TED Talks Daily - The miraculous device that saved my farm — and changed my life | Josephine Waweru

Episode Date: July 8, 2025

Exhausted from carrying water up a hill to keep her small farm in Kenya thriving, Josephine Waweru received an unexpected call that offered a nearly unbelievable solution. She shares how one simple device allowed her crops (and her dreams) to flourish — and offers a glimmer of hope in the face of growing climate uncertainty.Want to help shape TED’s shows going forward? Fill out our survey!Learn more about TED Next at ted.com/futureyouFor the Idea Search application, go to ted.com/ideasearch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hwu. It's possible that no one sees the effects of climate change more than the millions of farmers across the globe. For smallholder farmer and agricultural innovator Josephine Waweru, who runs a three-acre farm in Kenya. A growing drought was making it almost impossible for her to make ends meet.

And then one day, everything changed. In this inspiring talk, Josephine shares the technology that completely transformed her life and offers a glimmer of hope in the face of growing climate uncertainty. She reminds us why one small action for farmers can indeed be a giant leap for humankind. What is happy travels? It's exploring the world your way and creating cherished memories with a sun vacation, cruise, flight or hotel deal. That's by experts who have been where you are now and have gone where you want to go.

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PWC unites expertise and tech so you can outthink, outpace, and outperform. So you can stay ahead. So you can protect what you build. So you can create new value. Visit pwc.com to learn more. That's pwc.com. Pwc refers to the PwC network and or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity. My name is Josephine Waweru. I'm a farmer in rural Kenya. I grow vegetables, coffee, and herbal teas, among other things.

Above all, I'm a believer in innovation because just a few years ago, I had nothing, and a simple innovation saved me. Today, I want to share with you one powerful insight. A little bit of reliable water goes a long way. It can turn bare soil into food. It can turn hopelessness into dignity. But in the era of climate change, reliable water is exactly what's becoming very hard to dignity. But in the era of climate change, reliable water is exactly what's becoming

very hard to find. This is a challenge with millions of smallholder farmers like me around the world. We grow a lot of the world's food. Yet when the rains fail, so do our crops, our income and our dreams. I have lived this struggle. When I moved back into my village in rural Kenya, I had only one cow named Ashley and one acre of maize. My home was a simple, mad world house with a tin roof that echoed loudly when it rained, if it rained at all.

No electricity, no running water, no supermarkets. I started with nothing. No experience, zero finances, just responsibility of my children and a small piece of land. But my biggest challenge was water. I actually drank 120 liters of water each day. My only source of water was the river 400 meters far away from where my home stood.

So imagine me, six times a day, carrying 20 liters, 45 pounds of water on my back, climbing a steep path. I fell so many times. Sometimes the water spilled just before I reached home. I cried. I felt like a wasted resource. But I was determined to move on. So in 2017, I expanded into fruits and vegetables, hoping to earn more.

But without reliable water, I had to hire diesel pumps, paying for fuel and labor. I was spending more money than I was making. So in 2019, I turned into coffee farming, a long-term investment. I dug a small pond to store rainwater, but the rains didn't come. By 2020, I was ready to give up. My coffee plants were drying up, my fish pond was empty. I remember walking around my farm each morning, talking to my plants, promising them water is coming soon.

But I had no idea how. One night, I lay awake, tears in my eyes. I told God, if you don't give me a solution, I'll stop farming. The next morning at 7 a.m., my phone rang. A woman introduced herself, telling me about a solar-powered water pump from sand culture.

I laughed bitterly and told her, the devil is a liar. You woke up this early to call people. If you know what's good for you, don't call me again. I hanged up. And she called again and again. Finally, I listened. I went to see the pup myself and I saw a real solution. A pump that did need fuel,

that didn't depend on the unreliable electricity grid, just the sun. And the best part, they allowed me to pay slowly over time what we call pole-pole in Kiswahili. I wouldn't have been able to afford the full cost of the system upfront. I took a leap of faith. I dug a shallow well five meters deep, and the company came to install the system. As I saw the pump itself being lowered into my well, I was so nervous. This would either transform my farming or there'd be another terrible disappointment.

Once the solar panels were mounted on the roof and the pump was connected, This would either transform my farming or it would be another terrible disappointment. Once the solar panels were mounted on the roof and the pump was connected, I switched on the pump and within seconds, water was flowing. At that moment, I felt a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. And I couldn't help but think about hundreds of millions of smallholder farmers all around the world who wear my shoes. They deserve this miracle. And that day, everything changed.

I mean everything. That night I couldn't sleep, not because of stress. My mind became a factory of ideas. With lab water source, my farm came to life. My coffee trees thrived. Flowers bloomed. I expanded my fish farming to seven ponds. I embraced black soldier flies farming,

turning farm waste into eco-friendly animal feed. I planted herbal teas. I started making kombucha. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh.

Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh.

Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. kombucha in the world. For the first time, my farm was making me money instead of draining it. I came from nothing, and now I have something. I have something. I feel like a very useful resource. I feel like a very useful resource. And I'll let you in on a secret. This didn't just happen by chance.

One year, I drew out the vision of my life, and here I am, ahead of schedule. But the most important part in this journey is helping other farmers. I opened my farm to train others, especially the young people, because I believe youth farming is the future. We cannot keep telling our young people that farming is a last resort. Farming is an opportunity. Farming is innovation. Farming is business.

And to my fellow farmers, I don't want you to be like me. I want you to be better than me. I want you to start your farms with a business plan, not a burden. I want you to know with just a small amount of water, you can do incredible things because this is not just about surviving anymore. It's about turning your farm into a thriving business.

I know what it feels to struggle, to question God and to almost give up. But I also know what it feels to find a solution. A solution that transforms not just a farm, but a life. For me, that solution was a solar powered pump. But the idea is bigger than one tool. It's about climate-smart solutions like solar-powered water pumps. Yes, but also solar-powered cold storage,

solar milling machines, biodigesters for clean cooking fuel, and drought-resistant seeds. These tools help a farmer to use less, waste less, adapt to climate change, and make more from every part of the farm. So I ask policymakers, investors, leaders, how do we make this happen for every farmer?

What if every smallholder had access to affordable solar irrigation, just like I did? What if we combine this with trainings, visioning tools and mentorship if every smallholder had access to affordable solar irrigation, just like I did. What if we combine this with trainings, visioning tools and mentorship, so as no farmer has to figure it out alone? This is not charity. This is climate resilience.

This is smart investment. This is food security for all of us. I know firsthand that it only takes a little bit of the right thing at the right time to change everything. Together let's feed the world. Thank you. That was Josephine Waweru at TED countdown summit 2025 in Nairobi, Kenya. If you're curious about TED's curation, find out more at TED.com slash curation guidelines. And that's it for today's show.

TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective. This episode was produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Green, Lucy Little, Alejandra Salazar, and Tonsika Sarmarnivon. It was mixed by Christopher Fazy-Bogan, additional support from Emma Tobner and Daniela Balarezo. I'm Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed. Thanks for listening. This episode is sponsored by PWC.

AI, climate change, and geopolitical shifts are reconfiguring the global economy. That's why industry leaders turn to PWC to help turn disruption into opportunity. PWC unites expertise and tech so you can outthink, outpace, and outperform. So you can stay ahead. So you can protect think, out pace, and outperform. So you can stay ahead. So you can protect what you build. So you can create new value. Visit pwc.com to learn more. That's pwc.com.

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