Daniel Karanja Njenga and Nancy Gathoni

“We lost everything we had worked for, but now we are getting back on our feet. Our children are not going to bed hungry anymore.”

In Eldoret, farmers Daniel Karanja Njenga his wife Nancy Gathoni see the MoneyMaker pump as their most important investment. Their home and farm were looted during Kenya’s post election violence in March 2008. Daniel saw the MoneyMaker Hip Pump demonstrated at the IDP (Internally Displaced People) camp where his family of five children were placed after their house burned and Daniel’s arm was injured. They lived in a government tent for over 5 months. The camp was where he heard about KickStart’s Imarisha Maisha promotion.

“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.”

His first purchase with the relief funds from the Kenyan government (US $130) was the MoneyMaker Hip Pump and hoses. The manually operated pump is lightweight, lower cost than other pumps and easy to use. It does not require electricity or fuel. With it, he could irrigate his small plot of 1/8th acre and grow crops during the dry season when most farms are bare. They now earn a decent living growing and selling sukuma wiki (kale), a staple food for Kenyans. They are helping hungry neighbors and friends struggling to get back on their feet again after the violence

Daniel has plans to expand his plot and grow cabbages, tomatoes and purchase a dairy cow. An average farmer can make about 9,000 - 10,000 shillings (around US $120) or more per month selling crops produced using the MoneyMaker pump.

Daniel and Nancy, like thousands of farmers in Kenya and Africa, are becoming successful businessmen and women able to feed their families, pay school fees, and medical expenses.

After Kenya’s post-election violence, escalating food prices and difficult global economic times, MoneyMaker pumps are giving hope to an otherwise desperate situation; a permanent solution that tackles the root of poverty, a way to make money.