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TED Talks Daily

Sunday Pick: Tech Solutions (#1): The affordable tech that will revolutionize farming (with Samir Ibrahim and Josephine Waweru)

with Samir Ibrahim, Josephine Waweru

Published November 9, 2025
View Show Notes

About This Episode

This episode of TED Tech, part of a special mini-series recorded at the TED Countdown Climate Summit in Nairobi, explores how affordable solar-powered water pumps are transforming smallholder farming. Host Cheryl Dorsey speaks with Sun Culture CEO Samir Ibrahim about building a farmer-centered business that has driven down the cost of solar irrigation through both engineering and business model innovation, while navigating investors and climate-related priorities. Coffee farmer Josephine Waweru then shares how installing a solar pump on her Kenyan farm solved her water challenges, enabled her to expand her crops and income, and inspired her to encourage other farmers and young people to see farming as a viable, growth-oriented business.

Topics Covered

Climate change and agriculture Renewable energy and decarbonization Entrepreneurship Innovation strategy Problem-first invention Food systems Climate finance Sustainability Smallholder farmers Resilience

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Quick Takeaways

  • Sun Culture began by putting smallholder farmers at the center of its design process, repeatedly asking them what problems they needed solved and building solutions around those needs.
  • Over roughly a decade, the company reduced the cost of solar-powered irrigation for a one-acre farm from about $25,000 to around $400 through both engineering advances and innovative financing and carbon credit models.
  • Samir Ibrahim emphasizes that to attract more capital into climate and ag-tech solutions, companies must demonstrate that investors can earn strong financial returns while delivering social and environmental impact.
  • Sun Culture is evolving into a marketplace that connects newly bankable smallholder farmers, who now want more products, with companies eager to sell to them.
  • Being a first mover meant Sun Culture had no blueprint to copy, so the team had to develop a culture of constant iteration and willingness to change their minds as new data came in.
  • Kenyan farmer Josephine Waweru shifted from unreliable diesel pumps and manual watering to a solar pump, eliminating costly fuel and labor while stabilizing water access for her crops.
  • With reliable irrigation, Josephine expanded from coffee into fish farming, maize, and other crops, and now views farming explicitly as a business that can fund future projects.
  • Seeing Josephine's success, dozens of neighboring farmers have adopted the same solar pump technology, attracted by its climate-smart nature and freedom from volatile diesel prices.
  • Josephine urges young people to develop multiple skills and consider "the soil" as a serious income source, noting that small investments in farming can grow dramatically.
  • Both guests locate their hope in future generations, believing that if today's youth are equipped and encouraged to act, they can drive significant climate and economic change.

Podcast Notes

Introduction and framing of special climate-tech mini-series

Elise Hu introduces a Sunday pick from another TED Audio Collective podcast

Elise greets TED Talks Daily listeners and explains they will hear an episode of TED Tech[1:59]
• She notes the episode has been handpicked for the audience from within the TED Audio Collective
Description of TED Tech host's trip to Kenya[2:12]
• Elise explains that TED Tech host Cheryl Dorsey went to Kenya in June to record a mini-series with TED Countdown Summit 2025 speakers
• The focus of that trip was how technology can help generate a greener and more equitable future

Introduction of central question and featured guests

Framing question: what do farmers in Kenya actually need?[2:28]
• Elise says the kickoff episode starts with the simple question of what Kenyan farmers actually need
Introduction of Samir Ibrahim and Sun Culture[2:31]
• Elise says Cheryl spoke with Samir Ibrahim, the CEO of Sun Culture
• She describes Sun Culture as a company replacing diesel and petrol-powered water pumps with more affordable solar-powered ones
• The goal is to give farmers reliable access to water to irrigate their farms year-round
Introduction of farmer guest Josephine Waweru[2:44]
• Elise notes the audience will also hear from coffee farmer Josephine Waweru
• Josephine joined Cheryl to discuss how the solar pump revolutionized her farm and what advice she has for young people

