South Africa is a very young democracy with a big hill to climb to put all of its citizens on a level playing field. Probably the greatest change since the end of Apartheid has been equal opportunity. However, a closer look still reveals tremendous economic disparity between voters. Understandably 20 years after the end of Apartheid people are getting impatient. http://www.news24.com/Columnists/ClemSunter/To-be-a-true-Economic-Freedom-Fighter-20130726. My personal belief is that political enfranchisement won’t come with out economic enfranchisement. Julius Malema offers a path forward through nationalization, which I don’t support. Economists and history suggests this will be a disaster and will wreck the economy for all; even for the the have-nots. The wider problem is that so much needs to be fixed in South Africa it could take another 100 years to truly level the playing field. Don’t get me wrong, a lot works in its favor; abundant natural resources, wildlife, people and more. So what happens while we are waiting for our assets and process to work for us?
Like the example of Bulungula, it comes down to “We the people”. The interim solution to the everyday struggles of people will be everyday people who notice what is needed, decide what they can do about it and then doing it.
Earlier on in My Walkabout I wrote about Kim and Jeremy (post: Living in Community, July 18). Jeremy is by training a pastry chef, he also has a tremendous heart for people. He has turned his community mind to the challenges of township living where energy is scarce and unaffordable to the unemployed. Rocket ovens are inexpensive to build and operate. About $3500 will pay for a commercial oven that can bake enough nutritious artisan bread to supply 800 people a day. http://www.breadrev.com/ $3.50 will pay for a D.I.Y family size oven. These ovens are not just inexpensive, they are very economical to run. A few pieces of wood will easily heat an oven to 600F which is more than enough to bake bread, pizza, veggies, or anything you care to cook in an oven.
His vision is fairly ambitious. He intends to give away plans to the family scale ovens he has developed making the technology broadly and freely accessible. The more expensive commercial scale rocket ovens that can supply bread to a large number of families will come with a business plan, supply chain and baking lessons. The quality of raw ingredient that is used by the macro bakeries is low to the point that the government loaf has to be fortified with vitamins to enrich it. Currently affordable bread is not sufficiently nutritious. While he is building ovens and training bakers, he is also securing a supply of affordable, nutritious raw ingredients. The product produced in these low coast rocket ovens is delicious, good for you and less expensive than a government loaf. Jeremy is not just offering vocational training and practical solutions to the problems of energy and nutrition he is building the equivalent of a franchise that can scale up significantly and provide employment. With a big enough install base he will be able to influence the growers, mills and distributors. He is creating a grass roots demand for the best, organic, nutritious raw ingredients and in doing so will be able to influence the cost, not just the quality, of the ingredients through collective buying power. Currently Jeremy is looking into micro-enterprise scale milling technology as a first next step.
A final thought. As I watched Jeremy and Pete (his collaborator a chef by training) prepare dough, they were laughing, chatting, enjoying the baking process and each other. Baking these abundant, nourishing loaves, was feeding their spirits just as much as the end product would feed people’s bellies.
I intend to sponsor a couple ovens to support Kim, Jeremy and Pete’s work. If anyone reading this blog would like to get involved please contact me and I will let you know how you may be able to contribute.
Tiny
Upper Saddle River
Inside Outside 