Category Archives: Frugality

Looking back at 2020 from Mama Mboga’s eyes: The Pandemic as Natural Disaster

By Niti Bhan | Published: December 4, 2020

I am moved today by my work to look back at this agonizingly long year of separations and losses and delays for peoples around the world. Uncertainty and complexity have both increased, and economic volatility has become the order of the day, regardless of the development status of the region or location. More people in […]

Also posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Analysis, Base of the Pyramid, Biashara Economics, Consumer Behaviour, East African Community, Economy, Ecosystem, Kenya, Mama Biashara, Marchés africains, Marketing, Perspective, Retail in Africa, Risk, Scarcity, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, urban, User research | Tagged endurance, farm to fork, food security, informal economy, informal urban food system, mama mboga, nairobi, precarious, remoteresilienceproject, resilience, stoic, vcd | 1 Response

Closing the Circle: Can integration of the flows in the post consumption ecosystem of Global North & South aid resilient recovery for all?

By Niti Bhan | Published: November 30, 2020

It was in July 2009 that I first attempted to visualize the significantly large subsector of informal recycling that fed the informal industrial ecosystem with re-processed ‘raw’ materials for their manufacturing output. The first draft was based on what I’d seen and documented in The Philippines, and in India, during the fieldwork for the ‘prepaid […]

Also posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Base of the Pyramid, Biashara Economics, China, Consumer Behaviour, East African Community, Economy, Ecosystem, Ghana, global, India, Informal & Flexible, jua kali, Kenya, Perspective, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Research, Retail in Africa, Senegal, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, Tanzania, Technology, Uganda, User research | Tagged boundary spanners, circular economy, ecosystem map, global south, informal economy | Leave a comment

The Prepaid Economy as a Commercial Operating Environment

By Niti Bhan | Published: July 18, 2019

I have been looking for information the global prepaid mobile subscriber market since yesterday morning. Initially, all I wanted to know was the percentage of prepaid subscribers in China, as I wanted to compare operating environments in major mobile markets like India and China, against the fast growth emergent one in sub Saharan Africa. What […]

Also posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Airtime, Alternative currency, Analysis, ASEAN, Assumption filter, Banking, Base of the Pyramid, Biashara Economics, Business Models, Cashless transactions, China, Commerce en ligne (e-commerce), Consumer Behaviour, Culture, Design, Economy, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Flexibility, Ghana, global, Income, India, Informal & Flexible, Innovation Planning, Kenya, Marchés africains, Marketing, Mobile platform, Nigeria, Perspective, Philipines, Platforms, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Research, Rural Economy, Savings, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, Technology | Tagged africa, china, digital mobile social ecosystem, digital social economy, ecosystem, emerging markets, india, informal economy, mobile, prepaid business model, prepaid economy, south east asia | Leave a comment

The Informal Industrial Ecosystem: An Introduction to REculture

By Niti Bhan | Published: September 10, 2018

This article introduces and explains some things I’ve been seeing in the informal industrial ecosystem in the developing world context for almost a decade now. First noticed in 2009, I then named it REculture, a neologism to capture the vast and complex ecosystem I saw in the revenue generating facility of recycle, replace, repurpose, reuse […]

Also posted in Articles on Design and Innovation, Base of the Pyramid, Biashara Economics, Business Models, Ecosystem, Emerging Futures, Emerging Markets, global, Perspective, REculture, Research, Systems, Technology | Tagged design, engineering, informal industrial ecosystem, manufacturing, post consumption, product development, reculture, sustainability | Leave a comment

The Resilience of Innovation under Conditions of Scarcity

By Niti Bhan | Published: February 20, 2018

Innovating beyond the traditional tin lantern – a simple wick attached to the can – Kouassi Bafounga cuts shapes from tin cans and fixes them together with glass, string and a little petrol to produce storm-proof lanterns. Last year, Bafounga was one of 11 winners in a “Fab Lab” innovation competition run by the French […]

