Meshack Thuranira, a vegetable farmer from Tigania village, eastern Kenya, used to fetch water in a bucket to irrigate his crop. The yields were always poor and fetched little money, and he could barely afford to feed his family or send his children to school.

In 1998, Thuranira purchased the SuperMoneyMaker micro-irrigation pump, created through USAID funding. Thuranira's yield quickly grew tenfold, and he was able to produce vegetables year-round. In the four years since installing the pump, he has earned enough money to buy two more acres of land, grow a wider variety of vegetables, employ two farm assistants to handle the growing harvest, and pay school fees for his two sons.

In June 2003, Newsweek Magazine named the SuperMoneyMaker Pump one of "Ten Inventions That Will Change Your World." ...Read more