Farmers in Kenya are turning to alternative methods of keeping their crops alive. As rain-fed agriculture is not the most reliable way of running a farm, a lot of farmers have turned to irrigation systems that water their crops. However, these systems come with a price, being both expensive and frustrating. Maria Galang met one farmer who is turning to the sun - whose heat dries out his crops - to help them thrive.

I'm in a town called Isinya, its about 58 kilometers outside of Kenya's capital Nairobi, and as you can see, it's a very dry, semi-arid region, and its very difficult to grow anything here. But with a little bit of technology, anything is possible?

When Moses Kool decided to try his hand at small-holder farming in Isinya three years ago, he struggled to make any profit?He started by using electricity to pump water from a borehole to his crops, but getting an adequate supply proved costly and inefficient?

"You know this is a very dry area, it rains twice a year, which means we have to spend a lot of money watering these crops…" Kool said.

He decided to research more cost effective methods, and came across the solar pumping technology, run by company called sunculture. He decided to give it a try a year ago, and since then, he's had one successful harvest, with another on the way?.

"I find it better, than the old way, I am saving more money, and I can control when I want the crops to be watered…." Kool said.

Installation of the entire system, costs just under 1000 US dollars? And currently it saves Moses 200 dollars or more every month on electricity costs?

Across Africa, several nations are moving aggressively to develop their solar and wind capacity? Research has shown that there is enough sunlight falling on the continent to power not only Africa and Europe but the entire world.