[This cartoon is based on an image in a news article on the efficacy of foreign aid. I have not been able to locate the article again and hence can’t acknowledge the photographer.]
This is Africa
Frame Changers #30: Lean & Efficient Manufacturing
Frame Changers #28: John Galt 2020
[Social Entrepreneurs build sustainable enterprises that prioritize social returns. They create win-win solutions for all stakeholders; they launch movements. Hats off to the social innovators and entrepreneurs of the world.]
Frame Changers #26: Bridges That Separate Us
[The chasm between the haves and have-nots is not just about money. There are umpteen other interconnected challenges including, but not limited to, gender, sexual orientation, culture, class, religion, agency, privilege, and perception.]
Frame Changers #25: Bring Back the Middlemen
[Millions of smallholders depend on millions of trusted middlemen to get their produce into the marketplace. Removing them makes sense only if the new systems and relationships are reliable and truly sustainable. Read Kochia Chronicles; Mzungu Memories- A Conversation over Busaa for examples of how outsiders can disrupt trade relationships and supply chains.]
Frame Changers #23: Cultural Stereo Types
[The Chinese are everywhere in Africa, from large companies to roadside hawkers. Don’t get upset over being subjected to cultural or racial stereotypes in different contexts. Be thick-skinned. Smile, wave back, shake hands, and show them your action moves.]
Frame Changers #22: Sun-Roasted Goat Anyone?
[Your product should fulfill the customers’ needs and desires: rational and irrational; tacit and explicit; Maslowian and aspirational; short-term and long-term. Your opinion on what customers should do, and how they ought to live their lives, is secondary.]
Frame Changers #20: No More Fishing Lessons
[The “teach people how to fish” adage is naive, or even insulting, to highly-skilled fishermen in Africa whose lives and livelihoods are compromised due to various cultural, economic or political reasons. Read Kochia Chronicles; Story #8 to dive deeper into real challenges to sustainable aquaculture.]
Frame Changers #18: Repurposed Rainwater Gutters
[Without water storage mechanisms, rainwater gutters are practically useless…or not! Like everything else in Africa, they are repurposed for other applications.]
Frame Changers #17: Who’s the Loser?
[Treadle pumps (for irrigation) have been wildly successful in many countries. Some cultures have rejected them because the sway of women’s hips is considered provocative.]