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Our story
Smallholder farmers make up around 60% of sub-Saharan Africa's population, and 80% of the people living below the poverty line are smallholder farming families. Almost all of them depend on seasonal rain: only about 4% of farmland on the continent is irrigated. One failed rainy season means no harvest, no income, and a hungry season with nothing to sell. Crops that do come in all arrive at once, when prices are at their lowest.
Our mission
Most of these farmers sit on renewable ground or surface water they simply cannot reach. KickStart designs and sells affordable human- and solar-powered irrigation pumps that let a family water its land year-round and grow nutritious, high-value crops in the off-season, when prices are highest. A single pump generates roughly $700 in additional profit each year and keeps working for five to eight years — enough to lift a family out of poverty in one season and keep them there, with income for food, school fees, and savings.
Our impact
1.6M
People stepped out of poverty
425K+
Pumps in the hands of farmers
16M
People fed with fruit and vegetables
$1.6B+
Earned in new farm profits and wages
Our projects
Impact photos
