The missing piece in climate action (it's not what you think) | Yi Li

Summary

Podcast Summary: TED Talks Daily

Episode: The missing piece in climate action (it's not what you think) | Yi Li
Date: January 19, 2026
Host: Elise Hu
Speaker: Yi Li, climate entrepreneur and cofounder of Farmworks
Location: TED Countdown Summit, Nairobi, Kenya, 2025

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Overview

This episode features a powerful and pragmatic talk by Yi Li, who draws from her experience as CEO and cofounder of Farmworks, a company aimed at developing climate-smart agriculture in Kenya. Li challenges a core tenet of the environmental movement by arguing that financial sustainability—profitability—must come first if climate solutions are to be truly effective and scalable. Her narrative, grounded in real-world setbacks and hard-earned revelations, reframes the conversation around climate action to prioritize economics, not just technology or good intentions.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Moving Beyond Classic Impact Metrics

• Yi Li opens by citing Farmworks' traditional success indicators:

  • 3,000 farmers supported
  • $6 million direct income to farmers
  • 50 tons of food waste prevented monthly
  • [03:43]

  "But what if I tell you they are no longer the most important metrics to me anymore? Today, the number one metric that I care about as CEO of Farmworks is our profitability."
  — Yi Li (03:56)

2. The Reality Gap: Grand Solutions vs. Daily Marketplace

• Initial efforts focused on technical climate solutions—water dams, net houses, drip irrigation, organic fertilizers—followed "every right climate solution by the book".
• The challenge: When there was no demand, produce rotted; storage overflowed.
• Fundamental question for every farmer:

  "Who is going to buy my produce and pay for all my hard work and investment?"
  — Yi Li (05:03)

3. The Burnout of NGO Cycles

• Farm communities are jaded by waves of NGOs/startups promising change but vanishing when funding dries up.
• Notable farmer feedback:

  "Every two years there is a new organization... They disappear after two years. So we'll see how long Farmworks can last."
  — Kenyan farmer (paraphrased by Yi Li, 05:40)

4. Learning in the Markets, Not the Boardroom

• Li plunged into Marakiti, Nairobi’s bustling vegetable market—learning firsthand the realities of supply, demand, and pricing.
• Initial setbacks and tough market conditions, including being physically shoved, proved deeply instructive.

  "On my first day I got pushed down to the ground by a market vendor. Not exactly the welcome I was expecting."
  — Yi Li (06:55)

5. Scaling by Partnership, Not Imposition

• Due to unmet demand, Farmworks expanded by training and partnering with more local farmers.

• Surprising resistance: Technologies like drip irrigation often sat unused; methods weren’t adopted if not financially rewarding for the farmers.

  "We were imposing solutions, but not really solving problems."
  — Yi Li (08:18)

• Drip irrigation saves water, but running costs (fuel, materials) deterred adoption.

• Key Realization: Without capital or guaranteed returns, good ideas rarely get implemented.

6. The Most Powerful Incentive Is Income

• Instead of further training, Farmworks started simply buying and distributing produce from farmers, providing direct income.

  "With the income from us, the farmers actually started to invest in better practices."
  — Yi Li (08:47)

• Economics, not knowledge alone, proved to be the necessity for adoption.

7. Shifting Youth Narratives

• The myth: Young people don’t want to farm.
• The reality: "Young people in Kenya love agriculture. But what they love even more is to have a decent job and earn a decent income."
  — Yi Li (09:13)
• 80%+ of Farmworks’ employees are under 30.

8. Evolving the Dream: From Building Farms to Empowering Farmers

• The initial dream to “build 1,000 farms” persists, but those farms are now farmer-owned and driven by local knowledge and efforts.

9. Painful Business Lessons

• For years, even after establishing a market, Farmworks continued to lose money.

• Necessary cutbacks included closing demonstration sites and halting expansion.

