Final Report: Big Boda Load-Carrying Bicycle Trial Market in Kisumu, Kenya Prepared by Paul Freedman, Director, Worldbike

A bread distributor named Jacob Omundi Ouko from the rural region of Nyakatch uses the Big Boda he purchased from Worldbike’s Kisumu workshop. The Big Boda carries more bread crates faster and safer than his previous bicycle. Photo: Ed Lucero. Introduction: ................................................................................................................................. 2 Project Activity: ............................................................................................................................ 2

Getting started in Kisumu ........................................................................................................... 2 Production begins: ...................................................................................................................... 3 Sales, Marketing, Monitoring ..................................................................................................... 5 Challenges of the Big Boda Project ............................................................................................ 8 Monitoring the Impact of the Big Boda.................................................................................... 10

Future plans: ............................................................................................................................... 11 Alternatives to the Big Boda:.................................................................................................... 12

Key Project Staff:........................................................................................................................ 15 Financial Summary..................................................................................................................... 17

Introduction: Improving bicycle transport in Kenya is engaging, gratifying work, because it truly matters to everyday people. Everyone you meet has an opinion to share, because nearly everyone has serious transportation issues in their lives. People in the countryside must navigate hilly, rutted roads to get their kids to school and their produce to market. People in the city can easily spend up to 30% of their daily income on public transport. Transportation in Kenya is complex and fascinating, not suitable to blanket statements. There are many positive aspects. For one thing the public transportation system is phenomenally efficient. In the Kisumu area, where we chose to do our trial market, the matatu vans are almost always full (or way beyond full.) Transitions between matatus are often lightning quick, and Boda Boda bicycle taxi operators stand at the ready to take you the last mile where matatus leave off. Alas, matatus and Boda Bodas are inadequate solutions for the daily transport of cargo. The quality, safety, and load-carrying capacity of the bicycles sold in Kenya are all poor. A Boda Boda operator spends as much each year on maintenance as he would for a new bicycle. Kenyans have adapted superbly to the tools available, but there is much more that the bicycle industry and Kenyan merchants can do to transform the bicycle into a real poverty-fighting tool. We came to Kenya in 2005 to investigate whether a low-cost cargo adaptation of the standard ‘Black Mamba’ bicycle would benefit the vast numbers of Kenyans who deliver goods and people by bicycle. We set up a workshop to produce the Big Boda, which we believe to be the most affordable cargo bicycle ever successfully marketed in a developing country. The Big Boda has helped people in specific niches fix or ameliorate significant transportation problems. As an add-on modification, the Big Boda doesn’t address the safety and durability issues inherent to the Black Mamba bicycle. Thus it does not appear destined to become a mass-market product in its current design. However, the findings from this trial market, concerning everything from price points, to style, to required features, to maintenance, put us in a prime position to lead the design and distribution of the next generation of Kenyan bicycles.

Project Activity:

Getting started in Kisumu We began the Big Boda trial market began in May 2005 by finalizing the project team and location, and finding a suitable production facility. We chose the city of Kisumu, Kenya’s 3rd largest and a major regional hub located on Lake Victoria, with a significant industrial sector. Kisumu is in the heart of Luo country. The Luo tribe are known for being a well educated, music loving people with a penchant for fresh fish from the lake. Nyanza province, the region that includes Kisumu, is the 3rd poorest in Kenya. We recruited a project lead in Nairobi by posting job ads in the Daily Nation. We fielded 250 applications before choosing a project lead, Alex Waweru. Alex had ample experience in both sales and transportation having sold trucks and industrial supplies in East Africa. He was intelligent and eloquent, and had excellent references.

We set up a workshop lease with Eagle Engineering in downtown Kisumu. Eagle is a metalworking shop that services large machinery for the tea industry. Months 2-5 were spent refining and testing the design of the Big Boda, identifying technical issues, and developing the production system (jigs and fixtures). The most dramatic design changes during this period were:

• Narrow load-carrying deck. The ‘Longtail’ bike we design in Kenya in 2003 had a wide top rack surface. However the Boda Boda taxi operators in Kisumu preferred a narrow top surface which would be more suitable to passenger transport.

• Likewise, the Boda Boda demanded a passenger seat cushion that would fit the top surface.

