Jun 02 2023
SVRG is carrying this InnovateUK Energy catalyst round 9 project out together with our Ugandan partners, ApTech Africa ltd, to build on the success of our original ECR7 Pay-N-Pump innovation project. Project Overview PAY-N-PUMP is an innovative smart digital pay-as-you-go water-pumping and irrigation solution for small scale farmers in Uganda, built in a push-cart format, …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/pay-n-pump-2-0-adding-storage-to-mobile-solar-irrigation-systems/
Dec 16 2021
Every organisation has faced their difficulties continuing through COVID, with hospitality sector hit hardest. While some businesses have thrived (those offering digital services, or able to move all their work online) others have been unable to make the transition smoothly. Here at SVRG we are lucky to be able to work remotely while not travelling, …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/challenges-of-working-through-covid/
Nov 27 2021
I’m proud to report that we have set up the first Weather Net WiFi connected weather station in the whole of Uganda, allowing us to monitor the solar irradiation at our Matugga solar site and compare it to the output power of the panels. This will help us with spotting problems and evaluating the effectiveness …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/weather-reporting-from-uganda/
Nov 26 2021
Today we finished installing the main electronics for one of our Farmers Enterprise Centres in Uganda. It was a mammoth 3 days of wiring, programming batteries/inverters and fixing electronics to walls, but we did it! And it wouldn’t have been possible without our fantastic local partners, Eco-Life and Kiima Foods. Throughout the 3 days, we …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/fec-installation-team-work-and-skills-sharing/
Nov 20 2021
Even though it looks like the main national grid might soon reach some of the villages we’ve been working with, both in Tanzania and Uganda, it is surprising how many of them are still keen for us to continue installing solar power despite the fact that this will be significantly more expensive for them. Having …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/unreliable-grid-power/
Jun 13 2021
On one of our recent community visits to run focus groups in Central Uganda, we were surprised by some of the signs plastered around the primary school building, where the focus groups were held. The first signs outside the building were innocent, with messages like “DO NOT LITTER”, “ALWAYS BRUSH YOUR TEETH”, “WASH YOUR HANDS …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/primary-school-messaging-on-early-pregnancy/
May 15 2021
… in the context of the Service Value Test (SVT), a key tool in the Smart Villages approach which engages community members to uncover their needs and aspirations for the future development of their village. It’s an important early step when we start working with a new community, and the quantitative and qualitative data about …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/electricity-is-not-a-service/
May 12 2021
On the difficulties of transporting solar equipment to remote places Working at Smart Villages, we are very fortunate to work in some incredible locations. One of the most stunning is Kasese district in western Uganda. Located exactly along the equator, dominated by two national parks, and nestling in amongst the breath-taking Rwenzori mountains, the district …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/who-ate-all-the-donkeys/
Apr 03 2021
The Service Value Test (SVT for short) is a key tool in the Smart Villages approach that we like to use as early as possible in our conversations with communities we are looking to work with. We find it really helpful for the following reasons: It gets us quantitative preference data from community members telling …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/the-service-value-test-what-and-why/
Mar 11 2021
It’s a long journey from a tiny bean growing in the mountains of Uganda to your first morning cup of coffee in the UK, nearly 7000km away. To learn more about this journey, some SVRG members visited a coffee processing facility funded by the Lutheran World Group near Kasese, Uganda in November, 2020. This facility …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/making-coffee/
Feb 13 2021
A short video showing some highlights from our most recent work visit to Africa to give you a flavour of our everyday lives out on the field: fixing milling machines, inspecting and diagnosing solar equipment, running telehealth trials, joining our project partners in cooking food, running focus groups, visiting schools, helping build cold-stores, travelling to …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/jan-feb-2021-trip-video-tanzania-uganda/
Dec 10 2020
A video showing some highlights from our most recent trip to Uganda, aiming to give you a flavour of our everyday work out on the field.
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/nov-dec-2021-trip-video-uganda/
Nov 26 2020
We’re pleased and immensely proud to announce that Natasha Wilson, one of our development engineers who joined in July 2020, has been awarded the Institute of Mechanical Engineer’s (IMechE) Scholarship Visionary Award 2020, for her drive to use engineering as tool for positive change and development. Here’s her acceptance video, filmed in Uganda on the …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/award-winning-employees/
Nov 24 2020
Something we realised during our most recent trip to Uganda, is the importance of timing visits according to the seasons and political rallies. This personal recount is adapted from notes written during the trip: 19/11/2021 Just as we arrived in Kampala, we found out there’d been protests following the arrest of Bobi Wine, a presidential …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/a-personal-recount-of-challenging-travel-through-heavy-rains-and-political-campaigns/
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/what-we-mean-by-community-engagement-the-svrg-way-of-working/
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/the-svrg-approach-what-are-we-all-about/
Apr 01 2020
Project Overview SVRG is carrying this project out jointly with our partners in Uganda, social enterprise EcoLife Foods, and community NGO Kiima Foods. This project is funded by InnovateUK, the UK’s Innovation Agency under the Energy Catalyst Round 7 programme. The Issue Access to electricity is very low in Uganda, with rural areas having electrification …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/minigrids-and-integrated-anchor-loads-in-rural-uganda/
Nov 25 2019
SVRG carried out this project jointly with our partner in Uganda, social enterprise EcoLife Foods, based in Matugga, north of Kampala. This project was funded by the Efficiency for Access Coalition. Together with our partners in Uganda, Ecolife Foods, we have worked to develop and test improvements to a low-cost, local-technology-driven cold storage solution. The …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/low-cost-efficient-rural-cold-storage-in-uganda/
Feb 26 2014
On the surface, the facts are startling. According to Farming First, a coalition of farmers, engineers, scientists and industry, women[lightbox full=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaiban/6866495548/”][/lightbox] constitute up to 80% of Africa’s smallholder farmers and are produce around 90% of its food. Key issues in the northern Ugandan context, the focus of the article published by Thomson Reuters Foundation, relate to issues of …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/men-grow-tobacco-drinking-money-women-feed-families/