To keep pace with the growing demand for food, it is estimated that about 15 percent more fresh water will have to be withdrawn for agricultural purposes by 2030.
More than 10,000 nongovernmental organizations around the world are helping to address the world's water crisis.
Deborah and Ann Njenga water their farm in Juja, Kenya. Ann’s
KickStart water pump has taken her beyond subsistence farming and opened up new business opportunities, including an exotic flower nursery, a tilapia fish farm and the occasional car wash.
Stephen Digges
Stephen Ngiri demonstrates KickStart’s low-tech micro-irrigation solution for rural
farmers in Kenya. The pedal-powered water pump has enabled Stephen and his family to increase tomato output by five times and employ an additional eight workers during harvest season. Stephen Digges
Nick Moon and Martin Fisher came up with the concept of the KickStart pump
in Kenya during the early 1990s after observing that aid projects tended to wither once the aid workers returned home. Their concept was to create an affordable and easy-to-manufacture device that would empower landowners to become “farmerpreneurs.” KickStart water pumps are produced locally and sold to farmers in Kenya, Tanzania and Mali. These human-powered pumps enable farmers to plant three or four crops a year, increasing incomes as much as tenfold. Michael Collopy 210 Blue Planet Run
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