Chief among the technical issues were:

• The ‘Black Mamba’ bicycles available in Kisumu came with weak bottom brackets that wear and fail quickly.

• The linear-pull brakes brakes that come standard on ‘Black Mambas’ are ineffective with a heavy load, and useless in the rain.

• A hill-climbing gear is sorely needed but not available in Kisumu. To address these issues, we developed an emergency foot brake option for the Big Boda. We identified the Avon Superpower bicycle as the one that offered the best parts quality and value. We special ordered chainrings so that we could offer the lowest available gearing.

Production begins: We soon ran into a key challenge of producing the Big Boda in a professional workshop – tension and distrust between the Indian merchant class and Kenyan working class. Our workshop owner would not allow us to hire outside employees to assist in the production or installation of the Big Boda. He distrusted Kenyans and would not allow us to invite Big Boda customers inside the workshop for the purposes of monitoring. Production duties fell entirely on technical lead Ed Lucero, who was unable to produce the target number of 50 Big Bodas. Sales were limited because there was no inventory to sell until month 6. In December 2005, month 8, Ed Lucero returned to Kenya and chose a production partner in the Juacali district. The Juacali district is an informal sector of the economy, owned and operated by Kenyans. It resembles a slum with its corrugated roofs and dirt roads, except it is buzzing with economic activity. The typical activities here include producing commonly needed metal products, such as cookware and security windows, and repairing public transportation vans and damaged trucks. We chose a partner, Moses Odhiambo, who had been producing steel furniture with pads and back rests woven of water hyacinth, a pesky Lake Victoria weed. (We later chose a woven passenger seat for the Big Boda as opposed to a sewn Vinyl and foam seat.)

Switching to Juacali District Workshop for Production:

We set up a business partnership with Moses that gave us access to a secure workshop and trained craftsmen. In lieu of rent for the 3 month production period, we made a $1000 investment in much needed tools, safety equipment, wiring, and lighting for his shop. We also agreed to transfer the Big Boda business to Moses after our departure, so that it could be a source of continued income for him and his team. Tech Lead Ed Lucero transformed the empty workshop into a small but functional production facility, including a stable worktable, a reinforced and lockable tool cabinet, and a rainwater collection tank to decrease the daily cost of drinking water. The shack went from dull gray to bright yellow, with an attractive Worldbike logo. We painted the inner surfaces were painted with chalkboard paint for brainstorming and problem solving sessions. We purchased basic safety equipment -- glasses, gloves, covered-toed shoes, and ear protection -- for the team. At the end of our time in Kisumu, Moses’ shop was the best equipped, safest and brightest shop in the entire Juacali district. In December we recognized that project lead Alex Waweru had not been delivering on expectations. He wasn’t able to balance the needs of the Big Boda sales efforts in western Kenya with those of his family in Nairobi. We unfortunately had to let him go and continue the sales and marketing efforts on a more grassroots basis, beginning with the team in our Juacali workshop. We equipped each team member with a Big Boda and marketing information. One of the workers carried the shop owner Moses from the bus station each morning using the bike. They fanned out each night into nearby neighborhoods, spreading the word as they went. Production of the second fleet of 30 Big Bodas began in January and took just 7 weeks. Two experienced craftsmen and two trainees made the task of installation much faster. Each Big Boda took approximately 10 man-hours of fabrication and installation. The support from the community in the Juacali district was fantastic. Lunch was brought to the workshop each afternoon. Security was never an issue. Neighborhood schoolkids would pop in to see what steps had been accomplished each day.

Worldbike employees cutting Big Boda frame sections in our Juacali workshop. Photo: Ed Lucero.

