The Distributed Renewable Energy Ecosystem Model (DREEM) Partners Conference 2025 brought together more than 100 stakeholders from Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania to chart a shared path for sustainable agricultural transformation powered by clean energy. This gathering built on the momentum of the DREEM Hub program, launched in March 2025 by the Mott Foundation and KCIC, which seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by promoting the adoption of solar energy for productive use in key agricultural value chains. Beyond clean energy adoption, the program also focuses on enhancing community livelihoods through youth- and women-led agrisolar entrepreneurship, skills development, innovative financing, and improved market access. Against this backdrop, the July 9–10 conference in Nairobi centered on scaling the use of solar energy in agriculture under the theme “Unlocking the Full Potential of Productive Use of Energy (PUSE) for Sustainable Agricultural Transformation in the EAC Region.”
Policymakers, private-sector leaders, development partners, and farmer cooperatives gathered to discuss not just the deployment of solar technologies but also the building of ecosystems that make the productive use of solar energy (PUSE) sustainable. Organized by the Kenya Climate Innovation Center (KCIC) in collaboration with Heifer International Uganda and WWF Tanzania, the event aimed to strengthen cross-country collaboration for energy-smart agricultural systems.
Key Stakeholder Insights
Opening the conference, KCIC CEO Joseph Murabula emphasized that unlocking PUSE’s potential requires deliberate ecosystem-building. Since the March 2025 launch of DREEM Hub Kenya, the first cohort call for applications, rolled out on 4th April 2025, received 174 submissions. Following physical due diligence, 23 cooperatives and farmer groups representing more than 5,234 farmers were onboarded. Murabula highlighted KCIC’s “hub-and-spoke” model, which integrates finance, policy, skills development, and market access under one unified framework.
Samuel Booth Passmore from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation shared insights from the foundation’s decade-long investment in East Africa’s clean energy sector. Through its energy access program, Mott has helped leverage $25 million by 2025, supporting over 200 local enterprises and improving energy access for more than one million people across the region. Passmore emphasized the importance of building resilient local ecosystems that can endure beyond donor cycles.
Real-World Innovations Highlighted
The conference wasn’t just about ideas—it also showcased practical solutions. WWF Tanzania, for instance, presented a case study on solar-powered drying solutions for octopus fishing in Songo Songo Island, demonstrating how agrisolar technologies can be applied beyond farming. At the same time, a session on “Navigating Technological Complexities in PUSE Adoption” drew attention to challenges faced by dairy cooperatives, such as limited finances to invest in value addition due to high equipment costs. These discussions underscored critical gaps in usability and accessibility. As Queen L’ombaka of Techwin Limited observed, “There can be a significant difference between what we think farmers need and what they actually need. When solutions are built without grounding in real user experience, even the best technologies can struggle to gain traction.”
During the exhibition walkthrough, participants interacted with local entrepreneurs and technology providers offering products such as solar milk coolers, pumps, and hybrid dairy equipment. These innovations reinforced the event’s blend of strategy and hands-on solutions.
Sustainability and Future Outlook
A central focus was ensuring the long-term sustainability of DREEM Hubs in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Structured under a hub-and-spoke model, these hubs act as coordination centers connecting cooperatives and small enterprises with financing, technical support, and market opportunities.
Discussions explored how to secure multi-source funding from banks, impact investors, and multilateral agencies to maintain hub operations beyond the initial program cycle.
Closing Reflections
The conference closed with reflections from KCIC leadership and a collective call to action: making productive use of solar energy a cornerstone of East Africa’s agricultural future.
By bringing together public and private actors under a shared mission, the DREEM Partners Conference 2025 marked a vital step in aligning climate action with community-driven development. As stakeholders dispersed, the message was clear: East Africa’s agricultural growth story is increasingly tied to clean energy, not as a short-term initiative, but as a lasting ecosystem.
