By Dan Estabrook – August 11, 2008 (TNN)
We start the week with a cool tool that is helping to eradicate poverty in the developing world. This week’s do-gooder technology comes not from the business world bur rather from non-profit KickStart. KickStart’s mission is to help millions of people out of poverty through sustainable economic growth and employment creation in Kenya and other countries. The organization develops and promotes technologies that can be used by dynamic entrepreneurs to establish and run profitable small scale enterprises.
Since KickStart is all about economic growth, its series of MoneyMaker Pumps has met this goal. Rural Kenyans have found it more difficult over time to earn a living from subsistence farms. With these farms occupying small parcels of land, it is also impossible to increase their size. In 1996, KickStart introduced an inexpensive water pump that brought irrigation to these farmers. The farmers, or “farmerpreneurs,” have seen ten-fold income increases with profit and allowed these farmers to work smarter, which in turn allows them to stay on their land.
The impact is incredible. This data represents the sale of all MoneyMaker Pumps since introduction in 1996:
- 45,000 pumps in use by poor farmers
- 29,000 new waged jobs created
- $37 million per year in new profits and wages generated by the pumps
- More than 50% of pumps managed by women entrepreneurs
- 4 manufacturers producing pumps
- over 400 retailers selling pumps in Kenya, Tanzania and Mali
The original MoneyMaker Pump pumped water from its source. The Super MoneyMaker Pump allowed farmers to move water up hill and irrigates up to 2 acres. Most recently, the organization launched the MoneyMaker Plus pump — a small pump that can water up to one acre of land and offers a lower price point than the Super Pump.
Now that’s innovation!
“Technology Meets Good” is a regular Monday feature at Tonic News Network. If you have cool examples of technology doing good in our world, please email dan@tonic.com.