Neighborhood kids would lend their spirit to the Worldbike shop, checking in on their way from school to see the progress. Photo: Ed Lucero

Sales, Marketing, Monitoring A new marketing effort began in mid-February, once Big Bodas began rolling off the production line. In the interest of getting more of our bikes on the street, we donated two complete Big Bodas to a prominent orphanage in the Manyatta slum, where they were used to transport schoolchildren and haul maise. We also traded a Big Boda with the papyrus weaver for work valued at 7000 KSH. We began to receive inquiries at our workshop for the Big Boda, though many people complained that the price was too high. Our sales effort increased at the end of February, 2006, when production of the second round of Big Bodas completed and Worldbike director Paul Freedman arrived to assist in the marketing and monitoring efforts. We targeted specific groups for sales presentations: fish transporters, papyrus transporters, bread distributors, schoolchildren transporters, flower distributors, and others. In each of these niche markets, we learned the specific needs of the professionals in that trade. Take the fascinating example of the fish trade. Tillapia and Nile Perch are the favorite foods of Luo people and are symbols of living the good life for Kenyans of all classes. It’s such an important item that, upon mentioning to someone from Nairobi that you are heading to Kisumu, they will invariably request that you return with Tillapia, no matter that it will smell up the bus or that it is available at the same price in Nairobi markets! The fish comes in from the lake at a beach called Dunga, 3 km from the municipal market in downtown Kisumu. Early in the morning, the women meet the boats at the rocky shore and bargain for fish. They fill a large basket with fish and then either walk or get a Boda Boda ride to town, with the basket on their head. At first glance it appears a highly inefficient system in terms of the transportation. The bicycle taxi operators, rather than carry 150+ pounds of fish, end up carrying 120 pounds of fishmongress and 30 pounds of fish. We inquired why the dealers haven’t set up specialized partnerships in which buyers at the shore load up bicycles with fish, to be unloaded by sellers in the town. This would enable the bicycle transporters to carry only fish, and would bring down the transport cost per pound of Tillapia and the time involved for the sellers. We learned that fish is a cash business in Kisumu and that there is tremendous distrust and risk involved when transporting large amounts of either cash or fish. People in the fish business want to keep their fish and their cash right in their hands and on their heads.

“How big was it?” Ed demonstrates the capacity of the Big Boda to fish wholesalers at Dunga beach. Photo: Paul Freedman

So the fish transporters never became Big Boda customers, because with the burden of carrying the fishmongress along with her fish, the Big Boda’s added carrying capacity would not benefit them. Who did benefit from the Big Boda? We found several few niche groups for whom the Big Boda solved or improved their transportation problem. Bread distributors were a key customer group. Bread is bulky by nature and requires lots of space to be transported safely. Bread is a highly valued item but is essentially a luxury for Kenya’s huge lower class. It is similar in this regard to -- and is often consumed with -- tea. It is delivered daily to shops and homes from central bakeries or distribution points. Even in the rural areas, fresh bread is available. Distributors typically transport 4-6 crates of bread on bicycles by stacking them vertically. It should be noted that the bread distributors in Kenya are strong and highly skilled bicyclists who have adapted their technique to the bicycles available. They are regularly seen carrying loads that extend 1-4 feet higher than their heads (limiting their rear visibility.) Accidents do occur, breaking the plastic crates and ruining the loaves being carried. In March we sold two Big Bodas to bread distributors during two trips to the rural town of Nyakatch, the hometown of Moses and our employee Petro. These distributors were able to reduce the height of their stack of crates, while carrying 20-40% more bread. They told us conclusively that the Big Boda reduced the time spent transporting each crate. However, when asked if this efficiency translated to higher incomes at the end of the day, the answer was more nuanced. Because we were visiting during the rainy season, the demand for bread was low and they weren’t using the full capacity of the Big Boda. In peak season, they said the Big Boda would increase their incomes, but in the low season, its benefit was seen in a time savings for the rider, and in a more stable, comfortable ride.

Ready for delivery. Joseph Omondi Ouko packs 8 crates of bread on the Big Boda he purchased from Worldbike. Photo: Ed Lucero.

A similarly encouraging result was found in the world of schoolchildren transport. We donated two Big Bodas to the Young Generation Center orphanage and sold one to a Boda Boda operator who carried kids twice a day. Later monitoring revealed that the bikes helped the YGC save approximately $5 per day in operating costs from reduced public transportation expenses. The Boda Boda operator reported that transporting the schoolchildren kids twice a day had improve his daily earnings by approximately 20 KSH over his previous bicycle. (He was able to carry three kids on a Big Boda, versus two on a regular bike. Each child paid 10 KSH per journey.) Medical transport is another promising area for the Big Boda. We sold two Big Bodas to an AIDS CBO in Kakamega about an hour from Kisumu, and donated one to a Malaria clinic from Jinja, Uganda. The needs of health clinics are similar to those of Boda Boda operators. They need to transport people and light cargo. However, the requirements for passenger comfort are more of a concern in the health field. It is not reasonable to ask a passenger to carry a load on her head if she is ailing from Malaria. Similarly, AIDS educators often need to transport bulky items such as signs and food. The Kakamega AIDS CBO occasionally sends two home-based care professionals to the field on a single bicycle (in addition to the rider). When we visited, they were positive about the Big Boda, but specifically requested a bike that is lighter and has hill-climbing gears. Our contact in Jinja reported in late April:

“From what I have seen the Big Boda is performing heroically as a Village Ambulance. I will run a couple of checks on it next time I am there. I did notice the headset coming a little loose but I guess they got a fundi to look at that.”

The Big Boda is a money-saver and a source of pride for the orphans at the Young Generation Center in Manyatta. Photo: Ed Lucero.

Another successful sale was to a flower distributor. Flowers are yet another example of a load that requires space to be transported safely. Our flower distributor had seen a demonstration of the Big Boda at the bus station. He was inspired to purchase one and begin a flower and plant business. Previously he was a carpenter. Monitoring revealed that he had been well-paid as a carpenter, but that the work was too difficult and too irregular. He wanted to take a more entrepreneurial approach that would bring him a steadier income. He had just begun his flower business when we interviewed him in late March, and hadn’t had enough time to reveal whether his new business was successful or not. Follow-up monitoring information is not yet available.

Challenges of the Big Boda Project The Big Boda Trial Market took 11 months of in-country time to execute. Perhaps it is the nature of such projects that the first half will involve lots of trial and error. Certainly we experienced this. Despite the warm welcome, Eagle Engineering proved to be unsupportive of the project, leaving an undue burden on tech lead Ed Lucero. At the same time, project lead Alex Kimani was ineffective and misled us about the success of his work in the field. The unfortunate truth is that NGOs run by expats represent big money in Kenya. They typically have headquarters in the nice neighborhoods, they drive big SUV’s, and they walk around with digital cameras. It’s not surprising that Kenyans see NGOs as a source of cash. It took us time to develop the instincts we needed to identify reliable partners. The second half of the project, beginning in late December with Ed’s choice of the Moses as a production partner, proved to much more fruitful in all key metrics: production speed and quality, sales, monitoring, and our brand presence in Kisumu. Adopting a community approach was the key to our success in months 7-11. Our Juacali workshop represented our desire to make direct contact with the local community, and enabled us to tap in to trustworthy employees and partners. The main challenge we encountered in the late goings was not having enough in-country time for sales and monitoring. We were successful at selling Big Bodas at a pace of 2-4 per week in the last weeks of the project. But we began too late to reach the original goal of selling 50. In order to make sales during the rainy season, we had to reduce the price and offer generous financing.

A flower distributor benefits from the increased cargo capacity of the Big Boda. Photo: Ed Lucero.

The bread distributors from Nyakatch each paid 1000KSH down for their Big Bodas. The sales price was 5500 KSH, down from 8000 for full retail. Marking the Big Boda down by 31% seems at first to discredit the value of the test market, since our goal was to determine the viability of the Big Boda in Western Kenya market. However, in a larger context, the heavily discounted scheme does fit with the goals of the target market.

1. 5500KSH represents approximately a 50% premium over the street price of a bicycle in Kisumu. Lower class Kenyans rarely buy bicycles at full retail. Used bikes are commonly bought and sold at prices well below full retail.

2. The future intention of Worldbike is to sell complete one-piece bikes, which are inherently cheaper to produce than two-piece, bolt-together designs. Therefore, 5500 is in the ballpark of what we hope to charge for such one-piece designs. Of course, without going through the costing process, we can’t know for sure what the retail price of this new unit would be. Read more on this change in strategic direction in the section “Alternatives to the Big Boda”.

3. Making a sale quickly requires creating a sense of urgency. The sense of urgency can either come from the customer (i.e. people pay high prices for plywood right before a hurricane hits) or from the supplier (i.e. limited time incentives and sale pricing.) Last summer, GM created its ‘employee pricing for everyone’ scheme with the simple goal of generating lots of sales quickly. We faced a similar need and took the same approach.