Overview of TED Tech podcast

Explanation of TED Tech's focus[3:03]
• Elise describes TED Tech as a show that features talks and conversations exploring the many ways in which technology impacts society
Call to listen and learn more[3:06]
• Listeners are invited to hear more insights like this by listening to TED Tech wherever they get their shows
• Elise mentions that more information about the TED Audio Collective is available at audiocollective.ted.com

Host introduction and climate crisis context on TED Tech

Cheryl Dorsey introduces TED Tech and the mini-series

Host and show identity[3:03]
• Cheryl welcomes listeners to TED Tech and notes it is a podcast from TED
Announcement of special climate solutions mini-series[3:27]
• Cheryl says they are kicking off a special mini-series about climate solutions and the technology that can lead to a greener, more equitable future

Framing the urgency of the climate crisis

Description of current era as the "deciding decade"[3:41]
• Cheryl states the climate crisis feels more urgent than ever and notes many in the international climate community define this period as the deciding decade
• She explains it is seen as the last chance to get things right for the future of the planet and humanity
Questions Cheryl is asking herself about climate[3:57]
• She wonders what bold ideas about climate can give people hope
• She asks what conversations are missing that should be happening
• She also asks where thinking has been limited about what is possible for the planet and future

Countdown Summit in Nairobi as a source of answers

Purpose of attending Countdown Summit[4:16]
• Cheryl explains she went to the Countdown Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, looking for answers to her climate questions
Experience at Countdown[4:20]
• She describes her time at Countdown as an adventure in discovering what is possible
• She spoke with some of the world's leading minds who are actively shaping climate change solutions
• She identifies these people as visionaries and doers confronting one of the greatest challenges of our time
Structure of the four-part series[4:37]
• Over a four-part series, Cheryl says they will bring those Countdown conversations to the audience

Overview of Sun Culture and today's guests within the series

Introduction of Sun Culture and its reach[4:49]
• Cheryl explains they will first speak with Samir Ibrahim, CEO of Sun Culture
• She notes that in the last decade, Sun Culture has brought solar-powered water pump technology to rural farmers in Kenya and across sub-Saharan Africa
• She states that Sun Culture now serves over 60,000 farmers
Teaser for hearing from a farmer using the pumps[5:03]
• Cheryl says that later on the show they will hear directly from one of the farmers using the technology

Interview with Samir Ibrahim: Origins and mission of Sun Culture

Samir's motivation and personal background

Cheryl highlights Samir's unconventional startup path[7:05]
• Cheryl points out that in his early 20s, while many peers pursued social media or food delivery startups, Samir chose to build solar pumps for farmers far away
Samir connects his decision to family and heritage[7:45]
• Samir says his family is from East Africa, and he is the first generation not from there, having been born in Canada and raised in Florida in the US
• He describes growing up in an immigrant household where money and having opportunities his parents did not have were constant conversations
• He also grew up in the Ismaili Muslim community and did a lot of volunteer service, so volunteering was a big part of his life
Sense of responsibility and "do well by doing good"[8:21]
• Samir says those experiences combined to make him want to figure out how to "do well by doing good"
• He always knew he would do something in the region his family came from, feeling a responsibility to honor his ancestors' hard work that allowed him to grow up where he did
• That personal responsibility translated into a broader responsibility toward people who did not have the opportunities he had
Why he felt he "had to" start this kind of company[8:43]
• Samir acknowledges he did not have to start a company like Sun Culture, especially in New York when many other kinds of startups were emerging
• He also says he feels like he had to, because he saw a big problem that needed solving and asked himself who else would do it if he did not

Designing farmer-centered solar irrigation solutions

Recognizing gaps in access to water, electricity, and services

Contrast between global North assumptions and rural realities[9:32]
• Cheryl notes that people who grew up in places like the US often take access to water and electricity for granted
• She points out that millions of people still lack these basic necessities, which affects economic mobility and opportunity

