And KickStart's Co-Founder Nick Moon tells you why in his new blog.... continue reading »
News & Updates
PBS' NewsHour Features KickStart
July 14, 2010
Fighting Poverty in Kenya by Selling Water Pumps to Poor Farmers - Spencer Michels reports on the story of how a California man sees the chance to increase access to clean water in Kenya through the use of foot-pumps....
KickStart Updates
A Better Way to Make a Living
A great video from DW TV about KickStart's work in Mali continue reading »
Brain-Fed Agricuture
Can Africa feed itself? Absolutely, writes KickStart co-founder Nick Moon writes in the African Executive . But only we can move from rain-fed agriculture to "brain-fed" agriculture.... continue reading »
An SMS “kickstart” for Kenyan Farmers
KickStart's Rita Kiloo explains how we used Frontline SMS software to reach out to Kenyan Farmers. www.kiwanja.net... continue reading »
New MoneyMaker Pump Bundled Kits Empower Farmers to Start Irrigation Immediately and Increase Their Income
KickStart Launches Bundled MoneyMaker Pumps that Include Everything Needed for Cash Crop Farming Dar es Salaam, November 1, 2009. KickStart Tanzania is now packaging its award-winning MoneyMaker pumps with everything a smallholder farmer might need to quickly set up the... continue reading »
KickStart at the Clinton Global Initiative
In 2006, KickStart made a commitment at the Clinton Global Initiative to help create 80,000 new businesses that would lift over 400,000 people out of poverty forever. We were invited back to present an update on our commitment during a... continue reading »
High Speed Fiber Optics Come to Africa At Last!
The first fiber optic cable landed near Mombasa, Kenya recently, significantly increasing Africa's connection to the world. BBC journalist Rory Cellan-Jones spoke with KickStart's IT Director Martin Rogena about what this means for KickStart, Kenya, and East Africa. Day Two: Water or the web?. continue reading »
KickStart Launches Real Good Not Feel Good Campaign.
Real Good Not Feel Good is a simple framework donors can use to focus their giving. We hope that Real Good Not Feel Good becomes a movement of donors and social entrepreneurs committed to creating lasting change in the world. continue reading »
Ordinary People. Extraordinary Heroes
Victor Agisa, one of KickStart's salesmen, tells of his ordeal during the worst of violence last year, and of the heroic efforts of one family to save his life. Victors story.pdf... continue reading »
KickStart on Facebook
Join us on Facebook Causes! Use the "Share This" link to post to Facebook, Digg, MySpace and other social networking sites.... continue reading »
KickStart Receives Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation
CLAREMONT, Calif., Sep 24, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University has announced this year's winners of the Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation. KickStart International, a San Francisco-based organization that fights poverty in... continue reading »
Martin Fisher Named Engineer of the Year
In September, Martin was honored by Design News magazine, a leading publication for design engineers, with their Engineer of the Year award. Click here to read the article.... continue reading »
Martin Fisher Wins Lemelson-MIT Prize for Sustainability
KickStart Co-Founder Receives $100,000 Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability for his work to transform the lives of thousands of poor African farmers through a combination of technological and systematic innovation. continue reading »
Real Good. Not Just Feel Good
To make real progress in tackling the worlds most pressing problems, donors need to be able to distinguish between the "Real Good" and the "Feel Good." continue reading »
KickStart MoneyMaker Pump Brochure
To download a PDF of a brochure on our human-powered irrigation pumps click here.... continue reading »
Country Director John Kihia Recalls Kenyan Childhood
KickStart's Kenya Country Director John Kihia explains to our friends at the Case Foundation what it was like to grow up in a poor isolated village. John and his siblings have gone on to earn advanced degrees and become successful in a variety... continue reading »
KickStart in the News
Appropriate Techonolgy Magazine
As they say, "If you can't irrigate it, don't plant it." The article starts on Page 20.
June 24, 2010 4:41 PM
KickStart is featured in the World Bank publication Yes Africa Can: Stories from a Dynamic Continent
April 30, 2010 4:02 PM
Other Interesting Articles
This is an interesting piece from PRI's This American Life
. While not specifically about Kickstart, draws some amazing parrellels between African farmers and those in Haiti, and how the smallest things can make the biggest difference and sometimes be the biggest headaches. Act One is entitled "10,000 Braini...acs" and is available for streaming at the following website.
June 24, 2010 7:14 PM
Climbing out of the Aid Trap
Columbia Business School
Ideas at Work
November 06, 2009
Glenn Hubbard discusses how an old plan can become a new solution to help the world’s poorest nations lift themselves out of poverty — by putting business first.
"...aid, though well-intentioned, actually hurts the poorest countries because it prevents the growth of local business sectors. History shows that local business development has been the source of prosperity throughout the world...
..billions of dollars of aid began flowing to Africa. But despite 40 years of aid, ...African nations [remain] poor. Clearly the aid system has not been effective."
Full article here
November 9, 2009 3:30 PM
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