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KickStart International

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KickStart International
Type Non-profit social enterprise
Founded 1991
Focus Poverty alleviation
Food security
Climate change adaptation
Women's empowerment
Location Sub-Saharan African
Scope Working in 18 countries
Method Irrigation solutions for poverty reduction
Mission Our mission is to get millions of people out of poverty quickly, cost-effectively and sustainably. And in doing so, change the way the world fights poverty.
Website kickstart.org

KickStart International is an award-winning nonprofit social enterprise that designs and mass-markets manually-powered irrigation pumps to poor rural farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. KickStart uses donor funds to design the pumps, establish the supply chains, demonstrate and promote the pumps, and educate farmers about the benefits and methods of irrigation.[1]

Overview

KickStart is a non-profit organization specializing in irrigation technology targeted to improve the harvests of sub-Saharan Africa’s impoverished smallholder farmers. When it comes to food supply, Africa faces enormous instability due to unpredictable climate and water reserves.[2] Only 6% of Africa's cultivated land is irrigated, limiting the volume of crops that can be grown out of season, but increased access to irrigation systems stands to increase food productivity by up to 50%.[3]

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations believes that locally produced low-cost treadle pumps could boost security in the region.[4] KickStart’s strategy is aligned with this philosophy as the organization designs and sells durable yet affordable “MoneyMaker” branded irrigation pumps. Starting in 1998, KickStart began developing this line of manually operated irrigation pumps which allow farmers to easily pull water from a river, pond, or shallow well, and pressurize it through a hose pipe to reach their crops. The MoneyMaker Max, for example, can pressurize water to a total height of 50 feet, pushing it through a hose pipe as far as 200 m, and can irrigate as much as two acres of land.[5] The low-cost ($70 and $150) pumps are purchased by poor farmers who use them to irrigate their plots, enabling them to move from rain-fed subsistence farming to year-round commercial irrigated agriculture.[6]

KickStart sells the pumps instead of giving them away as Co-Founder Martin Fisher believes it kills local initiative and that people don’t necessarily appreciate things that are given.[7] Instead, Fisher believes selling the pumps promotes entrepreneurship instead of dependence.[8]

KickStart has offices in Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, and Ghana, but works in 18 countries throughout Africa through partner organizations.[9]

History

KickStart was founded in 1991 by Dr. Martin Fisher and Nick Moon. Fisher first went to Kenya on a Fulbright Fellowship to study the Appropriate Technology Movement. Moon went to Kenya as part of the Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) the British equivalent of the United States Peace Corps. The two met while working for a large British aid organization and over a period of five years, they worked on multiple kinds of development interventions from building rural water systems, to building schools, and creating job training programs.

Out of the frustration of traditional development models, Fisher and Moon built a new model to create a new way to help people escape poverty.[10] Together, they applied the lessons they had learned and in 1991, they founded ApproTEC, which in 2005 became KickStart International. Their model was based on a five-step process to develop, launch and promote simple money-making tools that poor entrepreneurs could use to create their own profitable businesses.[11][12]

Results

Since 1991, over 220,000 successful new businesses have been started in Africa using KickStart’s tools (as of November 2016) – with more than 800 new businesses being created each month.[13]

KickStart’s rigorous and systematic approach to impact evaluation has proven the impact of their irrigation tools on smallholder farmers and their families.[14][15] The pumps increase farm incomes through irrigation by 500% on average, helping move 1.1 million people out of poverty (as of November 2016).[16] KickStart has sold more than 290,000 pumps to date (as of November 2016) across the developing nations of Africa. The impacts have been particularly transformative for women and children.[17] Additionally, KickStart’s model is being studied to inform social enterprise’s contributions to international development.[18][19]

Recognition

Among the many awards received: Schwab Foundation's Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs (2003),[20] US State Department "Innovation Award for the Empowerment of Women and Girls" (2012),[21] Forbes Magazine Impact 30 List - World's leading social entrepreneurs (2011),[22] Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability (2008), Social Capitalist Award Fast Company Magazine & the Monitor Group (2008),[23] Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship (2005),[24] Gleitsman Award of Achievement (2003).[25]

References

  1. ^ KickStart - About Us. http://www.kickstart.org/about-us/
  2. ^ What Is the Irrigation Potential for Africa? A Combined Biophysical and Socioeconomic ApproachInternational Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) 2010 http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/publications/ifpridp00993.pdf
  3. ^ Africa’s innovations: 15 ideas helping to transform a continent. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/aug/26/africa-innovations-transform-continent
  4. ^ Needed by African farmers: simple water pumps. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/highlights/2001/010103-e.htm
  5. ^ Michael D. Galvin, Lora Iannotti. (2015) Social Enterprise and Development: The KickStart Model. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 26421-441. Online publication date: 1-Apr-2015.
  6. ^ Africa’s Coming Revolution. Isabel Coleman. August 8, 2012. http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/08/africas-coming-agricultural-revolution/260867/
  7. ^ PBS. Fighting Poverty in Kenya by Selling Water Pumps to Poor Farmers. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/social_issues-july-dec10-kickstart_07-13/
  8. ^ Africa’s Coming Revolution. Isabel Coleman. August 8, 2012. http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/08/africas-coming-agricultural-revolution/260867/
  9. ^ KickStart Annual Report http://annualreport.kickstart.org/2014/where-and-how-we-work/where-we-work/
  10. ^ The New Heroes. http://www.pbs.org/opb/thenewheroes/meet/moon.html
  11. ^ Africa can feed the world. http://www.ontheup.org.uk/index.php/2011/08/africa-can-feed-the-world/
  12. ^ KickStart - What We Do. http://www.kickstart.org/what-we-do/
  13. ^ Episode 19 Interview with Martin Fisher, co-founder of KickStart International. http://inspiringsocialentrepreneurs.com/episode-19-interview-martin-fisher-co-founder-kickstart-international/
  14. ^ Fisher, M. (2006). Income is development: Kickstart's pumps help Kenyan farmers transition to a cash economy. innovations, 1(1), 9-30.
  15. ^ Fisher, M., Moon, Nick. (2005). Kickstart International IV: Measuring Impact. Global Health Innovation Series. https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/documents/KickStartIV-MeasuringImpact.pdf
  16. ^ The Simple Water Pump That’s Changing Lives Across the World. http://www.wired.com/2013/12/2112kickstart/
  17. ^ Changing the Game for Female Farmers. Dr. Beatrice Sawa. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/beatrice-sakwa/changing-the-game-for-fem_b_5030962.html
  18. ^ How A Water Pump Is Changing The Lives Of Farmers In Africa. James O’Brien. http://www.forbes.com/sites/citi/2014/03/28/how-a-water-pump-is-changing-the-lives-of-farmers-in-africa/?utm_campaign=techtwittersf&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social
  19. ^ Michael D. Galvin, Lora Iannotti. (2015) Social Enterprise and Development: The KickStart Model. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 26421-441. Online publication date: 1-Apr-2015.
  20. ^ http://www.schwabfound.org/entrepreneurs
  21. ^ http://www.kickstart.org/about-us/KickStart%20Empowers%20Rural%20Women.pdf
  22. ^ http://www.forbes.com/impact-30/list.html
  23. ^ http://www.fastcompany.com/social/2008
  24. ^ http://www.skollfoundation.org/skoll-awardees/
  25. ^ http://www.schwabfound.org/content/martin-j-fisher
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