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Greetings A significant majority of the world's impoverished live in the rural setting. Access to water (clean or not), good nutrition, adequate health care, education, and participation in even informal markets are problematic at best. Mobility is viewed as a critical success factor in the areas of poverty alleviation and disaster relief. The bicycle has a powerful role to play. In the rural setting, the bicycle clearly provides the means for going the last mile. Bicycles are in use across the world, however, they have not developed technically or been as distributed as current needs require, particularly in the rural sector. Bicycle Usage & Infrastructure Increasing mobility— whether it is for transporting goods, commuting to work or school, for the provision of health care, or in support of personal/community based agendas— is a vital need in the developing world. Bicycles can make a huge impact toward the encouragement of micro-enterprise, directly effecting household income (e.g. water hauling, smallholder farm support, etc).
Bicycle infrastructure— the ability to economically and efficiently distribute bicycles, replacement parts, and to provide maintenance/repair services— is greatly lacking. In some areas, distribution networks are beginning to form and the beginnings of an informal small market is occurring. However, bicycle sales, parts sales and service (maintenance/repair) are typically disjointed. Our Approach Gary S. Becker (1992 Nobel Memorial Prize for Economic Science) mentions that, "Free-markets not only lead to more freedom, but are also the best systems ever invented for raising the standard of living of the poor." It is such an empowering approach that we advocate. “Grassroots” driven projects are key. The international development community has learned way too many lessons from externally based, well-meaning efforts that result in unintended consequences. Collaboration yields opportunities to improve, increase impact, and gain efficiency. Foreign aid has done much to dis-empower and decrease the developing world's ability to become independent and self-sufficient. Ultimately, we hope to help jumpstart a small market based approach that will allow participation by any who desire. The goal is a systematic building of an informal bicycle economy through unsubsidized supply chains, with access, participation, and usage by all interested smallholders. |
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