Farming decarbonisation
Agros is seeking to decarbonise the farmers’ whole journey, from input to market. This implies launching soil and crop management solutions such as biological fertilizer, high-quality seeds, solar milling machinery, solar cold rooms, zero-carbon certification and access to a premium marketplace. The environmental impacts could evolve to be much more as the product offerings grow. The next product Agros is launching, Agrosoil, seeks to restore degraded soil, increase yields and reduce expenses on synthetic fertilizers.
By replacing fuel-based energy consumption with a renewable energy source, the solar irrigation systems already being installed reduce carbon emissions. Based on surveys of current fuel usage for each customer, it is estimated that each solar pump will reduce on average 4 tons of CO2 emissions per year, meaning 80,000 tons of annual CO2 emissions reduction by 2026 based on 20,000 units installed. Nexus for Development is engaged to develop a carbon finance project and early calculations support the emission reduction estimation.
Improving livelihoods
Agros’ social objective is to revolutionise agriculture across Southeast Asia, offering millions of farmers the technologies, services, financing and accessibility they need to transition to long-term profitable farming. The goal is to boost income from fuel savings and extra crop cycles (additional irrigated land).
So far, more than 900 households in Myanmar and more than 100 households in Cambodia have benefited from Agros’ solar irrigation technology, with total beneficiaries reaching over 3,550. Agros’ current beneficiaries spend up to 30% of their income on fuel to enable irrigation of their crops; importantly, installation of Agros’ solar irrigation system results in monthly fuel savings of up to $45 per pump on average, with a payback period between 12-24 months.
Further, Agros has gradually improved its gender strategies to engage with women beneficiaries and plans to do more in the coming years. The company created about 20 jobs for women in one year, including sales agents to engage with women farmers.