KickStart is a non-profit social enterprise with the mission to lift millions of people out of poverty with our high quality, low cost technologies.

O730,000 People Out of Poverty; 230,000 Children in School (As of June 1, 2013)

Over one billion people worldwide live in extreme poverty; the majority of them live in Sub-Saharan Africa and eke out a living as small-scale farmers. Many live on small plots of land and plant crops during the one or two rainy seasons hoping to grow enough to get them through the long dry and hungry season. Most grow the same rain-fed crops, harvest them at same time and sell them into the same markets, making just enough money to survive, but not enough to escape poverty. With irrigation, we know that farmers can safeguard their crops against drought and climatic emergencies, create sustainable, thriving small businesses by growing more and selling their crops at a profit, and effectively lift themselves and their families out of poverty.

KickStart creates opportunities for poor, rural, entrepreneurial farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa to make money and offers a permanent solution to address the deepest root of poverty; lack of income. Most social organizations helping developing countries only provide services to alleviate the effects of poverty, not the root cause. KickStart designs and mass markets simple, money-making tools that open up business opportunities for poor smallholder farmers. MoneyMaker brand, human powered, irrigation pumps are the most widely used of these products and provide an ideal and environmentally friendly solution that will quickly enable poor farming families to access water and grow crops. These low-cost ($35 and $100 USD) pumps are sold in local retail shops (KickStart works with factories, shippers, distributors and dealers to ensure that our pumps are made widely available and accessible to poor communities and in rural areas), and once purchased, enable farmers to move from rain-fed farming to irrigated agriculture at which point they can grow crops year-round and sell their crops at a profit during the dry season when prices are high. With increased income, they lift themselves out of poverty and improve their quality of life by being able to access: plentiful food, clean water, education for their children and healthcare for their families.

KickStart’s mission is to get millions of people out of poverty quickly, cost effectively, and sustainably. By doing this KickStart aims to change the way the world fights poverty.