  "Turns out it was really difficult to save money compared to spending it."
  — Yi Li (10:38)

• But profitability was essential for lasting impact.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Real sustainability, climate or otherwise, must come from economics first. I'm not talking about choosing profit over planet, but...without the viable economics, our climate projects might remain as expensive experiments, but not really scalable solutions.”
  — Yi Li (11:10)

• “When farmers earn an income, they can invest in better practices. When companies achieve profitability, we can protect and scale our impact. When communities prosper economically, they're able and can afford to care about their environment in the long term.”
  — Yi Li (11:25)

• Call to Action:

  "The best thing we can do for our climate is to build economically viable solutions. Let there be economics first. Then, and only then, can we unlock real, lasting climate impact."
  — Yi Li (11:34)

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Key Timestamps

• 03:43 — Yi Li begins her talk
• 05:03 — Raises the fundamental profitability question facing climate-smart farming
• 06:10-07:20 — Reality of Nairobi’s Marakiti vegetable market; market entry challenges
• 08:18-08:55 — Realization: Providing economically meaningful solutions matters most
• 09:13-09:39 — Youth involvement and employment in agriculture
• 10:38 — Struggles and hard lessons of reaching financial sustainability
• 11:10-11:34 — Conclusion: Economics must underpin lasting climate solutions

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Conclusion & Takeaways

Yi Li’s TED talk punctures familiar assumptions of the climate action sphere, advocating for economics as the indispensable foundation rather than an afterthought. Her story highlights that truly sustainable and scalable environmental impact depends on creating viable markets and profitable models that empower local actors—turning idealistic interventions into living, growing solutions.

This episode is a must-listen for social entrepreneurs, environmental advocates, and anyone interested in how climate action can move from pilot projects to transformative change.

Transcript

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[Elise Hu]

This episode is brought to you by Planet Visionaries in partnership with the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative. I often think about the big ideas in the future that we're building together and honestly, climate news feels heavy. But here's the thing. There are people out there doing incredible work that actually gives me hope. And that's why I want to tell you about Planet Visionaries, hosted by Alex Honnold. Yes, the free solo climber who is turning his focus to the biggest challenge of all, protecting the only planet we've got. Alex brings his signature curiosity to conversations with the people reshaping our planet's future. In one episode, he talks to Mark Ruffalo, conservationist and actor, about how he has leveraged storytelling to galvanize community and how we can rethink energy and spark real change. These aren't doom and gloom conversations. From Arctic scientists to explorers and activists, every episode reminds us that optimism isn't wishful thinking, it's a strategy. And it's working. In partnership with the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative, this is Planet Visionaries. Listen or watch on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you're listening to this podcast. This episode is brought to you by Butcherbox. You're back in the swing of things. Routines are resetting and mealtime is somehow still happening multiple times a day. Butcherbox is here to help with that. They've helped me stay on track with premium protein delivered just when I need it, so my meals feel intentional, nourishing and never stressful. I got these two giant steaks that one of my kids has already devoured and I can't wait to try all of the other delicious meat in the box sent to me by Butcherbox. For over a decade, Butcherbox has led the industry with meat and seafood that's antibiotic free, hormone free and independently verified. It's a clean, trustworthy protein you want to be eating, especially at the start of a new year. As an exclusive offer, new listeners can get their choice between filet mignon, New York strip or chicken breast in every box for a year, plus $20 off when you go to butcherbox.com TTD that's right, your choice of filet mignon, New York strip or chicken breast in every box for an entire year. Plus $20 off your first box and free shipping always. That's butcherbox.com TTD don't forget to use our link so they know we sent you. You're listening to TED Talks Daily where we bring you new ideas and conversations to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. When climate entrepreneur Yi Lee co founded Farmwork, she set out to build 1,000 climate smart farms across Kenya, complete with dams, irrigation and organic fertilizers. The science was sound, but reality proved more complicated. In her talk, she outlines what she discovered about the missing ingredient behind failed climate solutions and how it challenges a core assumption of the environmental movement.

[Yi Lee]

