Scaling PURE technologies
Productive use of renewable energy (PURE) technologies provide clean energy for income-generating activities. Solutions such as solar irrigation, refrigeration, cold storage and appliances for small businesses can help farmers and enterprises increase productivity and incomes, while supporting food security, job creation and climate resilience.
However, PURE markets remain at an early stage in many off-grid and weak-grid communities. Growth is constrained by limited awareness and support among governments, gaps in market data and evidence, difficulties accessing appropriate finance, and weak coordination between energy companies, policymakers, investors, development partners and actors in sectors such as agriculture and food systems.
GOGLA’s Scaling PURE programme, funded by the IKEA Foundation, aims to address these barriers and help build a stronger, more coherent industry. Implemented between 2023 and 2027, it combines global activity with focused work in India, Kenya and Uganda.
The programme works across four connected areas:
- improving policy and enabling environments for PURE
- increasing the availability and use of market data and evidence
- strengthening the performance and responsible practices of PURE companies
- improving coordination, partnerships and connections across the PURE ecosystem
Together, these activities aim to create the knowledge, tools, relationships and market conditions needed for PURE solutions to scale sustainably and effectively.
Our role
Itad is conducting an independent evaluation of the Scaling PURE programme for the IKEA Foundation. We are examining what the programme is achieving, how change is happening and the contribution GOGLA is making alongside other organisations, policies and market developments.
The evaluation covers the programme’s global work and country-level activities in India, Kenya and Uganda. It assesses:
- how relevant the programme is to the main constraints and opportunities facing the PURE sector;
- how well its activities complement those of other actors and initiatives;
- the intended and unintended outcomes emerging across the four programme areas;
- where GOGLA has made a meaningful contribution to these outcomes;
- how cost-effectively and equitably programme resources are generating value; and
- what the IKEA Foundation, GOGLA and the wider sector can learn for future investment and programming.
Our aim is to generate credible, practical and forward-looking findings that support strategic decision-making by the IKEA Foundation and GOGLA and provide wider lessons on how industry associations and sector-building organisations can help emerging markets develop.
Our methods and approaches
We are using a theory-based, mixed-method evaluation to understand not only what has changed, but how and why those changes have occurred.
Our approach includes:
- Evidence review: reviewing evidence on the barriers to scaling PURE and what is known about effective approaches to policy engagement, market intelligence, company support, convening and ecosystem development.
- Theory of change development: working with the IKEA Foundation and GOGLA to clarify how the programme’s activities are expected to contribute to change, including the assumptions, risks and external influences affecting its pathways.
- Document review: systematically reviewing programme strategies, reports, research, policy documents and records of activities and emerging outcomes.
- Stakeholder interviews: speaking with GOGLA staff, government representatives, companies, investors, development partners and other actors across the global and country-level PURE ecosystems.
- Quantitative analysis: examining available data on market trends, company performance, investment, participation and engagement with GOGLA’s evidence and activities.
- Contribution analysis: assessing whether expected outcomes have occurred at global and country-level, how GOGLA has contributed and what other actors or contextual factors have influenced change. Evaluators based in India, Kenya and Uganda provide country knowledge and technical understanding of their respective PURE markets.
- Value-for-money assessment: using a tailored framework to assess where the programme is creating value cost-effectively and equitably.
- Participatory sensemaking: bringing stakeholders together to test emerging findings, interpret their implications and develop practical recommendations.
Outcomes and impact
The intended outcome is to provide the IKEA Foundation and GOGLA with a stronger understanding of what works in building and scaling PURE markets, for whom, and under what conditions.
The evaluation is expected to:
- identify where Scaling PURE is making its strongest contribution and where progress has been constrained;
- identify important barriers, assumptions and external factors affecting results;
- assess which approaches offer stronger value for money and support more inclusive market development;
- strengthen the programme’s Theory of Change;
- support GOGLA to refine its strategy and role within the PURE ecosystem; and
- inform the IKEA Foundation’s future investments in productive energy use and wider sector development.