Farmer-first design philosophy at Sun Culture

Core principle: building with and for farmers[9:55]
• Samir says the fundamental principle driving everything at the company is putting the farmer at the center of all they do
• They say internally that they build with their customers for their customers, and that they listen a lot
• He notes they spent the first few years in the field listening to farmers
Identifying missing pieces for smallholder farmers[10:12]
• Samir explains many farmers lack access to irrigation, financing, installation and training, and agronomy support needed to maximize value from their land
• He says they did not start with the idea of being a one-stop shop for smallholder farmers
Iterative problem discovery and expanding offerings[10:19]
• Their approach came from repeatedly asking farmers what problems they needed solved, then asking again and again
• This process continues today, leading them to add offerings such as health insurance and bundled agricultural inputs like seeds and shovels
• Samir emphasizes they did not derive this from a sophisticated framework or a single night of inspiration; it was simply driven by asking customers what they needed

Technology evolution and business model innovation at Sun Culture

Dramatic reduction in cost of solar irrigation systems

Initial and current cost figures[12:00]
• Samir recalls that when they started, the cheapest way to assemble solar-powered irrigation for a one-acre farm cost $25,000
• Their first pilot system cost about $5,000, still out of reach for hundreds of millions of people in Africa and 2 billion people globally who worry about water daily
• He says their cheapest system now is around $400
Strategy to focus on trajectory rather than initial unaffordability[11:16]
• Instead of focusing on how unaffordable the early systems were, they focused on building the business model and technology stack that could make them cheaper over time

Role of engineering, financing, and carbon credits

Engineering and business model innovation[11:48]
• Samir attributes the cost reduction to a lot of engineering innovation and a lot of business model innovation
Financing customers through installments[11:51]
• They realized they could finance customers, allowing farmers to pay in monthly installments
Using carbon credits to subsidize systems[11:57]
• Sun Culture started a carbon business, selling carbon credits and using the revenues to subsidize system costs for farmers
• He notes smallholder farmers are very price sensitive, so even small price reductions make a big difference

Engaging investors and aligning with shifting climate priorities

Early skepticism and education challenges with investors

Initial uphill battle to raise capital[12:56]
• Samir says that when they started, it was a major uphill battle, with people reacting skeptically that what they proposed had never been done anywhere
• He recalls being a young brown founder in his early 20s raising venture money in a non-traditional sector and market, and many people thought it could not work
• He tells early investors he thinks they were "crazy" to back them, but is glad they did because it worked out
Shift from deep education to broader acceptance[13:30]
• Samir notes that in the beginning there was a lot of deep education required over many years
• Now there is less need to prove the basic concept; productive agriculture equipment and combining renewable energy with agriculture are more widely accepted

Fitting their work into investors' thematic "boxes"

Diverse mandates: jobs, emissions, migration, security[14:14]
• Samir observes that although much money is now available, different stakeholders have specific mandates such as job creation, greenhouse gas reduction, national security, or migration
Sun Culture's activities cut across many themes[14:23]
• He explains that what they do is hard to put in a single box because it touches many important issues
• He says food and smallholder farmers are at the core of the global economy and grow much of the world's food
• He also notes smallholder farmers are central to political instability related to forced migration
• The big change he highlights is the need to present their complex ecosystem in ways that fit a specific investor's box at a specific time

Building a profitable, scalable platform for farmers

Demonstrating that impact businesses can make money

Need to prove attractive returns to unlock more capital[15:10]
• Samir argues that to get more money into businesses like Sun Culture, they must prove such businesses can help investors make money
• He says incentives rule the world, and investment returns are among the biggest incentives
• He is comfortable describing Sun Culture as a for-profit business that intends to make investors a lot of money

Evolving into a marketplace between farmers and vendors

Farmers making money want more products[15:44]
• Samir explains many smallholder farmers are making substantial money for the first time and, like others, want to buy more things
• Farmers are coming to Sun Culture asking for more products because they are now earning
Creating a marketplace between bankable farmers and companies[16:26]
• On one side, Sun Culture has smallholder farmers previously seen as unbankable, but now with industry-leading collection rates on financing
• On the other side, there are companies wanting to sell products to farmers
• Sun Culture is becoming a marketplace matching these bankable customers with vendors

