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  • Powerful Solar Light Spurring Income-Making Opportunities

    Powerful Solar Light Spurring Income-Making Opportunities

    By David South, Development Challenges, South-South Solutions

    SOUTH-SOUTH CASE STUDY

    A clever innovator from India has built a highly durable solar lantern that also doubles as a mobile phone charger.

    The Sunlite lantern – the JS 30 MOB Sunlite – made by Sunlite Solar (sunlite-solar.com) is an LED (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-emitting_diode) light packed with clever innovations. It is completely self-contained and does not require any extra parts, cables or separate solar panel to charge it. The clever design includes a pop-up, fold-down handle, a powerful solar PV (photovoltaic) panel on its top that – with a day out in the sun – charges the lantern’s battery enough to provide around 8 hours of 360-degree light when the sun goes down. It is also highly durable and moisture and heat resistant and can withstand a drop on a hard floor.

    The manufacturer of the Sunlite lantern is India Impex, which focuses on making and exporting high quality off-grid solar lighting products and sees itself as a “socially driven company.” Founded in 2009, it has built up its reputation as a global vendor to humanitarian and relief agencies.

    To date, the Sunlite lantern has been distributed to people following Japan’s 2011 earthquake and tsunami, after Thailand’s 2011 floods and to refugees caught up in the ongoing crisis in Syria.

    “For the size of the lamp, for the number of hours, for the features we give, including the mobile (phone) charging – we are 100 per cent portable – it is all integrated,” said Sunlite representative Divyesh Thakkar, while demonstrating the lantern at the 2012 Global South-South Development Expo, held recently in Vienna, Austria (southsouthexpo.org).

    The mobile phone charging capability has been seized as a great way to turn the lantern into an income-generating opportunity. Already, people are forming co-ops and charging rent time on the lantern for recharging mobile phones. And there are a few clever tweaks to the lantern to help control this.

    “I don’t want this to be abused – I want it to be smart,” said Thakkar. “When someone comes in and charges the mobile phone and forgets, it is going to cut off after 20 minutes.”

    Sunlite lanterns have many uses, according to the product’s maker. One aspect the manufacturer is emphasizing is the importance of light to the security of women and children. There is overwhelming evidence that better lighting makes for a more secure environment, and allows people to do more things safely at night. Children can look out for environmental threats such as poisonous snakes and spiders, and women and girls can feel safe doing things like going to the toilet without worrying that somebody might attack them in the dark.

    Solar power is being seen as a way to get electricity to people in areas bypassed by conventional electricity grid networks. It also helps move people away from expensive, polluting and dangerous alternatives such as diesel generators, paraffin lamps, gas stoves and coal or dung fires.

    “We compare our solar lantern to the kerosene lantern,” Sunlite representative Sagar Mehta explained. “On a payback basis, you use an approximate of 30 to 40 cents of a US dollar of kerosene every day for a four-hour light. First of all, it is very harmful – smoke inhalation, illnesses, burns, all sorts of things, security issues.

    “That will cost a family one third or half of its income on a daily basis. If we can change this around where if we can make a solar lantern, where the sun is free, that can pay back in three months and you start earning rather than paying, (they are) making a living.”

    Solar-powered devices have many advantages. They can power up their batteries during the day while sitting in the sunshine and then be a source of light and electricity at night. This free energy source reduces the cost of running lights at night and means people can do a wide range of activities, from reading and studying to running a business or socializing. Some have even used Sunlite lanterns as landing lights for aircraft runways in Africa.

    Sunlite lanterns are currently being distributed to people in disaster situations and also in refugee camps and displaced persons communities.

    “The lamp was developed as a basic light for refugees who don’t have anything and have been displaced from homes,” said Mehta. “We supply in excess of 50,000 lamps every year to aid agencies, in particular the (UN’s) refugee agency.”

    In order to keep tight control on quality and be able to have an inventory of lanterns ready to go on a moment’s notice, the company has invested in and set up its own in-house manufacturing facilities in India.