4. Selling products at full price requires a significant marketing effort. Our marketing effort was both short-term and grassroots. While our marketing dollars were well-spent in Kenya, the budget wasn’t big enough to establish the perceived value of the product prior to our sales demonstrations.

We left Kenya at the end of March with approximately 12-15 bikes in our inventory. In order to sell the remaining fleet, we equipped our team with marketing materials (color stickers and sales flyers), and hosted a major event in downtown Kisumu on our last weekend in town. It is possible rent the main square of Kisumu for only $60, and we hosted a Boda Boda style competition and Big Boda demonstration in order to raise the profile of the product and celebrate the Boda Boda community. The event drew 1000 people and featured 4 rappers, 25 entrants in the style competition, a Rastafarian sound engineer/DJ, and 40000KSH worth of prizes, including a Big Boda, Down Low Glow bike lights brought from the US, and bicycle staples like tires, tubes, and wrenches.

Our personal style of communicating with local bicyclists paid off in terms of developing the Worldbike brand in Kisumu. We rode Big Bodas everywhere we went. Ed did not drive a vehicle in his entire 10 months in Kenya. We mastered the art of tying bicycles to the roofs of matatus. By the time we left Kenya, bystanders no longer called out to Ed as “Mizungu,” or White Man, but “Paro Manyien,” a Luo phrase that we adopted as our motto, meaning “New Technology / New Hope.” Paul co-wrote a Boda Boda rap song with a Luo rapper named Lawi One, specifically to perform at the public event. The song is now receiving steady airplay on the local-language FM radio station. The benefit of these marketing efforts has extended beyond our time in Kenya. While sales have certainly slowed since our departure from Kisumu, they continue at a rate of about 2 per month.

Monitoring the Impact of the Big Boda Our monitoring efforts have substantially improved our knowledge of the local bicycle market. We developed a monitoring program that included paper surveys, videotaped interviews, and direct observation. The monitoring effort is ongoing. Much of our sales occurred in March 2006 and after. In order to produce high-quality quantitative results we have extended the project’s timeframe and provided an ongoing budget to cover the monitoring of these late customers. Getting meaningful data from our Big Boda monitoring efforts has been a challenge, mostly due to language issues. Most Kenyans speak some English, but it is their third language. In one particularly frustrating monitoring session, a customer who had used his Big Boda for several months gave us four contradictory responses to the key question: “Are you making more with the Big Boda than with the regular bike?” Nonetheless, that same customer showed up each afternoon at our Workshop to pay his lease fee. And on the day we visited his base to interview him, he was the first of 7 Boda Boda operators to get a fare and leave the base. Due to the burst of sales activity in March ‘06, we found ourselves monitoring people who had only owned or used the Big Boda for 1 week. In order to stack our odds of gleaning quality monitoring data from the trial market, we greatly simplified the monitoring forms and left a budget for ongoing monitoring in the care of our Kisumu partner, Kickstart International. If all goes well, we will have access to this information at the end of June 2006.

Paul performs with Luo rapper Lowie One at Worldbike’s promotional event in downtown Kisumu. Their “Boda Boda Rap” song is now receiving steady airplay on the local FM radio station. Photo: YGC

Future plans: With the completion of the Big Boda trial market, we have greatly advanced our knowledge of how bicycles are bought, sold, and used in Kenya. Many of our earlier ideas have either been clarified and bolstered, or disproven. There is indeed a great need to deliver high-quality load-bearing bicycles in Kenya. But load-carrying capacity alone is not the answer. Safety and parts quality must be addressed for load-carrying capacity to make a broadly felt impact. One key misconception prior to this project was that Black Mamba bicycles in Kenya, while heavy and feature-poor, were at least highly durable products. We learned that the opposite is true. Bicycles in Kenya are heavy, feature-poor, and have very poor maintenance records. An average Boda Boda operator spends 300KSH ($5) per month on maintenance, meaning that by the end of the year, he has spent as much on maintenance as it would cost to purchase a new bicycle. But purchasing a new bicycle wouldn’t help him, because bicycles have poor durability right from the beginning. The tires that come with a new Black Mamba bicycle will hemorage within weeks if pumped beyond 50 pounds of pressure, (the level needed to prevent pinch flats when carrying a passenger). Spare parts are a great business for bicycle shops. Ed observed that bicycle shops in Kenya resemble candy stores, because they don’t offer service, but instead sell parts as quick fixes to problems that will inevitably reoccur. The nuts and bolts of a Kenyan bicycle are made of soft metal that strips when tightened to a secure level. In short, the bicycle, rather than being a way out of poverty, often becomes another trap, keeping lower class Kenyans in their lower class status. Boda Boda operators we interviewed expressed concern about their ability to save money for the future.