Long-term vision and generational wealth

Scaling across products, farmer segments, and geographies[16:20]
• Samir says they want this marketplace to scale across farmers all over the world
• He describes a vision of being the center of an ecosystem providing access to high-quality, bankable farmers and being a trusted partner to farmers globally
• He outlines using physical infrastructure (sales, retail, after-sales, financing) and both physical and digital technology
• The journey starts with smallholder farmers and solar irrigation, then expands to more products and services, and eventually to other farmer segments and geographies
Desire to build a lasting, globally significant business[17:23]
• Samir says if it were up to him, he would never let the company go
• He believes Sun Culture addresses some of the biggest current problems and can create generational wealth for his family and employees' families
• He argues that if they create such wealth and strong investor returns, they can prove an ag-tech or climate-tech business rooted in smallholder farming in Africa can become one of the greatest businesses in the world

Challenges of being a first mover and maintaining a learning culture

Iterating without precedents to copy

Being first in combining multiple elements[17:47]
• Samir notes they were the first to commercialize solar irrigation with financing, services, a carbon business, and software in their context
• Because of this, they could not emulate others and had to navigate without an existing blueprint
Difficulty of filtering external noise and examples[17:58]
• He says one of the hardest parts is resisting the urge to copy others in a media-saturated world full of visible success and failure stories

Continuous innovation and listening to customers

Multi-dimensional innovation required for cost reductions[18:33]
• Samir explains that getting system costs from $5,000 to $500 involved technology, manufacturing, operational, and financing innovation
Handling conflicting feedback from first-time users[18:43]
• As farmers experience the technology for the first time, their feedback can be conflicting because they are learning too
Key internal skill: changing minds with new data[18:46]
• Samir identifies the hardest internal skill as being able to change their minds when new data arrives
• He frames this as more of a cultural and behavioral challenge than a specific technology hurdle

Commitment to long-term support for farmers

Keeping pace with customers' growth[19:06]
• Samir says their customers are growing, and if Sun Culture does not continue supporting them as they grow, the company has failed
Magnitude of farmers' bet on Sun Culture[19:36]
• He notes farmers make the biggest bet of their lives on Sun Culture, spending more money than they have ever spent before
• He insists that if Sun Culture were to leave farmers after only a few growing seasons, it would be a failure
Scaling a culture of lifelong partnership[19:36]
• Samir says the cultural mindset of long-term commitment is the hardest thing to scale as they enter new countries and add new people

Transition to farmer perspective: introducing Josephine Waweru

Cheryl previews Josephine's story

Overview of Josephine's use of Sun Culture's pump[2:31]
• Cheryl says they will learn about Sun Culture's technology in practice from Kenyan farmer Josephine Waweru, who has used a solar pump to change her life

Technical description of Josephine's solar pump and its impact

How the solar pump functions on her farm

Installation and farm context[22:09]
• Cheryl explains that in September 2019, Josephine installed a solar water pump on her three-acre farm
Basic operating mechanism[22:20]
• Using solar power, the pump pulls water from any water source, such as the river Josephine uses
• Water is then pumped into a raised storage tank during the day for later use
• The pump's solar panels provide all its electricity, with no batteries or inverters required

Economic and livelihood benefits realized by Josephine

Reduction of fuel and labor burdens[22:47]
• Since installing the technology, Josephine no longer relies on costly diesel pumps or long, exhausting trips to the river
Income savings and diversification of activities[22:58]
• Cheryl states Josephine has saved over 10,000 Kenyan shillings a month
• Josephine has expanded into fish farming and added potatoes, capsicum, and new coffee bushes to her crops
Shift from survival to growth[23:13]
• Cheryl says these gains are not just marginal; they represent a shift from survival to growth for Josephine

Interview with farmer Josephine Waweru

Josephine's farming journey and start in coffee

Identifying as a farmer[23:27]
• Josephine says the period when she started seeing herself as a farmer has been a four-year journey
Her son's barista career as inspiration[23:39]
• Josephine explains her son worked abroad as a coffee barista and would come home for month-long holidays
• She says he is like his mother and cannot rest, always in school or training
• She notes that to become a good barista, one must relate to coffee from tree to cup, including seeing how coffee grows
Decision to plant coffee trees[24:12]
• Seeing her son's passion for coffee and his chosen path, she decided to do something for him
• She proposed planting some coffee trees so he could train without leaving the farm
• They agreed it was a great idea and she planted about 1,000 coffee trees in partnership with him