    Sunlite Solar sees itself as a social enterprise. It is not focused on quick profits, and developing the lantern has taken time.

    “It requires a huge amount of investment and time,” said Thakkar. “We spent two years without selling a single piece. What we did was our R&D and went out in the field, some of the most dangerous places – Rwanda, Uganda – actually training people to use it and getting the awareness.

    “When you work with the UN, when you work through other government channels, it is just a long process which you have to be willing to go through.”

    Published: December 2012

    LINKS:

    1) More information on how renewable solar technologies work. Website:http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generating-energy/Choosing-a-renewable-technology/Solar-panels-PV 


    2) Solar Sister: Solar Sister eradicates energy poverty by empowering women with economic opportunity. Website:http://www.solarsister.org/

    3) D.Light Design: D.light is a for-profit social enterprise whose purpose is to create new freedoms for customers without access to reliable power so they can enjoy a brighter future. Website: http://www.dlightdesign.com/

    Development Challenges, South-South Solutions was launched as an e-newsletter in 2006 by UNDP’s South-South Cooperation Unit (now the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation) based in New York, USA. It led on profiling the rise of the global South as an economic powerhouse and was one of the first regular publications to champion the global South’s innovators, entrepreneurs, and pioneers. It tracked the key trends that are now so profoundly reshaping how development is seen and done. This includes the rapid take-up of mobile phones and information technology in the global South (as profiled in the first issue of magazine Southern Innovator), the move to becoming a majority urban world, a growing global innovator culture, and the plethora of solutions being developed in the global South to tackle its problems and improve living conditions and boost human development. The success of the e-newsletter led to the launch of the magazine Southern Innovator.  

    Creative Commons License

    This work is licensed under a
    Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

    ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5311-1052.

    © David South Consulting 2022

  • Solar Solution to Lack of Electricity in Africa

    Solar Solution to Lack of Electricity in Africa

    By David South, Development Challenges, South-South Solutions

    SOUTH-SOUTH CASE STUDY

    Electricity is critical to improving human development and living standards. Yet, for many in the global South, electricity is either non-existent or its provision is patchy, erratic, unreliable or expensive.

    Just as Africa has been able to jump a generation ahead when it comes to communications through the mass adoption of mobile phones – a much cheaper option than trying to provide telephone wires and cables across the continent – so it could also bypass the burdensome costs of providing electricity mains to everyone by turning to smaller electricity generation technologies such as solar power. This is called “off-grid” electricity.

    The UN has set the goal of universal access to modern energy services by 2030. A report issued in April 2010 by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change (AGECC) calls for expanding energy access to more than 2 billion people (http://www.unido.org/fileadmin/user_media/Publications/download/AGECCsummaryreport.pdf).

    The report found that a lack of access to modern energy services represents a significant barrier to development. Some 1.6 billion people still lack access to electricity.

    A reliable, affordable energy supply, the report says, is the key to economic growth and the achievement of the anti-poverty targets contained in the Millennium Development Goals.

    When a person has electricity and the lighting it powers, it is possible to do business and study late into the night. Electric lighting also makes streets and living areas safer. Electricity can power a plethora of labour-saving and life-enhancing consumer goods: televisions, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, air conditioners and fans, washing machines, clothes dryers, computers. And electricity recharges that most essential item, the mobile phone, on which millions rely to do their daily business.

    After witnessing the struggle African health clinics have to access electricity, a Nairobi, Kenya-based company has developed a simple solution to ensure a steady supply of solar electricity. One Degree Solar’s (http://onedegreesolar.com/) founder, Gaurav Manchanda, developed and sells the BrightBox solar-charging system for lights, mobile phones, tablet computers and radios.

    He first gained experience working in the West African nation of Liberia with the Clinton Health Access Initiative (http://www.clintonfoundation.org/main/our-work/by-initiative/clinton-health-access-initiative/about.html). Working at the country’s Ministry of Health, he found most health clinics operated without electricity.

