Base of the Samosa – What’s in a name?

Due to classes and my involvement with Net Impact, I end up thinking and discussing “Base of the Pyramid” (BoP) issues a fair amount. These are often related to how to build partnerships so that businesses and the target communities (very poor people) both profit. The article above was one I found while researching SC Johnson’s efforts in Kibera, Kenya.

There are some great thoughts about being wary of defining a people solely by what they lack. In addition, one of the local NGO workers echoes my concerns with programs to Make Poverty History. They haven’t worked yet, and just throwing money to the poor, assuming the money actually gets to them, doesn’t necessarily do a lot of good. By definition this is a group of people that might be experts at making scarce resources last an incredible amount of time, but certainly aren’t experts about what to do with money.

Look at Taka ni Pato (trash is cash), a program run by CFK in Kibera and funded by the Ford Foundation. The project enables youth self help groups in Kibera to turn the community’s trash into a source of income, yet CFK has quickly learned that too much cash flowing too quickly could kill the very groups they are seeking to uplift, the groups that are now providing a much needed service to the community. Just because a group has increased income, perhaps for the first time any income at all, doesn’t mean that the group is ready to do something productive with that income. Are they mature enough to handle it? Do they have the transparency necessary to keep money issues from tearing the group apart? Do they have plans for tomorrow so they don’t spend it frivolously today? As Ibrahim Sakuda of Faulu Kenya reminds us, “As more income comes in, groups need time and help to broaden their vision beyond what they currently do.”