Samuel Muriithi’s land in Kieni, Nyeri County stands out as a lush oasis in a semi-arid landscape. His nine-acre farm is a scene of vibrant green foliage extending as far as the eye can see.

Samuel’s thriving onion and yellow bean farm produces 70 tonnes of onions three times a year despite harsh climatic conditions. His farm irrigation is powered by a borehole and a solar energy system. This combination allows him to water his crops reliably, independent of rainfall, and potentially year-round.

“Samuel’s farm is a true reflection of my dream as a solar technician. With the unpredictable rainfall patterns, our communities need to find alternative sources of water, and that resource can be found in abundance underground. It can easily be pumped using freely available solar energy, thereby supporting food systems sustainably,” says Elizabeth Kinyanjui, a 34-year-old solar technology graduate.
Samuel is her client.

Elizabeth is transforming lives by bridging water, energy, and food security through innovative solar-powered irrigation systems. Her work exemplifies how the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus can empower rural communities to adapt to climate change while fostering sustainable development.

As a result, solar irrigation has become a reliable, relatively low-cost, clean-energy solution for agricultural water management in areas with high incident solar radiation.

In the same vein, the recently concluded Second Agroecology Conference in Nairobi had sessions exploring integration of renewable energy into agroecology. “Integrating renewable energy into agroecological practices is a way of empowering communities to adapt to the climate crisis, and this should be an important discourse during UN climate negotiations,” said Dr Million Belay, the general coordinator at Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa.

Elizabeth’s passion for renewable energy and climate resilience began after graduating from the University of Nairobi. Recognising the struggles of farmers in drought-prone regions, she co-founded GeoBlue Engineering with George Mwangi, specialising in solar-powered groundwater solutions.

“My vision was clear – to use my knowledge to support livelihoods in climate burdened areas,” she said.

In the past few years, the duo have drilled and solarised tens of boreholes for individual households and communities, mostly in collaboration with humanitarian organisations, particularly in arid and semi-arid areas.

According to Samuel, his solar irrigated farm is a real game-changer. “When Covid-19 struck, I had bought a parcel of land in Kieni, but I was unsure how to utilise it given the tough semi arid conditions in the area,” said the Nairobi-based businessman.

He met Elizabeth and George, who advised him to use the lockdown period to turn his land into a productive farm. “They gave me a comprehensive agribusiness plan on how to use the land, groundwater and solar power to generate income.”

Today, he is one of the main suppliers of onions and yellow beans to Nairobi’s upmarket and sometimes across the East African borders.

“We drilled a 200-metre-deep borehole, which yields about 12 cubic metres of water per hour that is pumped all the way to a 400,000-litre concrete tank upstream. The water is then transported to the farm using gravity through drip irrigation pipes,” said Samuel.

Surface water

Studies show that most of Kenya’s irrigated agriculture relies on surface water (rivers, lakes, and dams), leaving groundwater underutilised despite its renewable potential

“This is a golden opportunity that we must seize if at all we are serious about adapting to climate change,” said Elizabeth. “In areas with poor or no rainfall seasons, God has provided sunlight—it’s our duty to use it for survival,” she said.

A 2020 study, which focused on Unlocking the Potential of Groundwater (UPGro) in seven African countries, including Kenya, found that despite its negative impact on environment and water resources, climate change may enhance groundwater recharge in arid and semi-arid areas, presenting opportunities for long-term management as part of national climate adaptation strategies.

Investigations of the coastal aquifer in Kwale County agreed with other UPGro studies that groundwater recharge happens more readily with more intense rainfall events, depending on the porous nature of the rocks underground. The same was observed in other groundwater aquifers in drylands across sub-Saharan Africa, revealing how floods can be agents for climate change adaptation.

According to FAO, interlinking groundwater to energy and food productivity is a great improvement of the Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) approach. “By explicitly focusing on water (alone), there is a risk of IWRM prioritising water-related development goals over others,” reads part of FAO report on groundwater governance.

The WEF nexus approach, says FAO, considers different dimensions of water, energy and food equally and recognises the interdependencies of different resource uses to develop sustainable agriculture.

A key advantage of the nexus approach is that it fits well with the idea of a green economy that maximises human well-being while minimising environmental risks, ecological scarcities, carbon footprint and pollution.

Elizabeth’s mission extends beyond farming: she aims to empower women in arid regions, reducing water-fetching burdens and ending dependency on food aid.

“My ultimate goal is to work alongside humanitarian organisations and county governments to particularly give women in arid and semi arid areas a break from trekking in search of water for domestic use, while also creating sustainable livelihoods for communities that are perpetually dependent on alms and food aid,” said Elizabeth.

Her work proves that climate adaptation is possible when communities harness groundwater, solar energy, and smart agriculture together.

esipisus@yahoo.com