“The problem is savings. There will come a time when I no longer have the power to pedal…”

Having said that, people in Kenya do amazing things with the tools made available to them. They are highly skilled riders who carry tall, heavy, and awkward loads on these ‘Black Mamba’ bicycles. Ed and I consider ourselves strong cyclists. Together we have crossed the country from West to East and from North to South. But it is obvious from seeing an average Boda Boda climbing a hill with a passenger that they are much stronger cyclists than us. Another key lesson we learned from Kisumu was the high cost of modifying existing technologies, especially when the existing technology is of poor quality. It is possible that the sales we made during our trial market represent only the early adopters, and that the major wave of customers is still ahead of us. Certainly any new technology requires time to take hold in the market. But from everything we observed, it seems more likely that sales of the Big Boda will continue to be slow given its current retail price. The Big Boda is a solid, useful product when taken by itself – we didn’t have a single failure of the Big Boda frames during our trial market – but it doesn’t address the three problems universally encountered by Kenyan cyclists:

1. Poor brakes. Our emergency brake option cost an additional 1200KSH and thus did not sell.

2. No hill-climbing gear. 3. Poor durability in general. Bad bottom brackets, low-quality tires, soft nuts and

bolts, weak forks, bad pedals. Narrow handlebars need to be widened (and thus weakened.)

Adding cargo capacity to a bicycle with these inherent problems will only benefit customers carrying loads that are bulky but not heavy in nature. The winner of our Boda Boda style competition, when asked what could be added to improve the Big Boda, said “maybe a motor.” Even among people in the niches that clearly benefit from the Big Boda, price was a constant objection. This can be partially attributed to our relatively low marketing spend. We addressed the objection with discounts and favorable financing offers. But in order for the Big Boda in its current version to reach a sustainable level in Western Kenya, prices would have to climb to the full retail: 8000KSH for a complete bike or 2500 for the extension. We arrived at these prices by following a rigorous costing process, accounting for every piece of steel, every hour of welding and painting, and the necessary overhead items such as electricity and even drinking water for our shop employees. We then added a 14% profit margin for the shop owner, Moses. With a profit as slim as this, the only possible sales model is a direct-sales model. No distributors would be able to participate (getting the product sold nationally or regionally) unless the retail price were increased again. In short, the current value proposition of the Big Boda is not sufficient to benefit the mass market. Even among the niche markets who we consider prime beneficiaries of the Big Boda, the price is high enough to make sales difficult at full retail, though this could potentially be addressed with a higher marketing budget.

Alternatives to the Big Boda: These basic findings lead us away from funding continued production of Big Bodas in their current form. While it is satisfying to produce a product that benefits bread distributors and schoolchildren transporters, we must set our sights higher than these niche markets. So, what comes next for Worldbike? We are now faced with two options:

1. Continue to produce a bolt-on attachment but find a higher-quality platform than the current Black Mamba design.

2. Produce a custom-made one-piece bicycle. The natural implication of option 1 is to modify the Big Boda to be compatible with the mountain bikes now available in Kenya. We investigated this option by purchasing a mountain bike and testing it with a variety of loads. We see this is a potentially viable solution. The mountain bikes currently available in Kenya are priced similar to higher-tier Black Mambas. But does the mountain bike solve the three problems of the Black Mamba, namely bad brakes, no hill-climbing gear, and bad durability in general? The answer is yes, yes, and no. The mountain bikes currently available have satisfactory brakes and hill climbing gears. They solve many of the durability issues of the Black Mamba, such as weak forks, narrow

