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Although development organizations agree that reliable access to energy and energy services-one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals-is likely to have profound and perhaps disproportionate impacts on women, few studies have directly empirically estimated the impact of energy access on women's empowerment. This is a result of both a relative dearth of energy access evaluations in general and a lack of clarity on how to quantify gender impacts of development projects. Here we present an evaluation of the impacts of the Solar Market Garden-a distributed photovoltaic irrigation project-on the level and structure of women's empowerment in Benin, West Africa. We use a quasi-experimental design (matched-pair villages) to estimate changes in empowerment for project beneficiaries after one year of Solar Market Garden production relative to non-beneficiaries in both treatment and comparison villages (n = 771). To create an empowerment metric, we constructed a set of general questions based on existing theories of empowerment, and then used latent variable analysis to understand the underlying structure of empowerment locally. We repeated this analysis at follow-up to understand whether the structure of empowerment had changed over time, and then measured changes in both the levels and likelihood of empowerment over time. We show that the Solar Market Garden significantly positively impacted women's empowerment, particularly through the domain of economic independence. In addition to providing rigorous evidence for the impact of a rural renewable energy project on women's empowerment, our work lays out a methodology that can be used in the future to benchmark the gender impacts of energy projects.

To examine the impacts of a Solar Market Garden 1-year solar-powered drip irrigation (SMG) programme in Kalalé district of northern Benin on mothers' nutritional status and micronutrient levels. Using a quasi-experimental design, sixteen villages were assigned to four groups: (i) SMG women's groups (WG); (ii) comparison WG; (iii) SMG non-WG (NWG); and (iv) comparison NWG. Difference-in-differences (DID) estimates were used to assess impacts on mothers' food consumption, diversity, BMI, prevalence of underweight (BMI < 18·5 kg/m2) and anaemia, and deficiencies of iron (ID) and vitamin A (VAD). Kalalé district, northern Benin. Non-pregnant mothers aged 15-49 years (n 1737). The SMG programme significantly increased mothers' intake of vegetables (DID = 25·31 percentage points (pp); P < 0·01), dietary diversity (DID = 0·74; P < 0·01) and marginally increased their intake of flesh foods (DID = 10·14 pp; P < 0·1). Mean BMI was significantly increased among SMG WG compared with the other three groups (DID = 0·44 kg/m2; P < 0·05). The SMG programme also significantly decreased the prevalence of anaemia (DID = 12·86 pp; P < 0·01) but no impacts were found for the prevalence of underweight, ID and VAD. Improving mothers' dietary intake and anaemia prevalence supports the need to integrate gender-based agriculture to improve nutritional status. However, it may take more than a year, and additional nutrition and health programmes, to impact the prevalence of maternal underweight, ID and VAD.

Launaea sarmentosa (Willd.) Sch. Bip ex Kunze (Asteracaeae) is a littoral sand dune herb found in the Indian Ocean region, used as a folk medicine and as a savory vegetable in Thailand. It is in the transition stage from a kitchen & cottage industry to a commercial proposition. Rapid light curves to measure the photosynthetic electron transport rate (ETR) were conducted on the plants over the course of daylight from 6:00 to 18:00 using a PAM fluorometer on plants grown under 50% (nominal) green horticultural and 20% black (nominal) shade cloth and in the open. Plants grown in the open were sun plants. Eopt (µmol photon m−2 s−1) decreased slightly under shade cloth (open air: 890 > green shade cloth, 778 > green shade cloth, 713). Launaea shows limited shade adaptation. ETR decreased under shade cloth on both a surface area and Chl a basis (µmol e− g Chl a−1 s−1) [open air: 388 > (green shade cloth, 209 = black shade cloth, 263)]. Maximum non-photochemical quenching (NPQmax) was significantly decreased under black shade cloth [(open air: 1.02 = green shade cloth, 0.969) > black shade cloth, 0.694]. ETR showed midday inhibition (9:00–15:00) when irradiance exceeded the Eopt of Launaea. Daily total photosynthetic electron transport was (mmol e− m−2 d−1): open air, 1890 ± 157; green shade cloth, 1620 ± 203, black shade cloth, 1217 ± 143. Green shade cloth has no effect on total daily photosynthetic electron transport of Launaea but offers some protection from desiccation and excessive evapotranspiration. Waterlogging decreases ETR by about 40%. Launaea can be grown watered with brackish (½ seawater) water unlike many other vegetables. Launeae is a physiologically undemanding cottage industry/market garden crop suitable for sandy coastline fishing communities.