    He identified solar power as the only viable energy source. Trying to deliver fuel to power generators by the road network had two impediments: the diesel fuel was expensive and the road conditions were poor.

    After seeing that large solar-power systems required significant maintenance and upkeep, he started to explore the possibility of low-cost, and simple-to-use solar electricity products that would be useful to community healthcare workers.

    This became the beginning of One Degree Solar and its mission.

    The company’s main product is the BrightBox, a cleverly designed solar charger. A bright orange box with a folding, aluminum handle at the top for easy carrying, it switches on and off simply with a bright red button. It has a waterproof solar panel. The BrightBox has USB (universal service bus) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bus) ports so that mobile phones and radios can be plugged in. It is also possible to plug in four lights at once with the four outports on the side of the box.

    It meets the standards set by the Lighting Africa initiative (http://lightingafrica.org/specs/one-degree-brightbox-2-.html) of the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank.

    One Degree Solar claim it is possible to set up a BrightBox in 10 minutes. When the indicator light has turned green, the box is fully charged and capable of providing 40 hours of light.

    A full charge can power two light bulbs for 20 hours. Manchanda told How We Made It In Africa (http://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/) that he has sold 4,000 units of the BrightBox since its launch in October 2012.

    According to The Nation, the BrightBox is currently retailing in Kenya for Kenyan shillings 7,000 (US $82).

    One Degree Solar’s product range is sold to local resellers and distributors. The products are designed to be repaired using locally sourced parts and can be fixed by local electricians.

    Most of the sales so far have been in Kenya but the firm has also sold units to other countries.

    Testimonials on the BrightBox website tell of the transformation to people’s lives the clean energy source makes: “BrightBox has helped us in so many ways! We used to spend 800 Shillings (US $9.50) a month for two paraffin lanterns. The fumes smelled and always made us feel sick.”

    Manchanda is a strong believer in Africa’s potential and its future and dismisses those who are negative about the continent.

    “That was not a holistic assessment, but rather, an unnecessary and damaging generalization,” he told How We Made It In Africa. “Fortunately, most news outlets in Africa are now available online and offer a wider range of perspectives. The middle class is booming in certain countries. We have seen the success of mobile phones in enabling people to access other services. I think hope and progress come with innovation. Technology access has helped create entirely new markets and reach populations that otherwise could have taken decades to service with traditional approaches.

    “India was in a similar space 15 years ago before the Internet boom, and today parts of Nairobi (Kenya) are just like Delhi (India): people have a cell phone or two, there are large shopping malls, a booming middle class, and new construction everywhere.”

    Published: June 2013

    Resources

    Global Off-Grid Lighting Association: Global Off-Grid Lighting Association (GOGLA) has been established to act as the industry advocate with a focus on small and medium enterprises. It is a neutral, independent, not-for-profit association created to promote lighting solutions that benefit society and businesses in developing and emerging markets. GOGLA will support industry in the market penetration of clean, quality alternative lighting systems. Website: http://globaloff-gridlightingassociation.org/

    Solar Sister: Solar Sister eradicates energy poverty by empowering women with economic opportunity. Website: http://www.solarsister.org/

    Solarpod: Sunbird Solar/Thousand Suns manufactures, sources and distributes the portable solar generator range. Website: http://www.thousandsuns.com/

    4) Little Sun: An attractive, high-quality solar-powered lamp in the shape of a hand-sized sun developed by artist Olafur Eliasson and engineer Frederik Ottesen. Website: http://www.littlesun.com/

    Southern Innovator logo

    London Edit

    31 July 2013

    Development Challenges, South-South Solutions was launched as an e-newsletter in 2006 by UNDP’s South-South Cooperation Unit (now the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation) based in New York, USA. It led on profiling the rise of the global South as an economic powerhouse and was one of the first regular publications to champion the global South’s innovators, entrepreneurs, and pioneers. It tracked the key trends that are now so profoundly reshaping how development is seen and done. This includes the rapid take-up of mobile phones and information technology in the global South (as profiled in the first issue of magazine Southern Innovator), the move to becoming a majority urban world, a growing global innovator culture, and the plethora of solutions being developed in the global South to tackle its problems and improve living conditions and boost human development. The success of the e-newsletter led to the launch of the magazine Southern Innovator.

