Investing in Sustainable Energy Technologies in the Agrifood Sector (INVESTA) methodology

The “Investing in Sustainable Energy Technologies in the Agrifood Sector” (INVESTA) methodology provides guidelines for a sound and comprehensive cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of clean energy interventions in agrifood value chains and compares the economic net benefits (including hidden costs and co-benefits) with a simple financial analysis to inform investors.

The methodology is being published by FAO and GIZ in a report entitled “Costs and Benefits of Clean Energy Technologies in the Milk, Vegetable and Rice Value Chains”, which contains also six case studies of technologies in the milk, vegetables and rice value chains, addressing case studies of the following technologies:

• biogas for power generation from dairy cattle manure;
• domestic biogas-powered milk chillers;
• solar milk coolers;
• solar-powered water pumping;
• solar cold storage for vegetables;
• rice husk gasification; and
• solar-powered domestic rice processing.

The analytical approach has been applied to four pilot countries (Kenya, Philippines, Tanzania and Tunisia), where the generated results have been widely discussed with national stakeholders. The analysis and main findings are collected in the report “Measuring Impacts and Enabling Investments in Energy-Smart Agrifood Chains. Findings from four country studies”, and have been used to draw recommendations for financing institutions and governments willing to support the introduction of sustainable energy interventions in the agrifood chain.

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