Bike4Work
Kenya A bicycle-on-credit project for entrepreneurs in Ahero is having some start-up problems. During the extreme drought and disappointing harvest in many parts of Kenya at the beginning of 2011, our partner organisation VBBS felt obliged to respond to its members’ requests for other credits. The starting capital for bicycles has therefore been spent on credits for seeds and school fees. It is true that our partner organisation VBBS has trained 100 men and women in entrepreneurship, savings and credit and bicycle maintenance, but only 12 bikes were handed over. Because VBBS has not managed to revive the project successfully in the course of the year the responsibility for the bicycle -on-credit project has been shifted to the bicycle repair shop “Cycling Blue Workshop”.
Burkina Faso Since 2006 women in Burkina Faso have been able to acquire a bicycle in installments through our partner organisation AVO. In 2011 more bikes were provided, again without further financing by CooP-Africa.
Bicycles-on-credit
Rwanda Our partner organisation FAPDR has proved to be able to supervise the bicycle-on-credit projects very well up to and including 2011. In two villages they now monitor the bicycle-oncredit projects in cooperation with a local Sacco and bikes are being handed out continually. Together with FAPDR CooP-Africa will increase the number of villages the coming years.
Uganda In cooperation with Hope Alive Uganda (HAU) 50 bikes were handed over to a group of female entrepreneurs in the surroundings of Kisozi. Because of mismanagement by HAU it is uncertain whether 50 more bicycles can be paid for out of the installments. Cooperation with HAU will therefore be discontinued. In 2010 BSPW initiated a bicycle-on-credit programme with 100 bikes for entrepreneurs via a number of Saccos and women’s groups. In 2011 another 100 bicycles paid for out of the installments came on the road.
‘The local market where I sell tomatoes is four kilometer away from my house. At the market in the city prices are better, but for that I must travel ten kilometers. With my bicycle I now go once a week, and I can take even more tomatoes!’ Pheobe, 24 years old, entrepreneur in Kenya
Bicycle workshops The three workshops developed by CooP-Africa in Burkina Faso, Uganda en Kenya are working independently at the moment. In order to reach economic independence the workshops do not focus exclusively on bicycles but also on other metal work such as the production of window frames, railings, playground equipment, etc.
Demoproject: Bike2Clean CooP-Africa supports entrepreneurs who work in waste collection and/or recycling with special tricycles that enable the workers to transport large quantities. 10 Entrepreneurs in Uganda were assisted in making a business plan for their waste collection/recycling business. Moreover CooP-Africa has examined the role a bike plays in waste collection: how can the bike be put to the best use in this branch?
Bicycle workshops and demoprojects
ecten
Demoproject: Delivery service by bicycle In cooperation with a catering business in Kisumu a delivery service has been set up. This catering service mainly delivers fresh fruit juices door-to-door. In 2012 the marketing of the delivery service will be focused on.
Demoproject: Bike2Rism In 2011 a new project has been set up in Kisumu, Kenya: Bike2Rism. The bike is a perfect means of tansport to see the sights of this city. There are thousands of bicycle taxis called Boda Boda drivers on the streets. In this project tourists are offered the possibility to get to know Kisumu by bike. Bicycle tours are available both for passengers on a Boda Boda and for cyclists using a rented bike. A training for a group of local boda boda drivers has been initiated so that they can act as guides and thus make a living from Bike2Rism. Moreover bicycles-for-rent for tourists have become available in 2011.
Payments Delayed 19%
Disposable income On time 81%
No change 24% Increased 76%
Results No change 3%
Transport time
Reduced 97%
No change 11%
Transport cost
Reduced 89%
This is Hakizimana Jean de Dieu. He is20 years old and lives in Rwanda. He is one of the people who received a bicycle on credit through a partner organisation of CooP-Africa. He uses his bicycle in the morning to take bananas, beans and cassavas from his fields to the market. In the afternoon he rides around as a bicycle taxi. Three years ago he lived in a mud house. Now there is a stone house on his land. He proudly shows what he has achieved thanks to his bicycle. By the way, Jean d Dieu is still a bachelor. But the women are queuing up now that he has managed to build his own house. Gakenke, November 2011
Bike4School
Uganda At three schools in Uganda the Bike4School programme has been set up. The experiences with the Bike4School programme at the 2 schools that are monitored by FABIO are generally positive. The school results and the attendance rates have improved and risen. However there is a challenge at one of the schools. A small number of teachers is also taking part in the programme. The teachers’ salaries (paid by the government) have been much delayed. That is why the payments for the bikes have been delayed as well. But the teachers state that the bikes enable them to be in class in time and to teach with enthusiasm.
Kenya In Kenya the Bike4School programme is up and running at 2 locations: in and around Kisumu and at a school in Ruiru. Here preparations have been made for handing out 50 bikes in 2012.