    Creative Commons License

    This work is licensed under a
    Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

    ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5311-1052.

    © David South Consulting 2023

  • African Afro Beats Leads New Music Wave to Europe

    African Afro Beats Leads New Music Wave to Europe

    By David South, Development Challenges, South-South Solutions

    SOUTH-SOUTH CASE STUDY

    A surge in interest in African music in Britain is creating new economic opportunities for the continent’s musicians. The new sound heating up the U.K. music scene is “Afro Beats” – a high energy hybrid that mixes Western rap influences with Ghanaian and Nigerian popular music.

    Afro Beats draws its inspiration from the “Afrobeat” sound popularized in the 1970s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrobeat).Afrobeat recordings from that time are still making money as long-forgotten tunes are re-packaged by so-called ‘crate divers’ – enterprising people who rummage through old vinyl record collections and re-brand scenes and sounds.

    This is part of the global creative economy, which is thriving despite the recent years of economic turmoil. Musicians offer many lessons for businesses in the South, both in their adaptability to new conditions and their resourcefulness in experimenting with new business models to earn an income.

    Afrobeat stars and pioneers like Nigeria’s Fela Kuti (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fela_Kuti) have been popular outside Africa for many decades. But Afro Beats – a new name with the addition of the crucial letter “s” – is being declared as the beginning of a new phase in taking African music global.

    As the digital music revolution has rocked the global music business, artists have had to adapt and change their business models. For all but a very few “big names,” it is no longer possible to build a career on royalties from recordings and hits. Stars and novices alike must battle with music pirates, who sell CDs and downloads of other people’s tunes and keep the money for themselves. Legitimate income often comes in micropayments from large music platforms like iTunes as people pay to download an individual song or mix and match tunes they like from an artist’s catalogue, rather than buying a whole album as they would in the past.

    Clever musicians have turned to building their brand, using live performances and the ability to sell other services and merchandise to make a living. They create their own web platforms, or mobile phone apps (applications), and do the marketing and distribution on their own to build a loyal fan base. Others are creating their own mobile radio stations by distributing CDs to the ubiquitous taxi mini buses that are the main means of transport in most African cities.

    But some things remain the same as in the past, such as the importance of having a champion, such as a radio DJ (disc jockey), who acts as a “taste maker,” discovering new acts and telling their audience about them.

    The DJ most associated with pushing the Afro Beats sound and scene is London-based DJ Abrantee (http://www.facebook.com/djabrantee).

    “I’ve been playing this music to three or four thousand people at African events in the U.K. for years,” DJ Abrantee told The Guardian. “For years we’ve had amazing hiplife, highlife, Nigerbeats, juju music, and I thought: you know what, let’s put it all back together as one thing again, and call it Afro Beats, as an umbrella term. Afrobeat, the 60s music, was more instrumental – this Afro Beats sound is different, it’s inter-twined with things like hip-hop and funky house, and there’s more of a young feel to it.”

    Abrantee (abrantee.com) promotes Afro Beats in the United Kingdom in myriad ways: he broadcasts six days a week on a radio station, including an Afro Beats-themed show on Saturdays. He travels around to DJ and takes Ghanaian and Nigerian tunes with him. He says Africa is so musically vibrant, he can’t keep up with it all.

    “This is specifically the western African sound: there are a lot of shared ideas between these two neighbouring countries,” he explained to The Guardian. “I see Afro Beats as music which makes the heart beat. And it’s funky, and hyped, and energetic and young.”

    Afro Beats has also been able to reach a young audience. “It’s striking how young they are – when I do these Afro Beats events there’s thousands of people, and they’re all youngsters, really.”

