Productive Use Machinery in Agriculture

Productive use appliances in agriculture have been the “next big thing” in the energy access sector for the best part of the last decade. However, only a few successful examples can be showcased and learned from. With Imara Tech as our first “Entrepreneur in Residence” at A2EI, we were lucky enough to be part of one of the successful ventures in the agricultural productive use appliance sector and want to share our learnings and propose a way forward that we believe could increase the likelihood for successful product development.

We found that the combination of thorough research on plausible business models for users/customers on the one hand and on the other hand R&D, testing, piloting and feedback loops with customers to validate the economic value of the product to them are key ingredients for a successful product development. In particular, combining the crucial local knowledge of what exact product is needed combined with access to international resources e.g. R&D and supply chains are important.

Please do get in touch with us if you would like to know more about the methodology and the research we have put forward or would want more details on the “Entrepreneur in Residence” scheme of the A2EI.

Download the summary of learnings here: Productive Use Machinery in Agriculture