Kickstart
KickStart International is a nonprofit social enterprise working with millions of smallholder farmers across sub-Saharan Africa to increase incomes, adapt to climate change, and lift their families out of poverty. They design, develop, and distribute low-cost, high-impact irrigation tools, paired with practical training, distribution, and financing models.
Investment Rationale
KickStart’s market-based approach equips smallholder farmers with practical irrigation solutions that reduce dependence on increasingly unpredictable rainfall, strengthen livelihoods, and enable communities to adapt to climate stress.
Strengthening climate resilience and livelihoods: By enabling farmers to irrigate during dry periods and diversify into higher-value crops, KickStart helps households stabilize production, increase earnings, and better withstand climate-related shocks.
Scaling farmer-led adaptation: KickStart's market-driven model leverages local distribution networks and farmer demand to expand access to proven technologies, demonstrating a pathway for sustainable, large-scale adoption beyond philanthropic support.
Impact & Outcomes
KickStart enables smallholder farmers to transition from rain-fed subsistence agriculture to climate-resilient farming enterprises, improving incomes, food security, and long-term prosperity.
Economic mobility and food security: Farmers using KickStart's irrigation technologies generate substantially higher incomes, with households increasing overall earnings by an average of 400%.
Climate resilience through farmer-led adaptation: 94% of farmers reported that the pumps helped them adapt to extreme weather, and during severe drought years, irrigated crops accounted for 75% of farm income—providing a critical safety net when rain-fed agriculture failed.
