»» The vast majority of people in Africa are poor rural farmers. 96% of them survive on rain-fed agriculture, which results in small-scale farmers harvesting the same crops at the same time, and then being forced to sell them into the same over-crowded market. However, the solution is as simple as moving from rain-fed agriculture to irrigation.

In this episode of It’s Africa’s Time, we travel to Kenya to meet inventor Dr Martin Fisher who, through his not-for-profit organisation, Kickstart International, has created a line of human-powered irrigation pumps that have, to date, lifted 170,000 families out of poverty. The pumps allow water to be drawn out of a shallow source and be pumped to the fields, all year long. Through their partnership with Citi and a subsequent line of credit, Kickstart International’s irrigation pumps have progressed from an inspired idea on paper to a highly effective intervention that is transforming the lives of thousands of farmers across Africa.