Daniel and Nancy were among the thousands of Kenyans who lost their homes and livelihoods in the wake of the 2008 election violence. They had spent nearly six months living in a government-run displacement camp when they heard a radio ad for KickStart's MoneyMaker pump, a manually operated irrigation pump that does not require electricity or fuel. "When I saw the MoneyMaker Hip Pump demonstration and heard about it on the radio, I knew it was the answer to how we could earn an income quickly and get back to farming," Daniel said. Using relief funds from the Kenyan government, Daniel and Nancy purchased a pump and the family began farming their plot of land. Less than a year later, their small farm now provides enough to feed their family of seven and extra to sell at a neighboring market. Daniel has plans to expand his plot, grow more produce, and purchase a dairy cow.

While Daniel and Nancy's story is powerful, it is hardly unique among KickStart clients. Through innovative technologies, largely focused on irrigation, KickStart promotes sustainable economic growth and employment creation. Its approach is bringing about transformative impact—not only in the lives of the individuals it serves, but also on the economies of developing countries.

From Design to Widespread Adoption
KickStart's approach to fighting poverty is based on a five-step process:

1. Identify entrepreneurial ventures that many thousands of people can undertake with a small initial investment that can be recovered in three to six months
2. Design the tools and technologies necessary to help people start these ventures and have them mass-produced by efficient, high-quality manufacturers
3. Establish a supply chain to sell the products by recruiting wholesalers, distributors, and retailers who are already part of the community
4. Complement supply chain efforts by developing marketing and sales strategies
5. Measure the impact by tracking whether people who purchase a product stay out of poverty and if the solution is becoming more widely adopted

Through this process KickStart realized that a focus irrigation technology would allow people to move from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture. In 1998, it developed a line of manually operated irrigation pumps that allow farmers to easily pull water from a river, pond, or shallow well, pressurize it through a hose pipe, and irrigate up to two acres of land. Today these pumps are manufactured and sold in Kenya, Tanzania, and Mali.

Changing National Economies One Entrepreneur at a Time
At the core of KickStart's mission is the belief that self-motivated private entrepreneurs managing small-scale enterprises can play a dynamic role in the economies of developing countries. The small businesses that KickStart's tools help start initially serve the needs of a single family, but as these small businesses grow and entrepreneurs become more experienced, they expand their reach to the local town, nearby city, and ultimately even export markets.

Since its founding in 1991, KickStart has helped start 88,600 successful new businesses in Africa, which have lifted more than 439,000 people out of poverty. Today, KickStart is responsible for helping create more than 800 new businesses each month. Each year these new income-generating operations produce more than $88.7 million in profits and wages. In Kenya alone, KickStart's products are generating new revenues equivalent to 0.6 percent of the national GDP.

Martin Fisher, KickStart's CEO and one of its original founders, continues to expand the organization's reach across Kenya and the rest of Africa. Today KickStart has program offices in Kenya, Tanzania, and Mali, and partner organizations are distributing thousands of KickStart products in Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Sudan, and Rwanda. Ultimately KickStart intends to sell its products throughout the developing world, but in the short-term plans to grow its retail marketing network in Africa while seeding markets in other developing areas by selling to other non-governmental organizations and private-sector players.