Agriculture in Burkina Faso employs over 80% of the workforce and contributes 35% to GDP. Yet, it faces challenges like seasonal farming, limited technology, and food insecurity, with 2.7 million people still affected by hunger. Solar Water Pumping Systems (SWPSs), increasingly supported by the government and institutions, offer a sustainable solution to improve water access, reduce labour, and empower women. However, their real impact on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) remains under-evaluated. This study assessed the technical and economic performance of SWPSs across four types of market gardening sites (A–D), ranging from small-scale individual farms to large-scale community installations. Technical design and PVSyst simulations were used to size systems, while economic analysis evaluated investment costs, payback periods, and Net Present Value (NPV). SWPS capacity needs ranged from 0.55 to 7.7 kW, increasing with farm size. Type A (small individual farms) required the lowest investment but delivered quick returns (NPV: $9339; payback: 9 months), making them ideal for women with limited capital. Type B farms showed higher NPVs ($21,231), supporting women’s empowerment through larger returns. Community farms (types C and D) required higher CAPEX (up to $16,741) but offered long-term benefits like enhanced food and energy access. SWPSs prove effective in boosting productivity, empowering women, and advancing SDGs (notably SDGs 2, 5, 7, and 8). To maximize impact, tailored engineering, inclusive financing, and strong policy support are critical to scale these solutions in resource-limited contexts.

Background and objectives: Developing a sustainable agricultural system to improve the nutritional status of children is a challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa where irrigation is labor intensive and crops are rainfed. The objective of this study was to evaluate how Solar Market Gardens (SMGs), a labor-saving solar power drip irrigation system at the village level, impacts the nutritional status of chidren. Methods: The study was conducted in 8 intervention villages and 8 control villages using traditional hand-irrigation. Baseline and 1-year follow-up data were obtained for the same child (12-59 months of age) per household from 134 randomly-sampled control village households (C-H), 126 control village women group households (C-WG), 229 randomly sampled intervention village households using traditional irrigation (I-H) and 185 intervention village women's group households with SGMs (I-WG). Anthropometric measures and blood samples were collected to determine the impact of the SMGs on child growth, iron and vitamin A status by determining the impact estimate (IE) using difference-in-difference analysis. Results: At baseline, children were 22.2 +/- 12.4 months of age, 23% were underweight, 36% were classified as stunted and 12.1% with wasting. Low hemoglobin concentrations (< 11g/L) were present in 80%, and 27.2% had a serum retinol < 0.70 mol/L. For all children, the I-WG households had a significant increase (p<0.05) in hemoglobin (IE 0.32) and weight-for-age z-scores (WAZ, IE 0.31) compared with all households, and a slight increase (p<0.10) for serum retinol (using RBP) compared with I-H. For children < 36 months of age at baseline, children from I-WG had a significant increase (p<0.01) for their WAZ (IE 0.44) and their height-for-age z-score (HAZ, IE 0.47) compared with all groups, and a slight increase (p<0.10) in their weight-for-height z-scores (WHZ, IE 0.41) compared with all groups and for serum retinol compared with I-H (IE 0.10). Conclusions: SMGs appeared to have significantly supported the nutritional status of children in year 1 of the intervention. However, more time may be needed to obtain the full impact of SMGs. Measures of increased crop production, food security, income, and women's empowerment are potential mechanisms for the improved nutritional status.