Everyone needs water. We need it to drink, to cook, to grow food. Clean water is essential for all life, but according to the United Nations, 2.3 billion people live in countries where the demand for water regularly outstrips the supply, and climate change is making the problem worse. Kenyan entrepreneur Beth Koigi has a solution to this global challenge that sounds like sorcery. She can pull water out of thin air.

Growing up in lush central Kenya, Koigi never experienced water scarcity until she went to college in the drier, eastern part of the country. When she turned on the tap, the water was clouded with silt, a familiar problem in a country where it’s estimated that around 20 million people lack clean drinking water, causing nearly 15,000 deaths per year.

“There are regions in the country where access to clean drinking water is a big challenge,” said Koigi, who has been named a Rolex Awards for Enterprise Laureate, recognizing her as an extraordinary individual who is responding to major challenges with original and innovative projects that advance human knowledge and well-being. “There I was, fetching water from our campus taps that were full of silt, yet nobody seemed to be concerned. I had to think of a way to clean my water.”

She solved her problem by designing simple charcoal water filters that worked so well, she was soon selling them around the country. But when severe drought struck sub-Saharan Africa in 2016, millions of Kenyans suddenly had no water at all. Koigi responded to this crisis by developing a technology that has the power to ease water scarcity not just in Kenya but around the world.

Collaborating with Canadian environmental scientist Anastasia Kaschenko and Oxford economist Clare Sewell, Koigi developed a solar-powered Atmospheric Water Generator capable of pulling hundreds of liters of water a day out of the air. It works like a dehumidifier, with fans forcing air across an extremely cold surface where condensation forms water droplets that are filtered, mineralized and collected for use. Watching clean water flow from this gleaming machine feels like magic, and so it’s appropriate that she named her venture Majik Water.

“There’s six times more water in the air than in all the rivers around the world,” said Koigi. “Even in the desert you can get way more water than you would expect.”

Majik Water currently produces around 300,000 liters of water per month, sustaining around 2,100 Kenyan households. The support of the Rolex Awards for Enterprise will enable Koigi to scale, spreading the benefits of her work across Kenya, starting by building water kiosks for refugees living in the Kakuma refugee camp and Kalobeyei Integrated Settlement. Even in her country’s driest regions, Koigi’s technology will provide water anywhere there is air.