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Assignment 3: Substantiating Claims

Tackling Poverty: Designing for Recipients or Customers

Through funding from the World Bank, the Malawi Urban Water Supply Project was implemented by the Ministry of Water Development. One of its main initiatives was to expand water source, transmission and storage throughout Balantyre and Lilongwe in Malawi. To combat issues of poor availability of clean water, the Ministry of Water Development planned to purchase top of the range water holding systems and introduce them in these towns (Kawalewale, 2000).

This practice is clearly based on the assumption that we can donate our way out of poverty as suggested in the book ‘Out of Poverty’ (Polak, 2008a). The World Bank is an organisation that provides financial support for projects in developing countries in a bid to reduce poverty worldwide (The World Bank Group, 2011a). In this case, the World Bank was to provide a grant to subsidise the cost of a high quality product for these poorer communities.

This initiative was in the end deemed an impractical solution to Malawis water transmission problems. The cost of implementing these large-scale systems for a farmer earning less than a dollar a day was simply unachievable. The high quality of the products was considered unnecessary for the problems that most poverty stricken famers were facing (Kawalewale, 2000).

Subsiding the price of these top of the range products would also mean that local small-scale entrepreneurs would lose financially. This kind of charitable handout is what results in societies dependent on external charitable organisations. If the World Bank funding were to go to local designers and entrepreneurs, the community would be taking a step towards becoming more self-sufficient.

In a contrasting case, International Development Enterprises is a social enterprise currently assisting rural farmers to increase their income by understanding and responding to local problems in a variety of countries. IDE treats these smallholder famers as customers rather than recipients, giving them the ability to decide what problems are most important to address and if IDE solutions have any value for them (iDE, 2012).

One of IDE’s large-scale projects PRiSM creates opportunities for small farmers to increase their income, whilst still profiting small business owners in the region. Rather than subsidising expensive farming equipment, PRiSM aims to create networks between farmers, local businesses and services in order to promote self-sustainable regions. This method has been extremely successful in regions such a Bangladesh, where farmers experience a variety of problems ranging from lack of agricultural inputs to poor water resource management (The World Bank Group, 2011b).

The difference between these two initiatives provides evidence supporting my hypothesis that it is more successful to treat consumers of the developing world as customers, rather than recipients. The first case study was deemed unsuccessful, as it did not take into account the specific needs of individual farmers in the region. It is not appropriate to create an opportunity to buy high quality, large-scale products at a reduced cost if the target market can still not afford them or do not require such sophisticated models. Disconnection with the target market resulted in an inappropriate solution for Malawi’s basic farming problems. The PRiSM case study summarises the importance of interaction between small communities and charitable organisations. By trying to develop self-sufficiency, they are able to supply only what farmers need and can afford whilst boosting sales of local product, improving local economy. The evaluations provide clear examples of how engaging with consumers as customers can be more effective than treating them as recipients.

   References

iDE. (2012). iDE’s Mission. Retrieved from http://www.ideorg.org/OurStory/Mission.aspx

Kawalewale, H. (2000, June 30). Malawi-Urban Water Supply Project Report. Retrieved from http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2000/07/08/000094946_00051805410727/Rendered/PDF/multi0page.pdf

Polak, P. (2008a). Out of poverty. (p. 34). San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Kohler Publishers Inc

The World Bank Group. (2011a, April 02). About us. Retrieved from http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTABOUTUS/0,,pagePK:50004410~piPK:36602~theSitePK:29708,00.html

The World Bank Group. (2011b). Bangladesh: Priorities for agriculture and rural development. Retrieved from http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/EXTSAREGTOPAGRI/0,,contentMDK:20273763~menuPK:548213~pagePK:34004173~piPK:34003707~theSitePK:452766,00.html

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Assignment 2: Abstract and Argument

As members of the developed world, many of us find ourselves, obliged to better the lives of those less fortunate by way of monetary donation. These donations, generally to charitable organisations are very rarely specific to the consumer, and can fail to foster a sense of self-sustainability within communities. An alternative to a monetary donation is to engage with individual communities, recognising their specific needs and challenges in order to affect change.

