A few days ago my husband was listening to the local Kenyan news on television.I was reading, as is usual for me, when I heard the words 'kadogo economy'.(Yes,it's a 'K' word again!)It immediately caught my attention as these days all one hears is how the economy is slowing down if not crashing all together and how even once bustling economies will be showing a degrowth in the coming year.So I was curious about this new kind of economy and I tuned in to the program.
I knew that the word 'dogo' means small in Kiswahili.The Kenyan person doing the documentary explained that a kadogo economy is one in which the focus is on business generated in the small shops and kiosks.The huge,glittering malls do not enter the picture at all.It throws light on the buying habits of the people who literally survive on two if not on one meal a day.These small kiosks,here in Kenya,stock the most basic items which are essential for day to day living.The examples he gave were the ubiquitous 'ugali' or maize flour, which is the staple food here,beans,rice,oil,margarine,sugar,tea,soap and the like.
He said that these people buy the food in very small quantities as they do not have the wherewith all to buy huge amounts at a time.An example would be a prosperous person buying groceries from a food store in a swanky mall stocks up on ten kilos of rice at a time.He gets a good deal.But those few shillings saved do not really matter to him!It is just a matter of convenience and comfort!The person buying at a tiny store also buys ten kilos over a period of time but a cost analysis shows that he ends up paying more for the same ten kilos!And does not even get to save the few shillings which might have helped with the last meal before pay day.So it is a not a win win situation for him!This,in a nut shell,is a kadogo economy.The only advantage is that usually the owner of the store knows him as a neighbour or fellow church goer and might extend some credit in a really tight situation!
This set me thinking.These small shops are like our small 'kirana'(grocery)stores in India.We all shopped here before the Food Bazaars,Spencers,Mores,etc opened up.In fact,even today many of the last minute needs are met by our friendly neighbourhood grocer.Just the other day I called up our grocer in Pune from Nairobi and asked him to deliver cake and Srikhand(a dessert made of curds,saffron and sugar) to my parents house for their anniversary as a surprise for them.He did it without a second thought!He knew I would make arrangements to pay him as,of course,I did not want my parents to foot the bill!
Now these are the people who are running the kadogo economy in India.We have actually seen a daily wage construction labourer in Pune buying one stick from a matchbox!One sole stick!The entire match box was beyond his reach that day.I have seen many kids from households below the poverty line running to the corner shop to buy a handful of rice for that day's dinner!They are least concerned about any economy whether kadogo or not,surviving from meal to meal is what matters.Contrast this with a young teenage Indian girl who turned up her nose at the regular rice my mother had served and sweetly informed her that she ate only Basmati(which is a long grained,fragrant, flavourful and expensive variety of rice!)
So what can we do?I have started by making sure my kids serve themselves as much food as they need,then finish what is on their plates,learn to be grateful and appreciative of the food and share what they have with the people around them,be it a piece of chocolate for the maid in the house or a slice of pizza for the driver in the car.
Economies around the world may be shrinking and becoming 'kadogo' but at least we can start making our hearts bigger!Let us learn to empathize so we can do more than just sympathize!
I knew that the word 'dogo' means small in Kiswahili.The Kenyan person doing the documentary explained that a kadogo economy is one in which the focus is on business generated in the small shops and kiosks.The huge,glittering malls do not enter the picture at all.It throws light on the buying habits of the people who literally survive on two if not on one meal a day.These small kiosks,here in Kenya,stock the most basic items which are essential for day to day living.The examples he gave were the ubiquitous 'ugali' or maize flour, which is the staple food here,beans,rice,oil,margarine,sugar,tea,soap and the like.
He said that these people buy the food in very small quantities as they do not have the wherewith all to buy huge amounts at a time.An example would be a prosperous person buying groceries from a food store in a swanky mall stocks up on ten kilos of rice at a time.He gets a good deal.But those few shillings saved do not really matter to him!It is just a matter of convenience and comfort!The person buying at a tiny store also buys ten kilos over a period of time but a cost analysis shows that he ends up paying more for the same ten kilos!And does not even get to save the few shillings which might have helped with the last meal before pay day.So it is a not a win win situation for him!This,in a nut shell,is a kadogo economy.The only advantage is that usually the owner of the store knows him as a neighbour or fellow church goer and might extend some credit in a really tight situation!
This set me thinking.These small shops are like our small 'kirana'(grocery)stores in India.We all shopped here before the Food Bazaars,Spencers,Mores,etc opened up.In fact,even today many of the last minute needs are met by our friendly neighbourhood grocer.Just the other day I called up our grocer in Pune from Nairobi and asked him to deliver cake and Srikhand(a dessert made of curds,saffron and sugar) to my parents house for their anniversary as a surprise for them.He did it without a second thought!He knew I would make arrangements to pay him as,of course,I did not want my parents to foot the bill!
Now these are the people who are running the kadogo economy in India.We have actually seen a daily wage construction labourer in Pune buying one stick from a matchbox!One sole stick!The entire match box was beyond his reach that day.I have seen many kids from households below the poverty line running to the corner shop to buy a handful of rice for that day's dinner!They are least concerned about any economy whether kadogo or not,surviving from meal to meal is what matters.Contrast this with a young teenage Indian girl who turned up her nose at the regular rice my mother had served and sweetly informed her that she ate only Basmati(which is a long grained,fragrant, flavourful and expensive variety of rice!)
So what can we do?I have started by making sure my kids serve themselves as much food as they need,then finish what is on their plates,learn to be grateful and appreciative of the food and share what they have with the people around them,be it a piece of chocolate for the maid in the house or a slice of pizza for the driver in the car.
Economies around the world may be shrinking and becoming 'kadogo' but at least we can start making our hearts bigger!Let us learn to empathize so we can do more than just sympathize!
Like the anniversary incident...its all about small time retail and B2C relationship!!
ReplyDeleteYes,you know the jazzy ones are actually loss making n going out of business!Small ones are thriving!Thanks for reading!
ReplyDelete