The primary impact of KickStart’s MoneyMaker irrigation tools is right in the name: improving income. We believe that the number one need of anyone living in poverty is a way to make more money. By making smallholder farming more productive, more profitable, more climate resilient, and year-round through irrigation, KickStart’s tools enable households to quickly increase their income and tackle poverty on their own terms. But this newfound economic freedom can yield a lot of other exciting benefits, serving to improve the health and wellness of an entire household, and even help to mend family systems.
In 2023, newly published results from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) showed that access to KickStart’s MoneyMaker Max Pumps, combined with KickStart’s agropreneurship training, significantly reduced stunting in children in families with pumps—and led to major improvements in the mental health and well-being of households. Run by the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Medical School, the Shamba Maisha Research Project, “Farming Life” in Swahili, studies the impacts of agricultural livelihood interventions via KickStart’s irrigation pumps on the mental and physical health of HIV-positive individuals and their families in Western Kenya. Recent results revealed remarkable effects across a variety of household wellbeing markers, uncovering the power of improved income and nutritional security to support those living with HIV, and preventing its spread.
Mental Health: Study results showed a major reduction in depression symptoms among the intervention group (36%), as well as improved household food security and income, physical activity, and productive labor, self-confidence, and contribution to one’s community.
Risk Reduction: Over 50% of HIV cases globally are among adolescents, most affecting girls, and especially those living in poverty. Teenage girls in families with irrigation pumps saw a 20% reduction in depression and anxiety, a 30% reduction in transactional sex and gender-based violence, and overall greater sexual agency and improved focus in school. These findings help delineate the important link between poverty reduction, food security, and HIV prevention in high-risk groups.
Childhood Stunting & Food Security: In households with a KickStart pump, children between 6 and 24 months grew an extra 1.18 cm in height over two years. In addition, adolescent girls showed higher body mass indexes (BMIs), and household food insecurity overall was reduced by 45%.