Water challenges before solar and reliance on diesel pumps

Struggling with water access for crops[24:32]
• Josephine says she struggled greatly with water for her coffee and other crops
• She mentions growing capsicum and cabbage, all of which needed water
Limitations of diesel pumps and distance to river[24:41]
• She used to hire diesel pumps that came with high costs
• Sometimes the hired operator would not show up, leaving plants without water at critical times
• She notes that a plant needs water when it needs water, highlighting the timing problem
• Water had to be pumped from a river 400 meters away from her place, which she describes as tough
Emotional toll and stopgap measures[25:10]
• Josephine recalls her coffee was truly drying and she was close to losing it
• She says she cried many times and even spoke to her plants, calling them her babies and promising to find help for them
• At times she carried two jars to water plants by hand, but recognized this could not go very far
• She emphasizes she urgently needed a solution

Adopting the solar pump and observing its impacts

Transformational effect of the solar pump[26:01]
• Josephine says that when she got the solar pump, things really changed on her farm
Timeline and relationship to her farming identity[27:15]
• She clarifies her four-year farming journey coincides with using solar-powered pumps
Peer farmers' interest and adoption[26:08]
• Josephine says it is fun to be on her farm because every day they get new ideas growing
• She reports they have added more coffee because they want to grow coffee on a large scale and they also grow maize
• Farmers who visit her farm see how she enjoys water and hear her say she only needs the power of the sun to be good to go
• She calls the pump a climate-smart product, and visiting farmers ask where they can get it
• In the first two months after installing her pump, she says nearly 20 farmers adopted the same product
• She estimates that now over 50 farmers are using the same product and loving it
• She highlights that with the solar pump, farmers no longer have to worry about escalating diesel prices

Seeing farming as a business and measuring returns

Farming as opportunity and numbers game[27:26]
• Cheryl notes that one powerful point from Josephine's talk was the idea that farming is business and an opportunity
• Josephine mentions expanding coffee production and growing maize, indicating a business-oriented expansion
Indicators of return on investment[27:32]
• Asked when she began to see a return on her investment and technology risk, Josephine says it was when she no longer worried about what she would serve on the table
• She notes she now has something in her pocket and can decide which project comes next
• She and her family always have a plan of things they want to do because they are building something they think will be big one day on the farm

Planning for resilience and advising young people

Creating a fallback for uncertain futures[28:00]
• Josephine says it is important to have something to fall back on, as the future of the world is uncertain
• She wants to ensure that if a child comes back home, there is always something they can fall back to
Message to young people about skills and agriculture[28:19]
• Josephine tells young people they cannot stick with just one skill
• She urges them to learn as many skills as possible, saying that is the only way to survive because things are changing
• She challenges them to look at opportunities "into the soil" because there is a lot of money in the soil
• She says your 1,000 can grow into millions and your 10 shillings can grow into thousands through farming

Hope for the future and closing thoughts

Source of Josephine's hope[28:55]
• Asked what gives her hope, Josephine says her hope lies in this generation and generations to come
• She says she prays to God to be around to see the change that is going to come through
• She believes that if people sit down, do the right thing, and create something in the young generation that will go far, significant change is possible
Cheryl's thanks and recognition[29:39]
• Cheryl thanks Josephine for taking the time and congratulates her on her successes and all the work she is doing
• Josephine responds with thanks

Show closing and production credits

Recap of series and invitation to listeners

Outro from Cheryl/Sherelle Dorsey[30:26]
• The host identifies Josephine as a farmer from Sagana, Kenya, and then transitions to closing the show
• The host thanks listeners for checking out the special series and says more interviews from the Countdown Climate Summit in Nairobi will be released in coming weeks
Encouragement to continue the conversation online[29:51]
• Listeners are invited to keep the conversation going on social media at @TED and @TEDCountdown on Instagram and X

