1. The Smart Villages Initiative aims to foster entrepreneurship and access to key services like education, health, clean water, and ICT connectivity in rural villages. 2. It focuses on sustainable local energy solutions and bringing together scientists, entrepreneurs, villagers and policymakers to discuss overcoming barriers to energy access. 3. The initiative has held workshops in several regions to engage communities and facilitate policy discussions on improving energy access for rural development. 4. A key workshop discussed the water-energy-food nexus and how to balance synergies and trade-offs between these sectors to spur development in West Africa.

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THE SMART VILLAGES INITIATIVE
Date 24 August 2016
Presenter: Dr John Holmes

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Ensure access to affordable, reliable,
sustainable and modern energy for all
By 2030:
■ Ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and
modern energy services
■ Increase substantially the share of renewable energy
in the global energy mix
■ Double the rate of improvement in energy efficiency

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ENERGY ACCESS AS ENABLER OF MOST SDGS

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ENERGY AS A CATALYST FOR DEVELOPMENT

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SMART CITIES: NEED FOR A VILLAGE LEVEL ANALOGUE
SMART
VILLAGES
SMART
CITIES
47% of world’s
population and 70% of
the world’s poor live in
rural villages

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SMART VILLAGES: SOME KEY FEATURES
Key services: education, health , clean water and sanitation
 ICT connectivity: distance learning and world’s knowledge base
 Modern health services and tele-medicine
 Provision of clean water and safe sanitation
Foster entrepreneurship in the provision and use of energy services
 Capture more of the agricultural value chain
 Create new businesses
Through ICT connectivity, participate in governance processes
 At local, regional and national levels
 Smart communities with strong rural/urban linkages
Building more resilient communities better able to
respond to shocks

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SHIFTING THE BALANCE OF OPPORTUNITIES
BETWEEN CITIES AND VILLAGES
Technological
advances
Game changing
technologies

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THE SMART VILLAGES INITIATIVE
Focus: sustainable local energy solutions for rural
communities
Policy advice: an insightful, ‘view from the frontline’ of
the challenges of village energy provision for
development, and how they can be overcome
Engagement: bringing together the key players:
scientists, entrepreneurs, villagers, NGO’s, financers,
regulators and policy makers etc:
 What are the barriers?
 How can they be overcome?
 What messages to funders and policy makers?

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Science
community
Frontline
workers
Policy &
development
communities
Facilitating discussion
between communities…
…on the barriers to energy access for rural
development and how they can be overcome

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Connection and
discussion
interpretationSynthesis
communication
More
effective
policy &
interventions

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Project team:
Universities of
Cambridge and
Oxford
Key partners:
- National Science
Academies
- Practical Action
Funding:
charitable
foundations:
CMEDT & TWCF
SMART VILLAGES INITIATIVE: A PARTNERSHIP

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SIX REGIONAL ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMMES
 East Africa – June 2014
 SE Asia – January 2015
 South Asia – April 2015
 South America – January 2016
 West Africa – May 2016
 Central America – November 2016

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SIX REGIONAL ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMMES
 East Africa – June 2014
 SE Asia – January 2015
 South Asia – April 2015
 South America – January 2016
 West Africa – May 2016
 Central America – November 2016
12-18 month engagement
programmes:
 Workshops → reports/policy
briefs
 Briefing meetings
 Capacity building event
 Media workshop
 Entrepreneurial competition
 Final event pulling together key
stakeholders

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CROSS-CUTTING ACTIVITIES

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THE SMART VILLAGES INITIATIVE
1. A key aim: identify framework conditions to:
■ foster entrepreneurial activities in delivering & using energy
services
■ maximise leverage of public sector funding
2. An underlying premise: to maximise social benefit
and development impact:
■ integrate energy access with other development initiatives
■ take a community level approach
3. An important concern:
■ to catalyse rapid progression through the various levels of energy
access

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WORKSHOPS HELD TO DATE
East Africa
 First East Africa regional workshop: Arusha,
Tanzania, June 2014
 East Africa media dialogue workshop: Kigali,
Rwanda, November 2014
 East Africa Community Leaders’ dialogue workshop:
Terrat, Tanzania, August 2015
 Concluding high-level workshop for East Africa
engagement: Kigali, Rwanda, September 2015
West Africa
 First West Africa Regional workshop: Accra, Ghana,
May 2016
Southeast Asia
 First Southeast Asia regional workshop: Kuching,
Malaysia, January 2015
 Southeast Asia media dialogue workshop: Seoul,
South Korea, September 2015
 Energy for off-grid islands: Bunaken island,
Indonesia, November 2015
 Sustainable dissemination of improved cookstoves:
lessons from Southeast Asia: Yangon, Myanmar,
December 2015
 Smart Villages and resilience to natural disasters:
National University of Singapore, May 2016
 The energy & water nexus, Philippines June 2016
South Asia
 Smart Villages in Nepal: Kathmandu, Nepal, April
2015
 Southeast Asia media dialogue workshop, Seoul,
June 2015
 Smart Villages in Bangladesh: Dhaka, Bangladesh,
August 2015
 Smart Villages in Pakistan: Islamabad, October
2015
 State level brainstorm: Odisha, India, April 2016
 Mini-grids, Bangalore, India July 2016
South America
 First South America regional workshop: Lima, Peru,
January 2016
 Sustainable energy for rural communities in Bolivia:
La Paz, Bolivia, April 2016
 Media workshop, Paraguay, July 2016
UK
 First Forward Look workshop: New technologies for
off-grid villages – a look ahead: January 2014
 Second Forward Look workshop: Potential
breakthroughs in the use of energy in off-grid
villages: December 2015
 Business and financial models: January 2016
 Frontier energy storage technologies: Edinburgh
University, May 2016

