Farming in Africa is largely rain-fed and Africa’s reliance on agriculture makes it singularly vulnerable to the vagaries of climate. Rainfall is erratic, while natural hazards such as droughts and floods are frequent. In recent decades, Africa has also experienced growing environmental degradation such as deforestation, desertification, declining soil productivity, loss of biodiversity and the depletion of freshwater.
With an investment of US$360,000 from AECF, Liquid Lever Ltd has manufactured and distributed high-quality, gravity-fed drip irrigation kits, helping to ensure smallholder farmers can grow food throughout the year. The company works with microfinance institutions and village-based lending organisations in 10 counties in Kenya, providing flexible loan facilities to enable farmers to access the drip irrigation systems. To date, Liquid Lever has distributed about 60 irrigation kits to households and development organisations. This has reduced the number of farmers using diesel-run generators to irrigate their farms.