Also posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Base of the Pyramid, Biashara Economics, Consommateurs, Design, Innovation Planning, jua kali, Marchés africains, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, Technology | Tagged africa, biashara economy, informal economy, innovation under conditions of scarcity, innovation under scarcity, resilience | Leave a comment

A Unique Path to Development Seen for the Informal Economy

By Niti Bhan | Published: January 30, 2018

Just recently I stumbled over this slim book < 60 pages that analyzed existing data sources in order to frame an answer to the research question they posed: How did the informal economy―markets and the private sector―develop in the absence of legal and administrative frameworks to support it? Some of the most intriguing insights extracted […]

Also posted in Assumption filter, Base of the Pyramid, Biashara Economics, Business Models, Cashless transactions, China, Economy, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Flexibility, FMCG, global, Income, Informal & Flexible, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Report Review, Research, rural, Rural Economy, Savings, Scarcity, Strategy, Systems, UCSD, Value | Tagged asia, informal economy, informal trade, private sector, public planning, transformation, transition, value | Leave a comment

Household energy consumption behaviour in East Africa: Lighting & Conclusion (3 of 3 Parts)

By Niti Bhan | Published: January 29, 2018

The following is extracted from a six month study during 2012 on household energy consumption behaviour in rural Kenya and Rwanda among the lower income demographic, that led to an understanding of some of barriers hampering the sales of client’s solar products in this market. This 3rd and final part will focus on fuel […]

Also posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Analysis, Base of the Pyramid, Biashara Economics, Business Models, Consumer Behaviour, Design, Economy, Ecosystem, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, jua kali, Kenya, Marchés africains, Marketing, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Research, Retail in Africa, Rural Economy, Scarcity, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Technology, User research | Tagged African Consumer Market, consumer behaviour, kenya, kerosene, lighting, prepaid solar, pricing, rural African market, solar, strategy, user research | 1 Response

Household energy consumption behavioural study in East Africa: Cooking (Part 2 of 3)

By Niti Bhan | Published: January 28, 2018

Also posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Base of the Pyramid, Biashara Economics, Business Models, Consumer Behaviour, Culture, Design, Expenses, FMCG, Indigenous & Traditional, Informal & Flexible, jua kali, Kenya, Mama Biashara, Marchés africains, Marketing, Perspective, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, rural, Rural Economy, Scarcity, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, User research | Tagged africa, charcoal, consumer behaviour, cooking, cooking fuel, cooking in rural Africa, firewood, household consumer behaviour, kerosene, solar, user insights | 1 Response

Introduction to rural household energy consumption behaviour in East Africa (1 of 3 parts)

By Niti Bhan | Published: January 27, 2018

Also posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Analysis, Biashara Economics, Business Models, Consumer Behaviour, Culture, Design, East African Community, Informal & Flexible, Innovation Planning, jua kali, Kenya, Marketing, Mobile platform, Perspective, Platforms, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Projects and Reports, Research, Retail in Africa, rural, Rural Economy, Scarcity, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, Technology, UCSD, User research | Tagged consumer insights, consumer research, East Africa, energy consumption, fuel consumption, household consumer research, kenya, pay as you go solar, prepaid solar, renewable energy, rural africa, rwanda, solar | 1 Response

How to Spot Signals of Local Purchasing Patterns in the Market

By Niti Bhan | Published: September 20, 2016

This photograph is taken from a regular news item from a Liberian newspaper announcing the opening of a new petrol station in the town of Ganta. What caught my attention is the size of the LPG cylinders being promoted. On the left is the 6kg and on the right is an even smaller size that […]

Also posted in Africa, African Consumer Market, Analysis, Base of the Pyramid, Biashara Economics, Consumer Behaviour, Economy, Income, Marchés africains, Marketing, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Research, Retail in Africa, Sub Saharan Africa, urban, User research | Tagged biashara economics, informal economy, informal market, liberia, LPG cylinder, prepaid economy, SKU, west africa | Leave a comment