At least a billion people living in rural areas worldwide rely on agriculture: a livelihood that is critically vulnerable to the effects of changing weather patterns and rising temperatures caused by climate change. Many of these people must now rapidly adapt with new livelihood strategies to survive. These strategies will vary by locale, as climate change impacts different people and value chains in differing ways –depending on social norms, ecosystems, economic conditions and other characteristics that present both opportunities and constraints.

Products powered by renewable energy – for example, solar-powered irrigation pumps and refrigerators for storing produce – can be incorporated as part of these wider strategies, while fulfilling many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as affordable and clean energy (SDG 7) and climate action (SDG 13).

Despite this, households and livelihoods energy deficit around the world remains enormous. And while finance for climate adaptation strategies reached USD 32.4 billion in 2022, the energy sector represented a sliver at only 3%. There is an enormous opportunity to bring together finance for adaptation and energy access investments. But the evidence is limited for what works for whom, where, under what circumstances, and why, as IIED’s recent paper highlights. Building the evidence base can guide more efficient use of scarce funding and finance.

To respond to this need, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) have developed a practical framework to guide stakeholders in incorporating renewable energy, climate action and agriculture into their investment projects, under the frame of the IRENA Empowering Lives and Livelihoods Initiative. As part of this initiative, IRENA has established an adaptation working group with over 20 development organisations to foster institutional collaboration and knowledge sharing.

A consolidated framework for energy access, climate action and agriculture

The IRENA-IIED framework builds on IIED’s earlier work, which emphasised that technologies alone are unlikely to be transformational when it comes to coupling energy access with climate adaptation. This is particularly true in rural areas that are usually characterised by a deficit of public and private goods and services. To fill the gaps in these places, people often need packages of support to buy and use technological tools – support like asset financing and subsidies, or extension services and advice–provided by institutions, governments, and companies.

To help navigate this complexity, the IRENA-IIED framework features six practical steps to improve the design, implementation and evaluation of investments in agriculture, which is adaptable and aligns with established indicators from the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) and the Green Climate Fund. The proposed framework integrates best practices, approaches and sector-specific expertise across the climate adaptation, energy access and agriculture sectors. It provides a foundation to guide investors, project implementers, companies and donors on how to measure changes – and for whom.

To address contextual norms that often dictate different people’s needs and strategies, as well as opportunities and constraints through gender, age, social groups among others, the framework also provides non-prescriptive guidance that aims to help diverse stakeholders with different needs and contexts, in terms of tracking adaptation benefits and building the evidence base on how renewable-powered energy access (e.g. solar-powered irrigation, processing and cold storage) supports climate adaptation in agriculture.

Six steps to building climate resilience in rural communities

The first step in the framework involves project implementers working with households or communities to establish the socioeconomic dynamics of their community and understand the climate risks and impacts. They identify what they need to thrive. Next, they design ‘bundles’ together – the energy technology with financing, training, extension support, or supportive policies, etc. – to address these needs (step two).

The third step involves deploying the bundles, gathering feedback and adjusting as necessary. The fourth step focuses on observing what works, for whom, and why, to build the evidence base. Outcomes related to climate adaptation and resilience are then evaluated, employing the ‘Three As’ framework: adaptive, absorptive and anticipatory capacity (step five). Finally, the sixth step constructs a narrative around ‘general resilience’, focusing on flexibility, coordination, participation and learning.

The framework emphasises adaptive management (where actions incorporate ongoing learning) and vigilance against maladaptation throughout the process. It recognises that climate risks and sector interactions evolve, making it necessary to continuously monitor, learn, and manage changes. In short, it’s essential to engage diverse groups of stakeholders early on in project design; making it possible to identify synergies, manage expectations, optimise resources and improve outcomes for the targeted communities.

A critical next step of the framework is to validate it with different communities across the world, to ‘road test’ it in ongoing and new energy interventions and investments in agriculture. Ideally, this will reveal where investments can work for different kinds of people in different circumstances, which eventually gives agricultural households and communities a much stronger chance of not just surviving, but also thriving in the face of ever-changing climates.

The framework will be presented by IRENA and IIED at the upcoming 6^th International Off-Grid Renewable Energy Conference and Exhibition (IOREC), taking place in Botswana this month, followed by a joint publication in the coming months.