3000 farmers supported $6 million in direct income to farmers. 50 tons of food waste prevented every month. These numbers represent farmworks impact over the last five years. But what if I tell you they are no longer the most important metrics to me anymore? Today, the number one metric that I care about as CEO of farmworks is our profitability. Now before you judge me and think how did we let this capitalist on the stage? Hear me out. Five years ago, I co founded Farmworks with a grand mission to build 1000 climate smart, highly productive farms across Kenya. We invested in water dams, net houses, drip irrigation, organic fertilizers. We had every right climate solution by the book. But then harvest time came and I realized when walking into our grading shed, there were crates of tomatoes rotting away because we didn't have enough orders. Our storage room was bursting with onions. It looks almost funny, but I was standing there thinking, great, now what? At the end of the day, every farmer has to answer one question. Who is going to buy my produce and pay for all my hard work and investment? Without the financial outcomes, climate initiatives cannot sustain themselves. This lesson hit me particularly hard a few years ago during one of our investor visits. The investor asked our group of farmers, so how do you like working with farmworks so far? One farmer said, yeah, we like them a lot so far. But you see, every two years there is a new organization coming to us with a new project. They disappear after two years. So we'll see how long farmworks can last. I felt my stomach drop. In that moment, these farmers have gotten used to countless NGOs, donors, startups rolling with grand climate visions, big promises only to vanish when funding dries up. And without the financial sustainability, we too would be gone in just a few seasons. In that moment, finding financial sustainability for Farmworks meant we had to sell all of our produce. So that's when I threw myself into Kenya's vegetable wholesale market. This is 5am at Marakiti, one of the largest wholesale markets in downtown Nairobi. It was chaotic. So many sellers fighting for the best spot to sell. The customers are fighting for the highest quality creative tomatoes. And I'm Chinese, so I'm very much used to crowds and competition. But this was next level. I immediately knew I had to be part of this excitement. I started delivering tomatoes with our trucks to the markets. And on my first day I got pushed down to the ground by a market vendor. Not exactly the welcome I was expecting. But over the years I. I learned to be part of the market. I figured out how prices actually work, how weather can totally change supply and demand overnight. And made friends with market ladies, many of them who are now our customers, proudly selling produce from farmworks. Once the market figured out, we were able to sell almost everything. In fact, we realized that our own farms could never be enough to meet the food demand. In the end, people are eating every day of the year, but no farmer can be harvesting 365 days of the year. So we decided to partner with more farmers. Starting by training them with climate smart techniques. This is what surprised me when we gave farmers drip irrigation kits. Sometimes they sit unused when we show them the more hygienic crop support structures. They were still using the same old method. It was hard to admit, but the reality is we were imposing solutions, but not really solving problems. The drip irrigation could save water, but costs fuel to operate. The more hygienic crop support structure might prevent disease, but cost money to buy. We were providing knowledge, but not really capital or guaranteed returns. And without enough financial incentives, the farmers cannot really afford to implement those good ideas. So we changed our approach. Instead of focusing on training, we simply started buying and distributing the farmers produce and give them a real income. What happened next shocked me even more. Because with the income from us, the farmers actually started to invest in better practices, better equipments, investing in their own farms. So it turns out the right economics was more powerful than the right knowledge. And you know what else? Supposedly young people are not very interested in agriculture. That is not true. Young people in Kenya love agriculture. But what they love even more is to have a decent job and earn a decent income. At farmworks, more than 80% of our employees are under the age of 30. We are an agriculture business made by young talent. Over the years we have grown into one of the largest vegetable wholesalers in Kenya. In 2024, we sold 100 million tomatoes. That might sound like a lot until you do the math. It's barely two tomato per person in Kenya. So we still have a lot of room to grow and a long way to go. And remember my original dream of building 1,000 farms. That is still being realized, but in a different way. Today, the farms are being built not by us, but by the farmers who know their own land and communities the best. With steady market uptake and consistent income from us, they are now able to invest in their own farms and reach out to us when they need help. Finding financial sustainability was not easy. For years after finding our market, we were still bleeding money. I had to make difficult decisions of shutting down priced demonstration farms, halting new partnerships, even closing regions that were too far away for us to serve. Turns out it was really difficult to save money compared to spending it. But I knew the only way for us to survive and grow our impact is through finding financial sustainability. Today, we're a business with healthy margins and growth. More than 300 employees work for us, and more than 10,000 market vendors rely on us for their daily supplies. The hard lesson I learned from the years of being a social entrepreneur is that real sustainability, climate or otherwise, must come from economics first. I'm not talking about choosing profit over planet, but I have recognized that without the viable economics, our climate projects and initiatives might remain as expensive experiments, but not really scalable solutions. Think about it. When farmers earn an income, they can invest in better practices. When companies achieve profitability, we can protect and scale our impact. When communities prosper economically, they're able and can afford to care about their environment in the long term. So here is my message. The best thing we can do for our climate is to build economically viable solutions. Let there be economics first. Then, and only then, can we unlock real, lasting climate impact. Thank you.

[Elise Hu]

That was E. Lee at the TED Countdown Summit in Nairobi, Kenya in 2025. If you're curious about Ted's curation, find out [e-mail] curationguidelines and that's it for today. TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective. This talk was fact checked by the TED research team and produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Greene, Lucy Little and Tansika Sangmarni Vong. This episode was mixed by Lucy Little. Additional support from Emma Tobner and Daniela Ballaraizo. I'm Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed. Thanks for listening.

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[Elise Hu]

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