handlebars, and bad bottom brackets. However, they introduce new durability issues: weak chain and weak rear wheel. In their current form, they are not suitable to cargo adaptation. Spares and tools are not widely available for mountain bikes. While the street fundi’s hammer, pin, and railroad tie go a long way on Black Mambas, specialized tools are needed for mountain bikes. Our partner David Peckham of Ghana’s Village Bicycle Project knows as much as anyone about assisting with the transition from Black Mambas to mountain bikes. He has been working on it for the past six years in Ghana, importing tools and parts, and educating bicycle repairers around the country on specific techniques. His efforts are now paying off, as mountain bikes become cost-effective in Ghana relative to Black Mambas in terms of the cost of repair. He does this by filling up containers of used American bicycles and new tools and parts and shipping them to Accra. Steering the Big Boda towards mountain bike compatibility would require a similar distribution and education effort on our part in Kenya. Certainly no one is doing this work, and it needs to be done. But as long as we are going to be importing containers of replacement parts to Kenya, why not import whole bicycles? A bolt-on attachment will always be heavier and more expensive than a one-piece design because it uses more steel and hardware. There is a significant R&D cost to making sure that the bolt-on attachment matches the base frame, and no matter how good the design, some bicycles will remain incompatible. However, a one-piece bicycle such as our Worldbike prototype can be made to our specifications, with the right wheels, handlebars, brakes, bottom brackets, and our own load-carrying design.

A typical Kenyan bicycle repair business. In order to bring higher quality bicycles such as the Worldbike to Kenya, we must address the distribution of tools and spare parts. Photo: Ed Lucero.

Could bicycles like the Worldbike be produced in Africa? Unfortunately the dream of Africans producing bicycles for Africans remains a dream. In order to produce bicycles in Africa, we would rely heavily on components imported from Asia such as chain, cables, bearings, hubs, etc. Also, quality steel tubing that is suitable for making lightweight, strong bicycle frames, is simply not available in Kenya. We have to hold on to the hope that one day we will be able to build Worldbikes in Africa. But for now the answer is decidedly no. Producing containers full of Worldbikes would require engaging manufactures in the bicycle centers of the world, namely India, China, and Taiwan. We brought our Worldbike prototype with us from California for testing in Kenya during the last month of the project. The response was fantastic. Half of the people who tested it wanted to buy it on the spot. They weren’t simply reacting to its newness but were pointing specifically to the quality of the brakes (donated by SRAM corporation for our prototype), the ease of pedaling a heavy load with a low gear, and the smoothness of the pedal stroke (due to its high-quality bottom bracket). Some people offered us 8000-10000KSH ($114 - $142) for the Worldbike. Most of these people represent Kenya’s small middle class. These are people with professional jobs who can’t afford cars but would be willing to spend money on higher quality bicycles for them and their families. The Kenyan middle class also includes farmers in the wealthier tea and flower growing regions, who need to transport their crops to collection points. At these prices, the industry could probably make a small profit selling high quality bicycles in Africa. And if we are able to produce and sell a bike in the 6000-8000 KSH range, we could benefit lower class Kenyans, a true mass market solution. Will Kenyans pay for a higher quality bicycle? Our on the ground research shows that, with the right financing, Kenyans will pay for a bicycle that solves their transportation problems. If it reduces accidents, reduces damaged cargo, reduces operating expenses, gets health workers to the field and back, and improves earnings from boda boda work, they will buy it. But replacement parts and service have to be available. The key change in our strategic direction will be pursuing partnerships with the bicycle industry to develop serious distribution of purpose built load-carrying bicycles in Kenya that have good brakes and hill-climbing gears. At the same we will honor the grassroots heritage of Worldbike

A fish wholesaler named Moses tests the Worldbike prototype at Dunga beach. The Worldbike features an integrated cargo-ready frame, 7 speed drivetrain, 48 spoke wheels, and V-brakes. Photo: Ed Lucero.

