Every farmer that has ever worked the soils has relied on the power of the Sun.
But farmers around the world are increasingly looking to harness the Sun in another way - through generating electricity from solar photovoltaic panels.
In Africa, farming in large parts of the continent, particularly in more remote rural areas, continues to take place with very little mechanisation. With no means to power machinery, farmers are unable to pump water for irrigation, or use refrigeration to store produce, or carry out activities such as milling, drying and other forms of value-added processing.
This situation leaves rural communities stuck in a low-income trap. "There's a direct connection between the energy poverty reality and food poverty reality," says Carlos Sordo, senior product manager for productive uses of renewable energy at GOGLA, an industry group for off-grid solar.
Even where power is available for farms and agribusinesses, it is often supplied by diesel generators that are expensive to operate, as well as highly polluting.