2023

On May 15, 2023, a team from South Asia Regional Energy Partnership (SAREP) program conducted the program’s first grant monitoring visit under the SAREP Partnership Fund (SPF), for which the team members met women micro-entrepreneurs in Solapur, Maharashtra. This project, implemented by Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP), utilizes the grant fund to scale up access to innovative and affordable energy efficient solutions for rural population through a women-led micro-entrepreneurship model. SSP implements the project in partnership with social enterprises Rukart and Sistema.bi.

In Solapur, the SAREP team oversaw digital technology and product trainings under SPF for around 30 women and distributed training completion certificates. They also visited two households in Shivni village, Nanded, to see user experience of the two products to which access is being scaled up under SPF, i.e. Bio Digestors and Subjee Coolers – created by Sistema.bi and Rukart.

The team also visited the Rukart factory in Solapur to oversee the assembly of Subjee Coolers – a portable storage system to increase the shelf life of perishable produce, that does not require any external energy source. They also met various women who spoke of the positive impact of various clean energy products and trainings on their livelihoods and overall well-being.

The USAID SPF aims to support market-based transformative solutions to enable the clean energy transition, particularly by engaging the private sector, local organizations, and new, underutilized partners. Its goal is to maximize the impact of USAID resources innovatively and sustainably through activities designed, owned, and implemented by grantees under SAREP.