Heifer International, Mott, and Hilton Foundations Launch Solar Energy Initiative for Uganda’s Agricultural Sector

Heifer International, the Mott Foundation, and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation have announced a partnership to enhance access to solar energy services in Uganda’s agricultural value chains.

The project, named the Distributed Renewable Energy Ecosystem Model (DREEM) HUB, is a three-year multistakeholder initiative (2024-2026) aimed at mobilizing a diverse network of partners to deliver skilled workforce and entrepreneurship development services, sustainable financing, and ecosystem coordination and support.

This initiative will empower 1,500 farmers and provide solar skills, jobs, and entrepreneurship development opportunities to 1,000 underserved youth and women entrepreneurs across the value chain of four dairy farmer cooperatives in the Nakaseke District. 

This will foster sustainable incomes, provide access to safe water, and strengthen resilience to climate change impacts. Additionally, the project will establish a self-sustaining DREEM Hub in Uganda to continue advancing the use of solar energy beyond the project period.

“Heifer, with the support of the Ugandan Government and the Mott Foundation, will establish the DREEM hub as a platform to enhance the implementation of existing policy mechanisms for increasing the adoption and utilization of renewable energy, thereby promoting scalability and replicability within and beyond the sector,” said Surita Sandosham, Heifer International’s President and CEO.