Pedal – Driven Development: How Qhubeka Bicycle Programmes, Are Changing Lives

According to the World Bank Local Economic Development is defined as: “Building up the economic capacity of a local area to improve its economic future and quality of life for all. It is a process by which public, businesses and nongovernmental sector partners work collectively to create better conditions for economic growth and employment generation.” A South African  NGO, Qhubeka truly personifies this understanding of LED, fully capturing the practical value of simple methodologies which successfully generate significant economic and social benefits for all.

Qhubeka is a South African non-profit organization, founded in 2005, which economically empowers local communities through its provision of bicycles. By connecting people to schools, clinics, jobs and exclusive opportunities, Qhubeka, a Nguni word meaning “to progress or move forward”, uses bicycles to change lives. Qhubeka is  expanding throughout most of South Africa, targeting each and every province, implementing programmes ranging from Cape Town in the Western Cape, along the coast to Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape, all the way up to  communities in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, North West, Kwa-Zula Natal and Limpopo. According to Qhubeka’s  national programmes manager, Jan Rossouw, Qhubeka’s aim is to “ mobilize people on bicycles,” while simultaneously implementing various programmes and projects, creating substantial economic, safety and educational benefits for struggling communities. Based on the following analysis and insights, in alignment with their current status and through further growth, the future potential impact of Qhubeka’s operations and development initiatives, are enormous.

QHUBEKA PROGRAMMES:

Qhubeka firmly believes that, “good development happens when a community is given a hand – up, not a hand out.” All of the organization’s programmes are based upon a learn – to – earn or work – to – earn programmes, such as the following:

Scholar Mobility Programmes:

The “Scholar Mobility Programme” (SMP)  is designed to empower schools with a mechanism to improve scholar engagement and to drive specific strategic objectives of the school to continuously improve its ability and quality as a learning institution. It further enable scholars access to structured learning institutions and other school and related activities by using bicycles to overcome any mobility constraints. The objective is to ultimately have improved educational outcomes and higher pass rates by increased school attendance, punctuality to school and participation in other school and educational activities.

Linked closely with the Scholar Mobility Programme is Qhubeka’s initiatives to create a safer environment for learners to facilitate improved education outcomes. This is achieved by empowering appointed School Security Personnel and active Community Policing Forum (CPF) members to use bicycles to improve scholar and school safety and security by patrolling and monitoring of school premises, assisting and monitoring school access points, and assisting and escorting learners to school where possible. An added benefit is the general improvement of CPF mobility and visibility around the communities in which the schools are located.

Security Programmes:

Qhubeka is also actively establishing programmes and distributing  bicycles in aim of increasing local security which is a particularly important aspect given South Africa’s extremely high crime rates. A study conducted in India at the University of Delhi using data ranging from 1991 to 2011 found that higher crime rates lead to a lower GDP per capita. In one such example, Qhubeka has recently worked with the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality  to launch a programme in Port Elizabeth  which bicycles were distributed  and used to train and employ 100 local community members between the age of 18 and 35 to provide sustainable safety and security related services. In partnership with Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) and Volkswagen South Africa (VWSA), they have used the city’s hosting of the Ironman World Championship to  create opportunities for unemployed young adults to earn a decent monthly living wage. Under the programme  employment for 50  “peace officers”, 30 “beach officers” and 20 “tourisim ambassadors” were created, enabling them to, “play a vital role in the sustainable safety and security apparatus of the municipality before, during and after  the event.” According to Qhubeka executive director Tsatsi Phaweni, “the long term hope is to create a legacy programme that can be incorporated into existing neighborhood watches, thus creating a sense of security in communities and the general public.” An effective side note on this particular project is that it aligns with the World Bank’s 2030 Vision and their new “Cascade” approach. A methodology involving development investment strategy which prioritizes public – private partnerships in aim of, ““crowding in” the private sector and “creating markets””.

Healthcare Worker Programmes:

Qhubeka provides bicycles to health workers allowing them to travel further distances to treat patients and carry more medical supplies, enabling communities to receive wider access to healthcare and clinics. This is in turn allows for a healthier individuals and overall population. A study by economists at the Harvard school of Public health in 2004 found that, “health has a positive and statistically significant effect on economic growth.” While another study published in the journal of Applied Economics states that, “health care expenditure must have positive effects on labour productivity, as higher curative and preventive health care expenditures improve labour participation in production activity.” Despite Qhubeka’s bikes not being directly classified as health expenditure, they are directly related to and have vital impact on health services and thus contribute to health expenditure. Furthermore, in 2007 from economist Jocelyn Finlay, also from the Harvard school of public health, mentions the incentive effect, which borne out of theoretical literature, states, “individuals who are healthier and have a greater life expectancy will have the incentive to invest in education as the time horizon over which returns can be earned is extended. Education is the driver of economic growth, and thus health plays an indirect role.” Therefore, it is evident that numerous studies have been conducted and confirm that increased healthcare, access to health services and health expenditure have a significantly positive effect on economic growth, and Qhubeka is playing their part.

