Client Ambition

Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP) partnered with the USAID-supported South Asia Regional Energy Partnership (SAREP) to accelerate the adoption of clean energy solutions across rural India. The goal was to empower women entrepreneurs as last-mile change agents—expanding access to affordable, sustainable energy technologies while improving livelihoods and reducing carbon emissions across underserved communities.

Our Solution

As knowledge partners, we co-developed the program proposal and successfully mobilized USD 0.5 million in funding for SSP under USAID’s SAREP initiative. Between 2022 and 2024, we supported the program design, implementation, and learning processes, focusing on building a scalable model for clean energy adoption through women-led enterprise networks. Our role included designing the implementation strategy, supporting capacity building for 500 women micro-entrepreneurs, and developing frameworks for tracking adoption, household reach, and carbon savings. We led the market & impact assessment, learning documentation and stakeholder engagement to strengthen SSP’s position as a leading practitioner of women-led clean energy transitions.

Results

The program reached over 100,000 rural households across two Indian states and facilitated the installation of 7,500+ bio-digesters, resulting in annual savings of 45,000 metric tons of CO₂ emissions. Additionally, the model encouraged other private sector partners to leverage the women-led last mile distribution model for reaching underserved rural markets. The initiative has demonstrated the potential of women-led clean energy entrepreneurship to drive climate action, rural resilience, and inclusive economic growth.