With this paper, I will research the differences between these two approaches to assisting a developing nation in which the consumers of the developing world are treated as recipients, or alternatively as customers, in order to determine the impact of each model.

I will investigate the effectiveness of a structured model of donating standard supplies through a charitable organisation as compared to a model involving greater engagement with individual communities in order to elucidate their potential for long-term change among these developing communities. I will argue that by treating developing societies as customers rather than recipients, a more positive and effective fostering of a harmonious and self-sufficient culture is likely.

Having clarified the aims of each approach and identified the fundamental differences between the two I will endeavour to examine their effectiveness. I will reference the efforts made by Paul Polak of International Development Enterprises towards sustainable development to achieve a new system of self-sufficiency.

I will argue that rather than merely providing monetary aid, organisations need to foster customer relationships that will allow them to provide products based on customer needs. This will provide greater relief from poverty and more applicable solutions to developing societies worldwide.

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Assignment One: Assessing and Critiquing Resources.

Design for the Other 90 Percent

Design for the Other 90 Percent is one chapter from the book “Out of Poverty: What works when traditional approaches fail”, by Paul Polak (Polak, 2008a). Polak is the founder of International Development Enterprises – a non-profit organisation focussed on providing a sense of livelihood opportunities to poor rural households (iDE. 2010). This immediately credits Polak and gives the book a sense of authenticity.

This source focuses on providing tailored solutions for the individual, treating the consumer as a customer, rather than a recipient (Polak, 2008b). This entails listening and engaging with communities, realising their individual needs, and altering traditional solutions to fit a wide range of problems ranging anywhere from cost to climate. Polak uses this principle argument effectively in every situational analysis, proving to the reader that it is a critical model for success.

Polak wrote this book based on the idea that ‘Stories Spawn Solutions’ (Polak, 2011). He uses his experience to offer case studies relevant to themes of the chapter. This takes the reader from theoretical suggestions and steps to thinking about how to apply and engage with them in real life situations. These case studies bring a sense of authenticity to the text, making Polak’s suggestions seem more credible. He uses his experience in this field to offer real world solutions and products that both his company and others have developed. The text offers a progression from real life problem realisation to evaluation to solutions, providing a model for the reader to follow.

The text is translated into layman’s terms, making it more readable for both scholarly and everyday readers. Some of Polak’s more complicated theories are broken down into familiar situations, helping the reader to form comparisons our own design problems and those of the other ninety percent.

The text is well laid out, utilising headings and subheadings as well as formatting tools like bullet points and lists. This makes for easy reading and gives importance to main themes and ideas. The book also contains an extensive list of references and resources used, providing a greater opportunity to further research particular aspects, if desired.

In relation to the theme, the text deviates from an overall theme of design to focus more heartedly on the promotion of affordable agricultural solutions. Of the real-life examples that are offered in the text, most are eighty percent problem recognition and twenty percent solution. This leaves little insight into the implementation of these products. Although a range of suggestions are offered at the end of the chapter, the reader doesn’t get the same feeling of engagement with these ideas, but rather a theoretical summary of how an ideal circumstance should work out.

Overall, the chapter is successful in providing information in situational analysis and how the implementation of products affects change. For this research topic. I felt that the text focussed too whole heartedly on agricultural and irrigation issues, rather than giving a more broad overview on the evolution of different modes of design in traditionally struggling countries.

  References

iDE. (2012). Our story: Mission. Retrieved from http://www.ideorg.org/OurStory/Mission.aspx

Polak, P. (2008a). Out of poverty: What works when traditional approaches fail.. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Kohler Publishers Inc

Polak, P. (2008b). Out of poverty: What works when traditional approaches fail.. (p. 75). San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Kohler Publishers Inc

Polak, P. (2011). About out of poverty. Retrieved from http://www.paulpolak.com/html/about.html