Western Studios, Leeds Ltd

Recorded on 28/01/2026Tony Crooks started LeedsNet.com, the first public information service for Leeds, thirty years ago in 1996, before the internet got to the UK. He had 54 telephone lines, with a modem for each line, in the back to back house in Harehills he lived in at the time.Originally starting his working life in horticulture, Tony became an award‑winning cabinet maker, and he has carried that mind-set of having the right tools for the job into his role as Group Head of Research and Development at Aotea Global, where he now applies the right mix of knowledge, methods, and on‑the‑ground practices to solve real problems for communities and governments across Africa.Welcome to How to Change the Size of Raindrops. Tony is leading a massive $3 billion program to restore water cycles across East and Southern Africa. By re-greening huge areas of barren land with simple, natural methods the program will end floods and droughts, deliver full food-security to the nations involved, and enable them to export food in future years—just what Europe and the UK will need as climate change cuts their crop yields. All the tools needed to fix these problems already exist; some are modern innovations and some have been used successfully for thousands of years. These tools are all tested, proven to work, and designed to work together as a whole, rather than in isolation.Most people assume that helping to save the planet cannot make money and is basically charity work but the projections Tony has seen from financial experts show that these programmes can stand on their own feet and generate strong returns. Making them an ideal investment for anyone who wants to make the world better and, at the same time, earn a decent profit. The Zimbabwian water delivery project he discusses in this episode is in the very final stages of negotiation now, and Tony has been told there will be orders for enough pumps to provide clean water at the point of need to between 2.5 to 5 million people in remote villages, meaning that those people's lives will be transformed. They will be able to grow all the food they need, water their animals, have much improved health outcomes and girls can go to school and get an education.This is a brilliant episode about a Loiner who’s doing truly amazing things and it’s another one where we go off-piste from my standard questions. Aotea Global will expand its presence from eight to twelve East & Southern African nations this year. Aotea Global are building a new website to replace the temporary one at http://www.aotea.global and the email for investors is investors@aotea.global – though they don’t have facilities yet for small investors, but you can still register interest.NB This is not financial adviceYou can find out more about Tony’s work at: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tony-crooks-aotea/ Or email him at: tony.crooks@aotea.global Terrance McKenna clip from https://youtu.be/jDTWocis0YQ?si=Q3AsrJ3mK1H4Ic-A