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WATER-ENERGY-FOOD (WEF) NEXUS
■ Water, energy and food are essential for human well-being
and to meet the goals of sustainable poverty reduction and
development
■ Sustainability of the natural resource base is under threat due
to: Economic growth, over-exploitation of natural resources
and eco-systems, urbanisation, climate change and rising
population
Estimated increase in Energy, Water and Food Demand by 2050

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■ Nexus thinking dictates an interdisciplinary approach that
brings to the fore inter-linkages between water, energy
and food systems
■ A nexus approach helps understand the potential trade-
offs and synergies in the utilisation of these resources -
Identified as one of the High Impact Opportunities (HIOs)
to achieve the Sustainable Energy 4 All targets (SE4All)
■ Such an approach can have a positive impact on
sustainability by reducing trade-offs, help improve
resource allocation and improve policy coherence
WATER-ENERGY-FOOD (WEF)
NEXUS AND CHALLENGES FOR
DEVELOPMENT

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LINKS BETWEEN WATER, ENERGY AND FOOD
Water
Food Energy
Irrigation
Water Storage
Water Quality
Water Purification
Pumping, Distribution &
Sanitation
Hydropower production
Transport, storage &
processing
Fertiliser Production Biofuel production

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Smart villages workshop on
water, energy and food nexus:
lessons from West Africa

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KEY QUESTIONS FOR THE WORKSHOP:
■ How do global challenges arising from the interrelation
between water, energy and food impact at a local level in
West Africa?
■ What are the synergies and trade-offs between water,
energy and food, and how can these be balanced in a
rural context?
■ How can sectoral barriers be overcome in order to
realise synergies and avoid conflicts of interest?
■ How can the removal of these sectoral barriers spur rural
development in West Africa?
■ What roles should the government and the local
community play to facilitate access to water, energy and
food for women?

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WORKSHOP AGENDA – DAY 1
09h00 Registration
09h30
Welcome Address
Mr. Louis Seck, Country Director, Energy4Impact
09h45
Introduction to the Smart Villages Initiative
Dr. John Holmes, Co-Leader, Smart Villages Initiative (SVI)
10h15
Key Note 1: What are the global challenges arising from the interrelation between food, water, and energy and how do these
impact at a local level in West Africa?
Mr Sekou Saar, Executive Coordinator, ENDA ENERGY
10h45 Tea Break
11h15
Key Note 2: Experiences of the WEF Nexus at village level: how can farmers cultivate co-benefits?
Mary Allan, West Africa Coordinator, Practical Action
11h45 Q&A
12h15 Lunch Break
13h30
Panel Session 1: What are the synergies and trade-offs between water, food and energy and how can these be balanced in a
rural context?
Chairperson: TBC
14h15 Q&A
14h40 Tea Break
15h10
Introduction to Breakout Session 1: Questions will focus on how the challenges surrounding the WEF Nexus impact on women
and what the global community can do to overcome these.
15h15 Breakout Session 1
16h15 Summary of Breakout Session 1
16h45 Closing Remarks Day 1
17h30 Cocktail Reception: Re-branding GVEP to Energy4Impact

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WORKSHOP AGENDA – DAY 2
09h00 Registration
09h15
Keynote speech 3: What is the role of multilaterals and governments to facilitate WEF?
Ms. Nathalie Rami, Director of Programme, Energy4Impact
09h45 Q&A Key Note
10h00
Elevator Pitches: Entrepreneurs facilitating the interrelation between food, water and energy
Chairperson: Dr Djicknoum DIOUF, Université Gaston Berger de Saint Louis
10h30 Tea Break
11h00
Panel Session 2: What are the sectoral barriers, how can these sectoral barriers be overcome and how can the sector
work in synergy and avoid conflicts of interest?
Chairperson: Mr Baba Diallo, ASER Senegal, Directeur Général
11h45 Q&A Panel Session 2
12h15 Lunch Break
13h30 Breakout Session 2: How can the removal of these sectoral barriers spur rural development in West Africa?
14h30 Summary of Breakout Session 2
15h00 Tea Break
15h30 Discussion of Key Messages for Policy Makers
16h00 Closing Remarks

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MEDIA WORKSHOP
■Informing journalists from West Africa on
the issues around energy access and the
Water, Energy and Food Nexus
■Promoting more, and better informed,
coverage of these issues in the media.

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Thank you for your attention
www.e4sv.org | info@e4sv.org | @e4SmartVillages

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BREAKOUT SESSION 1: on how the challenges surrounding the
water-energy-food nexus impact on women and what the global
community can do to overcome the challenges
■ How does the lack of access to energy impede
women smallholders’ productivity in West Africa?
■ How does this negatively impact household level
food and income security in the region?
■ What can multilateral stakeholders, including
businesses, do to improve energy access for
women-led households and create the enabling
conditions for sustainable rural development?

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BREAKOUT SESSION 2: on how the removal of sectoral
barriers can spur rural development in West Africa
■ What are the most important sectoral barriers
identified in Panel Session 2? Are there others?
■ Do you agree with the solutions given by the
presenters? What other solutions could be
adopted?
■ What has been your experience of taking an
integrated approach to addressing the challenges
of the water-energy-food nexus? What are the key
lessons for future initiatives?