‘When I was at primary school, I used to walk to school every day. Children from high school catched me up by bicycle. I dreamed to go by bicycle to school one day myself. Now I am in fourth class of high school, and own a bicycle on credit. I cycle to school every day and catch up many children from primary school!’ Daniel Odhiambo student in Uganda
The experiences with the Bike4School projects in Uganda and Kenya became the starting point for a more developed Bike4School concept based on all the lessons learnt in the past 5 years. This concept will be developed in 2012 into a ready-to-use toolkit for schools, partner organisations and local authorities for starting up the Bike4School programme.
Activities
School attendance No change 17%
School performance
No change 25%
Improved 75%
Improved 83%
Results Transport cost No change 4%
Reduced 96%
Transport time
Payments Delayed 46%
Reduced 100%
On time 54%
'I go to fetch water by bicycle, with two jerry cans of 20 liter each. I used to go by foot, and carried a jerry can on my head. But then I had to walk twice. Woira Grace Student in Uganda
Bike4Care
Activities
After a few pilot projects in the last few years the Bike4Care programme was developed more fully at the beginning of 1211. In Kisumu, Kenya, 102 health workers got access to a bicycle through partner organisation KUAP Pandipieri, and 5 clusters of these health workers were provided with a bike ambulance. The health workers offer home care, health education and counseling in different fields of health care: ranging from TBC, HIV/AIDS to food education. All these health workers have followed a 6-day training about different strategies in health care. The training follows the guidelines of the Kenyan government. Under supervision of the Cycling Blue Workshop, trainers of the Traffic Ministry and the police, the health workers have also had a cycling training. This consisted of theoretical lessons about traffic rules and traffic signs and the position of the bike on the road. There was also a practical lesson on a training circuit. The training also covered the basics of cycling mechanics. After this training the health workers were able to take to the road as qualified health workers full of confidence.
‘I can visit more patients now I don’t have to walk any more. Besides this, Bike4Care gives my work a professional look’. Eunice Ambala Gezondheidswerker Kenia
African Bicycle Design (ABD)
Bicycle trailers In 2010-2011 CooP-Africa organised the African Bicycle Design Contest. Students of the Delft Univerty of Technology were the winners. The winning team travelled to Kisumu. There they developed two prototypes of bicycle trailers. Testing the prototypes in several groups of users has now started, which will be continued and rounded off in 2012. In 2012 the other workshops will also start producing these bicycle trailers.
Tricycle In 2011 a student from Amsterdam University of Appied Sciences together with the employees of the Cycling Blue Workshop and potential users designed a tricycle. They also trained the people in the workshop in putting the bike together by themselves. Now the bicycle workshops in Kenya, Uganda and Burkina Faso are producing this tricycle. The design and the production manual are open-source so that other organisations can use it for free.
Results
Hand driven tricycle The Cycling Blue Workshop is becoming well-known as a workshop where innovative bicycles are being developed and bikes are being modified. More and more requests for special types of bikes are coming in. The Cycling Blue Workshop has produced a hand-driven tricycle. And a reclining bike has been developed in cooperation with a Kenyan student. The hand-driven tricycle will be further developed in 2012 into a design for entrepreneurs.
‘White Bicycles’ In principle CooP-Africa does not use second hand imported bikes for projects in Africa, instead bikes are bought on the local market. There are many reasons for this, the main reason being the generally low quality of the bikes, the lack of suitable spare parts, and the distortion of the local bicycle retail market. In cooperation with National Park ‘De Hoge Veluwe’ and Air France-KLM Cargo CooPAfrica started a pilot to try out the sustainable use of second hand bikes. A number of criteria for a well-considered pilot were defined in advance: Only identical maintenance free and sturdy models. Good possibilities to acquire spare parts and to get repairs done. The bikes are identical, easy to maintain, sturdy and uni-sex into the bargain. On arrival they are revised in the repair shop in Kisumu, Kenya. Then they are put in the care of groups who have easy access to the Cycling Blue Workshop for spare parts and repairs. In 2011 the largest group of people who benefited were health workers . The impact and the concept of second hand bikes will be evaluated in 2012.
African Bicycle Network (ABN)
The African Bicycle Network has published a report in cooperation with UN-Habitat, titled “Sustainable mobility for African Cities”, as a follow-up of the meeting of experts in 2011.
Results
In 2011 CooP-Africa facilitated the attendance of ABN at the Velocity conference in Sevilla, Spain. Velocity is the main conference worldwide where innovation, knowledge and partners in the field of the bicycle and bicycle policies meet. Three ABN-members were invited to do a presentation on the stage. A dinner-meeting was organised together with Shimano Europe to discuss the bicycle market in Africa. Possible steps to improve the African bicycle market were reviewed, focusing on a sound supply and the right price/quality ratio.
‘It is an enormous eye-opener to see that others are struggling with the same challenges, and refreshing to see how they tackle them. Even though the situation in Burkina Faso differs completely from Rwanda I can use things for my own projects that I learn from others who are here.’ Esther Yameogo from Burkina Faso