    One of the Afro Beats stars is D’Banj (mohitsrecords.com/d-banj) – a Nigerian rap star – who has been receiving attention for his song Oliver Twist.

    The Afro Beats sound is also provoking a new interest in all things African amongst youth with African parents. This is a big change from when American “cool” set the trends. As DJ Abrantee notes, “the parents are really pleased, and proud, that their kids are all of a sudden embracing their culture. It didn’t used to be cool, but now they’re going through their parents’ record collections going, ‘Have you got this old song by Daddy Lumba?’.”

    Some of the Afro Beats leaders include Sarkodie’s ‘U Go Kill Me’, Ice Prince’s ‘Oleku’, Atumpan’s ‘The Thing’, Castro ftAsamoah Gyan’s ‘African Girls’.

    Afro Beat’s popularity in Britain has led to African artists collaborating with musicians in the UK. Afro Beats musician Sarkodie has collaborated with London-based artists Donaeo and Sway.  DJ Abrantee sees this trend continuing and expanding. “You’re going to see more U.K. artists doing Afro Beats collaborations now,” he said.

    Other Nigerian artists who have benefited from the increasing awareness are Wiz Kid, 2Face Idibia and P-Square (mypsquare.com).

    Abrantee believes Ghana and Nigeria are having a big impact on the global music scene.

    “The floodgates have opened. Music is always evolving, and everyone’s always looking for the next drug. Funky house has died out, grime is still there but it’s gone back underground, electro-pop’s got U.K. urban music in the charts, but that’ll die out, it’s got a short shelf-life. … and people are finally noticing I’m getting 3,000 people coming out to dance to Afro Beats.”

    British-Ghanaian hip-hop performer Sway sees connections between Afrobeat and Afro Beats.

    “Fela Kuti is obviously a massive legend in the game, and what he was doing is not too different to what D’Banj is doing now – taking western influences and adding them to African culture, and coming up with something new, that appeals to everyone,” he said.

    And technology is seen as the binding element that is connecting African music and musicians to other scenes.

    “African music in Africa is evolving in relation to what’s going on abroad too,” said Sway. “Via the Internet they’re picking up certain trends much quicker: so for example you have Auto-Tune and western styles of singing cropping up on all these Afro Beats tracks.”

    And Sway believes the quality of production of African music has improved: “There’s been a serious change in the music coming out of Africa lately.

    “The sound is heavier and clearer, the videos are better, there’s been a positive growth in the African music scene. It was just a matter of time before people paid attention.

    “When you’ve got African swag and African traditions combined with up-to-date western styles, and singing in English, well – you’ve got a winning formula on your hands.”

    Published: February 2012

    Resources  

    1) Mongolian Rock Pop book: In the Mongolian language, this UNDP book details how pop musicians led on business innovation during the turbulent transition years of the 1990s. Website: http://www.scribd.com/doc/23917535/Mongolian-Rock-and-Pop-Book

    2) Afrobeat: An interactive exploration of Afrobeat and its participants from National Geographic. Website: http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/view/page.basic/genre/content.genre/afrobeat_686/en_US

    3) DJ Abrantee: More from the champion of the Afro Beats scene. Website: http://www.abrantee.com

    https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2022/11/21/africa/

    https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2022/11/19/african-culture-as-big-business/

    https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2022/11/17/african-ingenuity-attracting-interest/

    https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2022/10/26/africas-consumer-market-in-spotlight-for-2011/

    https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2021/03/12/afro-coffee-blending-good-design-and-coffee/

    https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2021/01/05/afropolitan-african-fashion-scene-bursting-with-energy/

    https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2022/11/17/cashing-in-on-music-in-brazil/

    https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2022/12/18/disabled-congolese-musicians-become-world-hit/

    https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2022/10/20/ghana-wants-to-tap-global-trendy-party-scene/