Adult Programmes:

Within the adult programmes Qhubeka has various work to earn programmes including the  Tree – prenuer and the Waste – preneur. In return for collecting waste and planting trees, individuals can receive bicycles. A Tree – prenuer is required to plant at least 200 trees and nurture them to the height of 30cm, while a Waste – prenuer can trade 4,000 PET litre bottles or 200kg of sorted waste for a bicycle. Environmental sustainability is under particular threat in many South African rural areas on account of large mining operations which destroy large proportions of natural habitats, thus this type of programming is essential in restoring these territories. Research presented at 5th Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia, and the Pacific in Seoul, Korea by the three Economic, Environmental and Development experts in Asia found strong relationships between environmental sustainability and economic growth. Their studies showed that economic growth degrades environmental sustainability in most countries, and therefore it is important to ensure that environmental sustainability is in alignment with economic growth, as it allows for an all rounded form of development for local communities. In addition to these programmes, Qhubeka also runs a Bicycle Field Mechanic Program in alignment with  its various programmes which  select members of communities to train in bicycle mechanic skills to ultimately establish a Bicycle repair shop and provides them with technical manuals,  small business skills training courses and bicycle repair tools. This is another vital form of economic development as businesses and employment opportunities assist in creating micro – enterprises which ultimately inject money into local economies, while allowing local citizens to increase their incomes and lift their standard of living.

IMPACT EVALUATION:

As follows is an analysis highlighting key data points truly conveying the groundbreaking impact which Qhubeka is having:

·          Scholar Mobility Programme:

o   Was originally launched in 2009, and in December 2012 and impact study was conducted on 600 households and 300 students assessing the programme outcomes over the previous years. The introduction of Qhubeka seemed to have significant impact as follows:

o   School Attendance:

§  Before bicycle introduction, 21% of parents reported the primary reason for student’s absence to school being DISTANCE, afterwards, this number fell to 0%

§  On average attendance for girls improved by 28% while attendance for boys improved by 25%.

o   Academic performance

§  Amongst the bicycle receivers between boys of girls, as measured by end of term average scores, there was an incredible 22 percentage point and 59% improvement in student results. In three years this is truly outstanding.

o   Travel time

§  Before the bicycle programme was implemented 33% of students travelled to school in one hour or less, 3 years later 89% of students travelled in an hour or less.

o   Quality of life

§  After being surveyed on wellbeing, 73% of students said their lives were significantly improved while 17% reported noticeable change.

o   Safety

§  After bicycles, 69% of students reported feeling safe when going to and from school as most usually face dangers including wild animals, night walks and crime.

Qhubeka tells the story of Percy, “Percy lives in a village in rural Limpopo where there is no high school. He received a bicycle in 2014, when he was in grade 9, through a Qhubeka programme run by World Vision, to help him ride the 5km to the high school in a neighboring town. In January 2018, Percy got his Matric (12^th grade) results – he was one of the four top-performing students in the Limpopo province. He is currently studying to become a medical doctor at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.” The economic and social benefits this not only brings to Percy and his family but to the people within his community. He now will be able to get a tertiary education, get a job as a doctor, and increase the standard of living for his family, while injecting money into his local community, and providing local healthcare.

In discussion with national programmes manger Jan Rossouw, he explained the impact on waste pickers. While still tracking the  full impact, they reported that the average waste pickers in Soweto earns about US$100 – US$150 per month. On any given day they may spend 10 hours of their day collecting rubbish, and then sorting through it the following day. Impact reports  indicates that with bicycles waste – preneurs can collect the same amount of rubbish in 5 hours versus the 10 they would take on foot. The ripple impact of this could be astronomical, cutting their collect time in half they could essentially earn nearly double what they normally earn per month, allowing them not only to increase their standard of living and inject more money into their local economy but aid them in escaping poverty.

One of the most incredible stories related to Qhubeka bicycles is that of a father rand son in the midst of tragedy. In 2017, Knysna, South Africa experienced one of the country’s worst bushfires in its history in which a rampant fire, fueled by 90km/hour winds, stretching across 300km, burnt for nearly two weeks. Over a 1000 homes were destroyed, 300 structures were damaged, more than 10,000 people displaced and there was over US$300million in overall damages. Amongst the heartbreak and disaster came a glimpse of hope driven by opportunity. According to national programmes  manager Jan Rossouw, a father and son from a local township in the surrounding Knysna area has been  selling sandwiches to the business and workers in the central business area.  Together they would make sandwiches at their home and walk from the township to the central business district , sell their sandwiches and then walk back to make more. The two became well – known among the businesses  and one day someone pointed out the difference a bicycle could make. Qhubeka provided the father and son with bicycles, and it was like a spark to flame. The duo continued their business and within six months they hired a third worker and within a year the two had bought a car to expand their operations. This extraordinary feat was all made possible by the introduction, of a bicycle. Developing from a situation in where the father and son had to walk many kilometers commuting from a township, the provision of a bicycle allowed them to excel exponentially and purchase a motor vehicle which takes substantial financial capabilities. As best said by Singapore’s former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, “All people want is an opportunity to better themselves, and we gave them that opportunity.”

In the 2016 and 2017 alone, Qhubeka distributed 14,300 bikes which included over 8,000 to students and 5,000 to work to earn programmes providing economic opportunity. What does this mean for Qhubeka and their economic development impact?  Well, in 2018 they will be aiming to increase distribution to 12,000 – 15,000 bikes and moving forward they have set their goals at 20,000 annually by the end of 2019 and 100,000 per year by 2030. If they are having the impact now, on people like Percy and fathers and sons, there must be many more just like them in the 12,000 – 15,000 bicycles Qhubeka will be distributing by the end of this year, never mind the 100,000 bicycles they are aiming to  to distribute per year by 2030, and the 83,000 bicycles distributed since 2005. Another objective of Qhubeka is to partner with reputable institutions to establish advanced monitoring and evaluation systems which could through the introduction of continual quantifiable outcomes, enable the visualization of their substantial economic impact. Regardless, Qhubeka’s scholar mobility programmes, work to earn programmes, government and business partnerships and various methodologies has allowed their implementation of local economic development to be truly remarkable. As they continue operate, implement and grow moving forward, they could spark a global movement in which the world’s eyes are opened to how bicycles, truly can change lives.