Deere Foundation gives $3 million to aid African farmers

The John Deere Foundation today said it plans to provide $3 million over the next three years to KickStart, a social enterprise that creates and markets tools to help end poverty in developing countries. KickStart's three-year plan is to enable some 80,000 African families—approximately 400,000 people—to raise their standard of living by introducing small, inexpensive irrigation pumps and other money making equipment.

"It is fitting for John Deere, with a long history of advancing agriculture, to align with KickStart in Africa, where access to water for farming is particularly challenging," said Robert W. Lane, chairman and chief executive officer at Deere & Company. "Through this grant, the John Deere Foundation can help improve the lives of the small family farmer by partnering with a successful organization that is already working to strengthen agricultural economies in Africa."

To date, KickStart products have helped lift 36,000 families out of poverty. On average, farmers who buy KickStart's foot-operated irrigation pumps multiply their income ten-fold as they move from subsistence to first-level commercial farming by growing high value fruits and vegetables.

"By partnering with the John Deere Foundation, KickStart will be in a position to help thousands more families to properly feed and educate their children and afford good healthcare," said Dr. Martin J. Fisher, co-founder and executive director of KickStart. "For the first time, these families will be able to plan for their futures."

Fisher said that the John Deere Foundation grant provides a solid foundation for the organization's three-year, $16 million plan to expand to six new countries and help 80,000 more families create successful farm businesses.

KickStart, formerly ApproTEC, is a 501(c)(3) public charity based in San Francisco, Calif., with operations in Kenya, Tanzania, and Mali. The John Deere Foundation was founded in 1948 and primarily supports programs in education, health and human services, community development, and arts and culture.