    https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2022/10/24/made-in-africa-fashion-brand-pioneers-aim-for-global-success/

    https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2021/11/09/mauritanian-music-shop-shares-songs-and-friendship/

    https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2023/02/07/mongolian-rock-and-pop-book-mongolia-sings-its-own-song/

    https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2020/12/17/mongolias-musical-entrepreneurs-led-way-out-of-crisis-2018/

    https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2021/11/09/ring-tones-and-mobile-phone-downloads-are-generating-income-for-local-musicians-in-africa/

    https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2022/06/25/shoes-with-sole-ethiopian-web-success-story/

    https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2021/03/05/southern-innovator-issue-2/

    https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2021/11/09/taxis-promote-african-music-beats/

    https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2022/04/15/youth-surge-in-the-south-a-great-business-opportunity/

    Development Challenges, South-South Solutions was launched as an e-newsletter in 2006 by UNDP’s South-South Cooperation Unit (now the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation) based in New York, USA. It led on profiling the rise of the global South as an economic powerhouse and was one of the first regular publications to champion the global South’s innovators, entrepreneurs, and pioneers. It tracked the key trends that are now so profoundly reshaping how development is seen and done. This includes the rapid take-up of mobile phones and information technology in the global South (as profiled in the first issue of magazine Southern Innovator), the move to becoming a majority urban world, a growing global innovator culture, and the plethora of solutions being developed in the global South to tackle its problems and improve living conditions and boost human development. The success of the e-newsletter led to the launch of the magazine Southern Innovator.  

    Creative Commons License

    This work is licensed under a
    Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

    ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5311-1052.

    © David South Consulting 2023

  • The Battle for India’s Coffee Drinkers in Buzzing Economy

    The Battle for India’s Coffee Drinkers in Buzzing Economy

    By David South, Development Challenges, South-South Solutions

    SOUTH-SOUTH CASE STUDY

    A showdown in India over coffee is creating new opportunities. It is also demonstrating how the country is changing, with rising incomes in some places and great disparities in others.

    Finding the right place to have a coffee and meet with friends for a chat is important to many urban Indians. And the fight is on for these customers.

    Older establishments like the legendary College Street Coffee House in Kolkata (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_Street_Coffee_House) – owned by a cooperative society – compete with new rivals modelled on the popular American chain Starbucks (http://www.starbucks.com/). This fierce competition takes place in an economic environment of rising food inflation of up to 16 percent this year and economic growth surpassing seven percent.

    Coffee is the second most popular drink in India after tea. Its consumption has been steadily growing over the years, rising from 50,000 metric tonnes (MT) in 1995 to 94,400 MT in 2008 (Coffee Board of India). Once mainly drunk in the south of India, the taste for coffee has spread around the country with the rise of fast-paced modern lifestyles. The caffeine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine) jolt of a cup of coffee is attractive to people on the move and working hard.

    India also holds its own as a coffee growing and exporting nation, accounting for about 4.5 percent of world coffee production and the industry provides employment to 600,000 people. The state of Karnataka accounts for 70 percent of country’s total coffee production followed by Kerala (22 percent) and Tamil Nadu (7 percent).

    India has the domestic demand, and it has the product. And now a bitter battle for the nation’s coffee drinkers is underway. The difference between what is on offer at the cooperative-run coffee houses and the newer establishments is stark: at the older places, service is old-fashioned – waiters in white suits deliver coffee and food to tables – with a no-frills menu on offer. Coffee comes in simple forms: black, white, cold, hot for eight rupees (US 0.18 cents). At newer establishments, coffees come in many varieties and permutations, flavoured and with added extras. Menus also can be varied and establishments can include things like internet access.

    The appeal of the older establishments is price.

    “It’s good here because it’s cheap,” College Street Coffee House customer Arindam Chouwdhry, 19, told The Guardian newspaper. “We can’t go to these new places. We are from the middle class only.”

    And turnover is brisk, according to manager, Deepak Gupta. “We serve up to 1,500 cups a day. Business is good.”