by supplying plans, stories, and support to people doing self-led Big Boda-style distribution efforts. If the challenge boils down to improving bicycle distribution in Africa, then what is the role of Worldbike, a nonprofit US company? The industry will need help making the choice to enter a market that will ultimately yield small profits, and will require many loss-making years to reach profitability. They will need proof that the design proposed is the right one for East Africa. They will need to be assured of a substantial PR benefit from their efforts, which can translate to sales in the US market. They will need help monitoring the impacts of their commitment. They will need assistance developing and communicating with a network of bicycle shops capable of servicing the bikes. And they will need help conducting a sales effort in Kenya. These are all roles Worldbike can play. While the proposed strategic direction takes us away from the community-level projects we have pursued up to this point, it also lays the ground for a much larger impact. The story of self-empowerment that follows from Africans building bikes to help other Africans is unfortunately not viable enough to address the transportation and income-generating needs of the masses. Establishing distribution of a purpose built, affordable, load-carrying bicycle has the potential to do so.

Key Project Staff: Paul Freedman, Project Manager. Paul has run Worldbike since 2003 and began with the company in 2001. Prior to Worldbike, he had 5 years experience in project management and communications in the internet industry. He has a long-held passion for bicycling, biking across the US in 1993, and working in bike shops from the age of 16 on. Committed to the bicycle as key element of strong communities, Paul hosts the San Francisco cruiser ride and has bike-commuted to every job he has ever worked. He is the founder of Fossil Fool, a ‘cool safety’ bicycle accessories company. He is also a published writer and accomplished street performer. Paul holds a BA in Computer Science from Harvard.

Paul Freedman, Worldbike director and project manager, carrying kids at the San Francisco farmers Market. Photo: Ross Evans.

Ed Lucero, Technical Lead. Ed was trained as a welder in the demanding environment of the US Navy, repairing steam pipes and hull leaks during active missions on a frigate. He has headed up the production and design department of a successful jewelry co mpany, and has worked as a custom metal fabricator. As a professional kayaker, Ed designed an armored life vest that was aquired by Stohlquist. He also set the world record for taking the highest waterfall in a kayak, a feat he undertook so that he would be able spread a message of peace through the media. An accomplished outdoorsman and traveler, Ed rode his Xtracycle from Idaho to New Mexico, carrying his kayak and stopping to paddle the most promising rivers along his route. Ed grew up in New Mexico and attended the University of New Mexico. Moses Odhiambo, Workshop Manager. Moses is a metalworker, furniture maker, inventor, and entrepreneur working out of Kisumu’s bustling Juacali district. He operates a successful workshop with 2-4 employees repairing matatu vans, making security windows to order, making artistic furniture, and now manufacturing the Big Boda. He has worked with several NGO’s including ApproTEC and KIK. He also takes on custom transportation an irrigation jobs on a word-of-mouth basis, including hand trucks, carts, and winches for wells. He builds these of recycled car bearings and steel, keeping his costs low and the quality high. Moses survived childhood polio and until recently would bicycle 40km from Kisumu to Nyakatch on weekends, using his good leg to carry trees home for his family’s shamba.

Ed Lucero, Technical Lead. Photo: Paul Freedman.

Paul carries Moses Odhiambo, our Workshop manager, during a marketing expedition to Moses’ hometown of Nyakatch. Photo: Ed Lucero.

Financial Summary All amounts in U.S. dollars

Line Item (Natural Expense Categories) Budget Expense Variation (%)Personnel (Salaries and benefits) 25610 40832 60% Home Office Overhead 3320 3320 0 Manufacturing expenses 3940 8728* 121% Local Marketing, Communications 3300 3600 9% Umbrella legal status 2000 2282 11 % Airfare 7800 6202 -20% Workshop rent 760 2242 195% Project documentaion 4000 461** -88% Revenues from Big Boda sales (shown as negative, defraying expenses)

-2000 -750*** -62%

Total 48900 63576 30% * Manufacturing expenses were higher than expected due to two factors:

1. Higher than expected sales of complete bicycles as opposed to frame extensions. This meant we had to purchase bicycles at retail prices.

2. This figure includes the purchase of a $2200 welder which is still in our possession and will be highly useful on future projects.

** In order to achieve our goals for project documentation (professionally edited 10-30 minute video) we are recruiting a video editor who will accept a mixture of pro-bono work and deferred payment. *** Ongoing Big Boda revenues are being used to offset ongoing monitoring expenses. The true revenue figure is therefore higher than reported here, but a full accounting for ongoing revenues is not available as of 5/4/06.