Patrick Ochieng

KickStart International

KickStart's mission is to get millions of people out of poverty quickly, cost effectively and sustainably. 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. 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.