    Owned by the India Coffee House chain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Coffee_House), a worker’s cooperative society with 400 outlets across the country, the Coffee House was established in the 1950s with the mandate to serve cheap food and drink and act as a meeting place. It attracts workers, intellectuals and political activists. But with the huge economic changes in India over the past decade, traditional coffee houses are facing fierce competition.

    In the state of Kerala, home to avid coffee drinkers, 15 of the cooperative’s 50 branches are now losing money. In the capital, Delhi, a further 10 coffee houses have closed. Things are so bad for these traditional coffee houses that the most famous branch of the Indian Coffee House has not paid its rent for years and is waiting to be closed by the municipality.

    “The younger crowd seems to go elsewhere,” said its resigned manager, Janak Raj.

    In many countries, coffee houses have become essential tools for economic development. They not only offer a stimulating drink, but a place to hang out, meet friends and business partners, catch up on news and access the internet. This role in economic development can be found as far back as the coffee houses of Europe during the beginning of the industrial revolution: deals were struck and people could meet the like-minded to hatch business ideas.

    Coffee houses and cafes also reflect the economic and social changes in Indian society. They have come to be status symbols, showing what economic power you have achieved. And as services and quality change, they show how the level of prosperity changes.

    New competitors to the cooperative coffee houses’ are offering a more modern environment to lure in a trendier crowd. Café Coffee Day (http://www.cafecoffeeday.com/index.php), which claims to be India’s largest chain coffee shop, with the motto “where the young at heart unwind”, has air conditioning, mirrors, comfortable chairs and posters on the walls for decoration. And the price is different as well: choco-frappes go for 95 rupees (US $2.11).This price means the customers need higher incomes to afford to go there.

    “McDonald’s is the cheapest hangout and everyone can go there,” said a customer, Sima. “This is much nicer and only a bit more expensive so we come here. But only a few people can go to Barista’s.”

    The chain Barista’s (http://www.barista.co.in/users/index.aspx) is 10 years old with 230 outlets. It is growing fast with 65 more new outlets opening this year. According to its head of marketing, Vishal Kapoor, Barista’s does not simply offer coffee, but “an overall experience.”

    They bill themselves as “crème” cafes: places where salads and smoothies are on offer beside the coffee.

    “It’s very exciting what is happening in India,” Kapoor said. “The classic coffee houses are part of an era that is ending.”

    “People use the cafes as places to meet for privacy. “It is a kind of private space,” says Ruchika, a bank worker.

    Nonetheless, despite its success, Barista’s is still too expensive for most Indians.

    Published: April 2010

    Resources

    1) 48 innovations in coffee culture: This eclectic mix of innovations, trends and tit bits on global coffee culture is sure to inspire any budding coffee entrepreneur. Website: http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/coffee-innovation

    2) Watch a video report from the coffee houses. Website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/video/2010/apr/01/india-coffee-house-kerala

    3) Coffee Board of India: The Board focuses on research, development, extension, quality upgrades, market information, and the domestic and external promotion of Coffees of India. Website: http://www.indiacoffee.org/login.php

    4) Practical advice and contacts on how to start a coffee shop. Website: http://www.howtostartacoffeeshop.co.uk/

    Development Challenges, South-South Solutions was launched as an e-newsletter in 2006 by UNDP’s South-South Cooperation Unit (now the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation) based in New York, USA. It led on profiling the rise of the global South as an economic powerhouse and was one of the first regular publications to champion the global South’s innovators, entrepreneurs, and pioneers. It tracked the key trends that are now so profoundly reshaping how development is seen and done. This includes the rapid take-up of mobile phones and information technology in the global South (as profiled in the first issue of magazine Southern Innovator), the move to becoming a majority urban world, a growing global innovator culture, and the plethora of solutions being developed in the global South to tackle its problems and improve living conditions and boost human development. The success of the e-newsletter led to the launch of the magazine Southern Innovator.  

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