Along the sun-drenched banks of the River Nzoia in western Kenya, a quiet transformation is taking root. Fields that once lay bare, scorched by droughts and battered by unpredictable floods, now flourish with rows of thriving crops, nurtured by the steady waters of newly built irrigation canals.

At the heart of this change is the Lower Nzoia Irrigation Project, built by China's Sino Hydro Company Limited, the biggest irrigation project in Kenya. The 250-kilometer Nzoia River is a major tributary of Lake Victoria, the biggest freshwater lake in Africa and supports millions of people in western Kenya.