Acknowledgment of production team

Production credits[30:22]
• The host notes that TED Tech is a podcast from TED and says this episode was produced by Lucy Little and Trina Menino
• She credits Alejandra Salazar as the editor and Jen Nam as the fact-checker
• Special thanks are given to Constanza Gallardo, Daniela Barreso, Maria Ladias, Tanzika Sangmanivan, and Roxanne Heilash
Request for reviews and sign-off[30:50]
• Listeners are encouraged to subscribe and leave a review so others can find the show
• The host signs off by saying, "I'm Sherelle Dorsey. Let's keep digging into the future. Join me next week for more."

Lessons Learned

Actionable insights and wisdom you can apply to your business, career, and personal life.

1

Designing impactful solutions starts with deeply understanding the people you serve by repeatedly asking them what problems they need solved and adapting your offerings based on their feedback.

Reflection Questions:

  • • Whose problems am I trying to solve right now, and when was the last time I directly asked them what they actually need?
  • • How could I build more structured listening loops into my work so I can update my solutions as new feedback comes in?
  • • What is one current project where I could schedule conversations with end users this month to refine the direction?
2

Big, seemingly intractable problems become tractable when you focus on reducing key constraints over time-like driving down costs through both technical innovation and creative business models.

Reflection Questions:

  • • What is the main constraint that keeps my product, service, or idea out of reach for the people who need it most?
  • • In what ways could I complement technical improvements with new financing, pricing, or partnership models to remove that constraint?
  • • What is one experiment I could run in the next quarter to test a different way of making my solution more affordable or accessible?
3

To attract meaningful capital for mission-driven work, you must align with investors' incentives and clearly show how doing good also generates strong, measurable returns.

Reflection Questions:

  • • How well do I currently understand the incentives and success metrics of the people or organizations I'm asking to support my work?
  • • What data or stories could I gather to demonstrate that my impact-focused project also creates economic or strategic value for partners?
  • • What is one change I could make to my pitch or reporting this month to better connect my mission to the outcomes funders care about?
4

Being a first mover requires cultivating a culture that is willing to change its mind as new data emerges, rather than clinging to initial assumptions or external examples.

Reflection Questions:

  • • Where in my work or life am I holding onto an old assumption even though I've been getting new information?
  • • How might my decisions improve if I explicitly treated new data as a prompt to revisit, rather than defend, my current strategy?
  • • What is one decision I'm facing now where I could formally review fresh evidence and adjust course within the next two weeks?
5

Long-term trust with customers or community members is built by honoring the magnitude of the bet they make on you and committing to support them beyond the initial transaction.

Reflection Questions:

  • • Who has taken a significant risk on me or my work, and what have I done to show that I recognize and respect that risk?
  • • How could I redesign parts of my service or relationship model to better support people after the initial sale or engagement?
  • • What is one concrete follow-up action I can take this week to provide extra value to an existing customer, client, or collaborator?
6

Diversifying your skills and income streams-especially through real, productive assets like land-can turn small resources into substantial resilience over time.

Reflection Questions:

  • • What skills or income sources do I rely on heavily today, and how vulnerable would I be if one of them disappeared?
  • • How might adding a new, tangible or skill-based income stream change my sense of security over the next few years?
  • • What is one practical step I could take this month to learn a new skill or start a small side project that could grow into a fallback option?
7

Investing in the next generation by exposing them to meaningful work and examples of possibility can compound into large-scale change over time.

Reflection Questions:

  • • Which young people in my life or community could benefit from seeing up close what meaningful work looks like?
  • • How could I more intentionally share my knowledge, stories, or opportunities so they become seeds for someone else's path?
  • • What specific conversation, visit, or mentoring action could I schedule in the next month to positively influence a younger person's outlook?

Episode Summary - Notes by Jordan

Sunday Pick: Tech Solutions (#1): The affordable tech that will revolutionize farming (with Samir Ibrahim and Josephine Waweru)
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