italy) and Marseille (France), with collaborators in Leiden (Belgium) and UK, we will: 1. Train a new generation of African and UK scientists in the physics that underpins brain activity, from single neurons to whole-brain networks; 2. Demystify and teach the physics of MRI, EEG and new low cost combination of EEG with tomographic imaging, fast neural Electrical Impedance Tomography (fnEIT), enabling local teams to build and maintain low-cost, energy-efficient data-acquisition systems; 3. Prototype ?minimum-technology? brain digital twins, using ultra-low-field MRI and portable EEG to show that accurate virtual brains can be built outside elite facilities. Utilisation of fnEIT within the brain digital twin framework will be explored too. This work directly addresses urgent health needs in Sub-Saharan Africa. Epilepsy, for example, is highly prevalent across Africa yet vastly under-diagnosed and therefore untreated. A validated brain digital twin offers a safe, affordable ?in-silico? platform to study seizures, test interventions and tailor treatment, without the prohibitive costs of conventional diagnostic workouts, including conventional neuroimaging, high-density EEG and in some cases extremely expensive stereoelectroencephalography. Beyond medicine, the project delivers capacity building and equitable research infrastructure. It strengthens African physics and engineering programmes, which in this context are tightly connected, creates open training resources, facilitates attendance to international conferences and organises a dedicated international ?School of Brain Digital Twin's Physics? in Uganda, ensuring lasting impact, long after the grant ends. By uniting cutting-edge neuroscience with fundamental physics and frugal engineering, we will democratise one of the most exciting frontiers in science and prove that world-class brain modelling needs not be limited by geography or wealth.
Global Programme on Sustainability
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
The programme supports sustainable economic growth that is both long-lasting and resilient to climate-related stressors. It does this through the integration of natural capital into decision making by governments, the private sector and financial institutions. The inability to value natural capital can undermine long-term growth and critically, the livelihoods of the poorest people dependent on ecosystems for their livelihoods. This programme directly addresses this challenge by (i) investing in data and research on natural capital; (ii) assisting countries to integrate this analysis into government policy making; and (iii) integrating this data and analysis into financial sector decision making.
Establishing and enhancing veterinary surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and use in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
This project aims to help establish effective surveillance for longer term capacity building for AMR in the terrestrial and aquatic veterinary sectors in selected LMICs, and to enhance veterinary medicines regulatory training.
Darwin Initiative
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
The Darwin Initiative is the UK’s flagship international challenge fund for biodiversity conversation and poverty reduction, established at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. The Darwin Initiative is a grant scheme working on projects that aim to slow, halt, or reverse the rates of biodiversity loss and degradation, with associated reductions in multidimensional poverty. To date, the Darwin Initiative has awarded more than £195m to over 1,280 projects in 159 countries to enhance the capability and capacity of national and local stakeholders to deliver biodiversity conservation and multidimensional poverty reduction outcomes in low and middle-income countries. More information at https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/the-darwin-initiative. This page contains information about Rounds 27 onwards. For information about Rounds 1 to 26, please see the Darwin Initiative website -https://www.darwininitiative.org.uk/
Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
Illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is a widespread and lucrative criminal activity causing major global environmental and social harm. The IWT has been estimated to be worth up to £17 billion a year. Nearly 6,000 different species of fauna and flora are impacted, with almost every country in the world playing a role in the illicit trade. The UK government is committed to tackling illegal trade of wildlife products and is a long-standing leader in efforts to eradicate the IWT. Defra manages the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund, which is a competitive grants scheme with the objective of tackling IWT and, in doing so, contributing to sustainable development in developing countries. Projects funded under the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund address one, or more, of the following themes: • Developing sustainable livelihoods to benefit people directly affected by IWT, • Strengthening law enforcement, • Ensuring effective legal frameworks, • Reducing demand for IWT products. By 2023 over £51 million has been committed to 157 projects since the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund was established in 2013. This page contains information about Rounds 7 onwards. For information about Rounds 1 to 6, please see the IWTCF website -https://iwt.challengefund.org.uk/
Grofin Africa Fund
British International Investment plc
The Fund provides finance to companies which fall above the microfinance sector and below private equity across sub-Saharan Africa
Africa Renewable Energy Fund
British International Investment plc
The Africa Renewable Energy Fund (AREF) invests in small hydro, wind, geothermal, stranded gas, and solar projects across sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa.AREF, which is managed by Berkeley Energy, is one of the first pan-African private equity funds focused on developing renewable energy infrastructure.
DI Frontier Market Energy & Carbon Fund
British International Investment plc
This is an East Africa-focused renewable energy fund.
Ascent Rift Valley Fund I
British International Investment plc
Ascent Rift Valley Fund I is the firm’s maiden fund. The fund aims to provide growth capital to small and medium-sized enterprises in Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya.
DI Frontier Market Energy & Carbon Fund
British International Investment plc
This is an East Africa-focused renewable energy fund.
Bujagali Energy Limited
British International Investment plc
Bujagali is a 250 MW Run-of-the-river hydropower plant on the Nile river in Uganda. The refinancing will lead to a reduction in Bujagali's 16% generation tariff which is estimated to lead to a 1.3% increase in output from industry and the creation of 30,000 jobs.
M-KOPA (Uganda)
British International Investment plc
Headquartered in Nairobi, M-Kopa is one of Africa?s fastest growing, pay-as-you-go solar energy companies. It currently provides off-grid energy to 500,000 low-income households in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. East Africa suffers from a poor infrastructure, which makes power inaccessible to many households, as well as unreliable and expensive. M-Kopa is a solar-powered system that gives its predominantly low-income customer base access to lighting, phone charging, radio and TV on daily mobile money payment plans that are less than the typical cost of kerosene.
The Africa Power Platform PCC
British International Investment plc
The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) is the for-profit agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). It works to stimulate the private sectors of developing economies, providing capital for investment into long-lasting and sustainable development initiatives. All profits are reinvested in further development.Its industrials and infrastructure arm, Industrial Promotion Services (IPS), works on infrastructure, agribusiness, packaging and telecommunications projects in Africa and Asia.
The Africa Power Platform PCC
British International Investment plc
The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) is the for-profit agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). It works to stimulate the private sectors of developing economies, providing capital for investment into long-lasting and sustainable development initiatives. All profits are reinvested in further development.Its industrials and infrastructure arm, Industrial Promotion Services (IPS), works on infrastructure, agribusiness, packaging and telecommunications projects in Africa and Asia.
The Africa Power Platform PCC
British International Investment plc
The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) is the for-profit agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). It works to stimulate the private sectors of developing economies, providing capital for investment into long-lasting and sustainable development initiatives. All profits are reinvested in further development.Its industrials and infrastructure arm, Industrial Promotion Services (IPS), works on infrastructure, agribusiness, packaging and telecommunications projects in Africa and Asia.
Bujagali Energy Limited
British International Investment plc
Bujagali Energy Ltd owns and operates a 250MW hydro power plant on the Nile river in Uganda. The power plant was commissioned in 2012 and supplies energy to the Ugandan electricity grid.
The Africa Power Platform PCC
British International Investment plc
The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) is the for-profit agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). It works to stimulate the private sectors of developing economies, providing capital for investment into long-lasting and sustainable development initiatives. All profits are reinvested in further development.Its industrials and infrastructure arm, Industrial Promotion Services (IPS), works on infrastructure, agribusiness, packaging and telecommunications projects in Africa and Asia.