Futurepump’s solar powered irrigation systems provide clean and cost effective water management solutions for farmers operating on a small scale.

Futurepump manufactures portable, solar powered irrigation systems for use by smallholder farmers. Each irrigation kit comes with a pump mechanism powered by a solar panel, a suction pipe, hose for water distribution, and irrigation sprinklers. The suction pipe can retrieve water from depths of up to seven and a half metres – making it ideal for farmers that rely on shallow wells, rivers, or lakes to water their crops – and can pump up to one litre per second. The pump mechanism is lightweight and foldable, including the solar panels, making it more easily transported than heavy diesel alternatives.

Their price level was determined with affordability for smallholder farmers in mind, and comes with a five year warranty. A key feature of the design is its simplicity, meaning that many farmers are able to fix problems themselves using the user manual and spare parts provided by the distributors. In addition, all new pumps are fitted with a sim card and data logging system, which tracks usage of the pump and can be used to forecast maintenance needs – for instance, the sensor devices could detect if a part needs changing, and send a text notification to the user to repair it.

The solar irrigation pumps are currently available in nine countries across Africa and Asia.

In Kenya, where Futurepump was developed, over two thirds of the population work in agriculture, with an average farm size of half an acre, to supply 60% of the food consumed by Kenyan people. However, prolonged drought across the country put pressure on farmers to irrigate their crops, an expensive undertaking for smallholder farmers relying on diesel water pumps. Futurepump’s solar irrigation systems can provide a lower cost irrigation mechanism that saves them both the time and cost of using conventional fuel systems.