KickStart International

KickStart International is a nonprofit social enterprise headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. KickStart designs and mass-markets climate-smart irrigation technology to smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, in order to enable a transition from subsistence agriculture to commercial irrigated agriculture. Donor funds are used to design the irrigation pumps, establish supply chains, demonstrate and promote the pumps, and educate farmers on the benefits and methods of small-scale irrigation.[1]

KickStart International
Type Non-profit social enterprise
Founded 1991
Focus Poverty alleviation
Food security
Climate change adaptation
Women's empowerment
Location Headquarters: Nairobi, Kenya

International/Us: San Francisco, CA

Product Design: Nairobi, Kenya

Regional Hubs: Lusaka, Zambia

Method Irrigation-based solutions for poverty reduction
Website http://kickstart.org/

Background

Food supply across sub-Saharan Africa is highly unstable due to its 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]

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, where he met Moon, who was in Kenya with the Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO). The two worked closely together on a variety of development interventions, including building rural water systems, constructing schools, and creating job training programs. Out of frustration with traditional development models, Fisher and Moon developed an alternative model for poverty alleviation.[4] 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.[5][6] Together, they founded ApproTEC, which later became KickStart International in 2005.

Starting in 1998, KickStart began developing a line of manually operated irrigation pumps, designed to enable farmers to easily pull water from a river, pond, or shallow well, and pressurize it through a hose pipe to reach their crops. Through this small-scale technological intervention, farmer can harvest their crops year-round, facilitating a transition from rain-fed subsistence farming to year-round commercial irrigated agriculture.[7] The MoneyMaker Max can pressurize water to a total height of 50 feet (15 m), pushing it through a hose pipe as far as 200 metres (660 ft), and can irrigate as much as two acres (0.81 ha) of land.[8]

Recognition

KickStart has received the following awards: Schwab Foundation's Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs (2003),[9] US State Department "Innovation Award for the Empowerment of Women and Girls" (2012),[10] Forbes Magazine Impact 30 List - World's leading social entrepreneurs (2011),[11] Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability (2008), Social Capitalist Award Fast Company Magazine & the Monitor Group (2008),[12] Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship (2005),[13] Gleitsman Award of Achievement (2003).[14]

References
  1. "About Us". KickStart International. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  2. "What Is the Irrigation Potential for Africa?" (PDF). Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  3. Holland, Mina; Tucker, Ian; Mark, Monica; Kelly, Annie; Honigsbaum, Olivia (25 August 2012). "Africa innovations: 15 ideas helping to transform a continent". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  4. The New Heroes. https://www.pbs.org/opb/thenewheroes/meet/moon.html
  5. "Africa can feed the world: Nick Moon founder of KickStart". On the Up. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  6. "KickStart International". Archived from the original on 8 April 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  7. Coleman, Isobel (8 August 2012). "Africa's Coming Agricultural Revolution". The Atlantic. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  8. 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.
  9. "Social Entrepreneurs | Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship". Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  10. "Annual Report 2012" (PDF). kickstart.org. 2012.
  11. "The Forbes Impact 30 List". Forbes. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  12. "The 2008 Social Capitalist Awards | Fast Company". Archived from the original on 17 May 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  13. "Skoll Awardees". Skoll. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  14. "Martin J. Fisher | Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship". Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
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