IXL Social Enterprise Case Studies Food Security January 2013 | Page 19

Food Security in Urban Slums by 2018

Know your customers’ needs and behaviors
Customers at the BOP are unique. They have specific needs driven by their unique conditions. Their
buying behavior is different and driven by past experience, beliefs, culture, traditions and opinions
of key influencers. Solutions that may apply in certain geographies, regions or segments may have
to be altered to fit a target customer.
For example, yellow corn is available in many regions in Africa through food aid from the U.S. It is a
healthy food staple rich in vitamins and carbohydrates. However, people in Kenya and Zimbabwe
refuse to eat this type of corn because of its flavor, aroma and color.72 They would prefer eating the
Kenyan local variety of white maize.

What are your customers’ needs and what is their purchasing behavior? For example, consider
foods that are forbidden due to religious beliefs as well as local fares and tastes.
Saving Time with New Technology
The e-Choupal model has been specifically
designed to tackle the challenges posed by
the unique features of Indian agriculture,
characterized by fragmented farms, weak
infrastructure and the involvement of
numerous intermediaries, among others.
The initiative was launched in June 2000
and it has already become the largest
initiative among all internet-based
interventions in rural India. E-Choupal
is based on a hub and spoke model
which consists of villages serviced by a
local farmer called the Sanchalak. These
villages or spokes aggregate demand
and supply to the next tier which is the
district/town-centered hub. Enhanced
hubs, called Sagars, also serve as retail
outlets for products and services ranging
from soaps and apparel to tractors and
insurance. This whole system has created
an infrastructure that helps farmers to
find a faster pathway to a market for their
produced food as well as to protect their
rights in different interactions.71

Free up people’s time
Far too many people in poor regions spend far too much time looking for water or food. If that time
can be freed up, then these people can use this time to create economic value for themselves
through doing other tasks.
For example, something as easy as a quick cell phone call can provide people with invaluable
information that leads to time-saving and profit-generating decisions. With the onset of mobile
phone coverage in 1997, fishermen in Kerala in the south of India saw their businesses thrive.
Previously, they had thrown away 5 to 8 percent of their perishable catch when their home market
was oversupplied and there was not enough demand for the day. But now with a cell phone in
hand, in just a matter of minutes, fishermen can call several markets from their boats and head over
to the one offering the highest prices. Eventually the varied price of fish, mainly sardines, along the
coast settled down to a single price, creating a more efficient market that drove the fishermen’s
profits up by about 8 percent and consumer prices down by about 4 percent. As development
economist Robert Jensen of Harvard University remarked: “Information makes markets work, and
markets improve welfare.”73

What are some other ways to free up time? For example, if wasteful activities such as lining up to
buy food, gather water or obtain public transportation could be eliminated, people would have more
time to do something else.
Scalable channels already exist in slums
Tap existing channels
Infrastructure in the BOP is lacking and building new low-cost channels is challenging; however,
there are many examples of companies who have been able to access the BOP. For example,
telecommunications companies in every country are able to deliver and offer their products and
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