KickStart International

10/16/2026

This World Food Day, we asked farmers across nine countries the same question: what's happening to the rain?

"When we have water, we can work," one Senegalese farmer told our team. "When the water stops, everything stops."

Meteorologists are forecasting one of the strongest El Niño events in decades, and farmers across Africa are already feeling it: drought in some places, flooding in others, and a planting calendar that no longer holds. More than 18 million people across East and Southern Africa are projected to be at risk of hunger as the weather event takes hold.

Read their stories and see how affordable irrigation is helping farmers build the water security they need to get through the challenging season ahead: https://kickstart.org/el-nino-farmers-insights-irrigation/

10/06/2026

Hussein Wabuti Mitati started growing plants in high school, and the habit stuck. For years, he shared a KickStart irrigation pump with a group of farmers in Kakamega County, Kenya, watering his crops only when it was his turn.

The income he earned from what he grew with that shared pump let him buy his own KickStart pump, so he could stop waiting for his turn and water on his own schedule. He added a second pump as demand for his plants grew.

Today, Hussein grows flowers, trees, and vegetables that ship as far as Nairobi and Mombasa (more than 200 and 500 miles away, respectively), ordered over Facebook and WhatsApp. The business covers school fees, food, and clothing for his wife, Winnie, and their five children.

For families like theirs, irrigation lays the groundwork for a more secure future.

10/01/2026

Today is International Coffee Day! Ever wonder what it actually takes to grow the coffee in your cup? ☕

Most of Africa's coffee grows on rain alone. That's starting to change—and not a moment too soon.

In Uganda's coffee belt, more intense droughts are hitting coffee trees during the weeks they need water most. This Masaka-Kyotera garden shows the toll: leaves dropped, fruit lost before it matured, a season's income gone with it.

Since 2024, KickStart has worked with Root Capital and local cooperatives to bring irrigation to coffee farmers in Uganda and Rwanda. Irrigation won't stop the drought, but it gives farmers a way to keep their trees watered through the driest weeks instead of watching them wilt.

That's what's happening behind the cup: farmers building a steadier water supply for the crop that anchors their livelihoods.

09/23/2026

Victor Omondi spent years growing maize by hand in Kisumu County, Kenya. When he first tried growing more vegetables, a petrol pump proved too expensive, and watering by bucket only got him so far.

Then a neighbor's greenhouse gave him an idea. Victor started renting a MoneyMaker Max pump from her and began growing kale, spinach, and cowpeas.

Now his five plots bring in $116 a week, three to four times what he used to earn in construction. That income doesn't stop with him: two hired hands help run the pump each week, and 15 more come out for two days every month to weed—work that's become its own lifeline for their households.

Read Victor's full story: https://kickstart.org/blog/victor-irrigation-farming-kisumu-kenya/

Irrigation helped Kisumu County farmer Victor Omondi trade maize for five vegetable plots earning $116 a week. Read his story.

09/18/2026

KickStart's irrigation agents just added a new tool to their kit: AI.

This week, KickStart ran hands-on trainings with irrigation agents—local entrepreneurs who rent out our water pumps to farmers and teach them to use them—in Homa Bay and Bomet, Kenya. Sessions covered the basics of AI, apps that can diagnose a crop problem from a photo or answer farming questions on the spot, basic agro-preneurship, and the do's and don'ts of using AI in the field.

Irrigation agents already bring deep knowledge of their crops and communities. Pairing that with AI tools means faster diagnosis and more specific guidance for the farmers they serve 💧🌱

08/27/2026

This week, our Uganda team delivered 30 kitted MoneyMaker Max pumps to the Kasaali Cooperative in Kyotera District, ready for farmers to put to work. The delivery came through the revolving fund we run with Root Capital to support coffee farmers ☕️

Most coffee farming across East Africa still depends entirely on rain, and the yield gap shows it. Ugandan farmers average 220 to 440 pounds of coffee per acre. In Vietnam, where farmers routinely irrigate, that number jumps to roughly seven times as much on the same size plot. The gap comes down to water access.

Working with Kasaali and Root Capital, we're helping put irrigation within reach for Uganda's coffee farmers, and running a research trial to measure exactly what irrigation means for coffee yields and income.

Congratulations to the Kasaali Cooperative on the new pumps, and here's to a strong season ahead!

08/21/2026

Rows of blue KickStart pumps sat on the ground in Notto Diobass, Senegal, waiting to be put to the test. KickStart and Heifer Senegal brought them out together for a hands-on demonstration.

Twenty-five farmers showed up to train on the MoneyMaker pumps, then took turns trying them out for themselves. Local TV was there to catch it on camera.

By the end of the day, 10 women's groups in Notto Diobass each had a MoneyMaker pump to call their own. It's the first step in a new revolving fund program that KickStart and Heifer hope to bring to more women's groups across Senegal.

Thanks to Heifer International for teaming up with us on this one. We're looking forward to seeing what these groups grow next season! 🌱



***

Des rangées de pompes KickStart bleues étaient posées au sol à Notto Diobass, au Sénégal, prêtes à être testées. KickStart et Heifer International les ont présentées ensemble lors d'une démonstration pratique.

Vingt-cinq agriculteurs et agricultrices sont venus se former sur les pompes MoneyMaker, avant de les essayer eux-mêmes. Une chaîne de télévision locale était présente pour filmer l'événement.

À la fin de la journée, 10 groupements de femmes de Notto Diobass repartaient chacun avec leur propre pompe MoneyMaker. C'est la première étape d'un nouveau programme de fonds rotatif que KickStart et Heifer espèrent étendre à davantage de groupements de femmes à travers le Sénégal.

Merci à Heifer International de s'être associé à nous pour ce projet. Nous avons hâte de voir ce que ces groupes vont cultiver la saison prochaine ! 🌱

08/12/2026

Under the trees in Rajaf East, South Sudan, farmers with the World Vision Excellent Farmers Group spent the day getting hands-on with MoneyMaker pumps.

They walked through setup, maintenance, and irrigation, then tried the pumps themselves. The verdict: easy to use, and they were ready to put the training to work right away.

KickStart is grateful for World Vision in South Sudan's partnership, and for standing with us behind farmers as they put new tools to work. 🌱

08/07/2026

This week, farmers from sub-counties across the Luuka and Buyende districts in Uganda came together to try out our Moneymaker Max Pump. More than 300 farmers turned out to see the pump in action, ask questions, and test it themselves.

Several are already planning to get a pump of their own — a great sign for what's ahead for farming in the region!

07/24/2026

This month, our senior leadership team hosted our annual planning meeting in Limuru, Kenya 🌱

We looked back at the year's progress and set our goals for the year ahead — focused on strategic partnerships and deeper farmer relationships, so more smallholder farmers across Africa can build steady income and plan for the future with confidence. It's always energizing to connect with colleagues and collaborate to find the best path forward.

We're excited for what's next!