Res Eng Design DOI 10.

1007/s00163-006-0017-3

ORIGINAL PAPER

Product design in less industrialized economies: constraints and opportunities in Kenya

Krista M. Donaldson

Received: 9 September 2004 / Accepted: 18 July 2006 Springer-Verlag London Limited 2006

Abstract The ability for an economy to design useful products is tied to its productivity, thus economic growth and the populations standards of living. This paper investigates product design strategies and processes in Kenya in the countrys informal, formal, and non-governmental sectors. In analyzing Kenyan 200+ products, patterns emerged to delineate four approaches to the detailed design acquisition of common-use products: imitated design, imported design, basic original design, and specialty design. A vast majority of product designs, 54 of 55 tracked in this research, originate outside the country or were imitated from imported products. Across sectors, there is emphasis on the detailed design and manufacturing phases of the design process. Factors specic to less industrialized economies (LIEs) like Kenya, such as corruption and an inadequate infrastructure, limit design activities relative to more industrialized economies. Design constraints observed in Kenya are believed to be similar to other economies at the same levels of industrialization. For product design to sustainably support economic development in LIEs, it is imperative that design process be consistent with local conditions and be user-centric in approach.

Keywords Developing countries Design process Informal sector Non-governmental organizations Appropriate Technology

1 Introduction Although it may appear, and has been suggested by Hill (1995), that less industrialized economy (LIE) markets are not as demanding of quality, most Kenyans are disdainful of locally produced goods. The products directed at the mainstream Kenyan market may function (for a period of time), but craftsmanship, durability, consistency, nish, and other attributes fall short of consumer expectation (Kabecha 1997). In fact, product quality is so notoriously poor that product design non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Kenya spend considerable donor funds on advertising to counter the negative perceptions. This research was motivated by the authors interest in design for development, that is, using engineering design specically to advance social and human development, particularly in LIEs. This focus of design rst came to prominence with Papaneks Design for the Real World (1972) and the Appropriate Technology movement in the 1970s, and has reemerged recently as social innovation or social entrepreneurship. Such design often entails the donor-funding of NGOs to design products to meet needs or improve the livelihoods of underserved populations. The research and discussion in this paper are organized into three parts guided by seven questions. The rst part (Sect. 5) describes research to characterize engineering design occurring in Kenya with the goal of better understanding the limitations to product quality.

K. M. Donaldson (&) Center for Design Research, Stanford University, 424 Panama Mall, Stanford, CA 94305-2232, USA e-mail: kdonaldson@stanfordalumni.org

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1. 2.

3. 4.

What design processes are observed to be in use? How would LIE design methods be characterized relative to that in more industrialized economies (MIEs)? How enabling is the economic and entrepreneurial environment for industrial development? Why do products in LIEs fail to adequately meet user needs?

design and product development are therefore synonymous. Other authors, in contrast, such as Cross (2000) and Pahl and Beitz (1996) tend to dene the product design process from the product denition phase to the completion of the detailed design phase. Development, when used without a qualier, refers to the social, human, and economic development, particularly in low income regions. 2.2 On the labeling of economies Economies are differentiated in this paper by their es (1995) average levels of industrialization. Guimara commented that these labels are more precise than other terms commonly used. Rarely are economic, social, or other indicators consistent throughout a country or region. LIEs refer to those with low capacity to design and manufacture original products. Many of these economies are located in the low latitudes of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Newly industrialized economies (NIEs) are industrializing or have industrialized rapidly in the past decade, such as Southeast Asia. MIEs have highly developed design and manufacturing infrastructures and high tech industries, such as the United States, Western Europe, Australia, and Japan. These categories are not absolute. Economies may be of any size, from a small rural market to that of a continent, although commonly the term refers to countries even if industrialization is concentrated in urban areas. 2.3 The major players within LIEs by sector Most LIE entities involved in product design are in the private sector; they operate in the formal sector, the informal sector, or are NGOs (referred to here as the non-governmental sector). 2.3.1 The formal sector

The second part (Sect. 6) describes follow-on research prompted by Part 1. The aim of this research was to learn about underlying LIE-specic factors which limit engineering, industrialization, and design activities relative to MIEs. Although constraints beget hindrances, hindrances create opportunity. 5. What are the constraints to product design in LIEs? What are the opportunities?

The third part is discussion of the widespread applicability and implications (Sect. 7). 6. 7. How applicable are the ndings from Kenya to other LIEs? Assuming MIE and LIE design environments differ, what are the implications to design for development?

2 Denitions: development, design and on the labeling of economies 2.1 Design and development The denition of design in this paper is based on Ullmans (1992) product design process shown in Fig. 1, which includes all phases from the denition of consumer need to product retirement. The terms product
Need definition

Conceptual design Detailed Design

Manufacturing

Service

The formal sector of LIEs, also referred to as the modern or industrialized sector, is the part of the economy legally engaged in prot-making activities. Almost all businesses in MIEs would be considered formal sector in that they are ofcially registered and pay taxes. In literature, the formal sectors of LIEs are typically characterized by rm sizes dened by numbers of employees. 2.3.2 The informal sector

Retirement

Fig. 1 More industrialized economy (MIE) design process based on the product life cycle. The gray arrows represent feedback loops

The term informal sector was coined by Hart (1971) to describe the income-generating activities of the subproletariat in West Africa. He was the rst to char-

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acterize these activities as dynamic, complex and potentially possessing capacity for job creation. De Soto (2000) describes the informal sectors of an economy as extra-legal; the micro-enterprises1 operate outside of the formal legal economies to ll in the gaps. These artisans, hawkers, producers and entrepreneurs do not pay taxes, engage in formal contracts, register their businesses and/or construct formal premises. According to De Soto, they are not trying to cheat the systemrather, legality simply does not work for them. Researchers generally agree as to the main characteristics of informal sector businesses: ease of entry, reliance on indigenous resources, laborintensive work using readily available or knock-off machinery and tools, family ownership, small-scale operations (minimal mass production, no inventory), unregulated and highly competitive markets, and generally poor craftsmanship (Bhalla 1989; Borsutzky 1992; De Soto; Kabecha 1997, 1998; King 1996; Schmitz 1982; Sethuraman 1977; Souza and Tokman 1976). Hosier (1987), however, notes that a majority of informal sector research is subject to tarmac bias, that is, focusing primarily on urban areas. 2.3.3 The non-governmental sector A NGO is any non-prot, voluntary citizens group which is organized on a local, national or international level (UN 2004). In the last 30 years, the number of NGOs has grown exponentially, and are estimated to now number in the hundreds of thousands (World Bank 2001). The most prominent NGOs designing products for LIE users are Intermediate Technology Development Group, KickStart (formerly ApproTEC), International Development Enterprises, TechnoServe, and EnterpriseWorks Worldwide. Tangentially related are NGOs which aim to strengthen informal sector technical and business skills in LIEs. Product design in NGOs must be considered independently from that in the formal and informal sectors despite sharing consumers. NGOs operate somewhat external to local economic constraints because, unlike locally owned businesses, individual savings (and survival) are not at risk. Because NGOs are donor-funded, however, they have considerable more resources at their disposal than the average formal or informal sector business.

3 Previous literature Although design discussions tend to be most applicable to the MIE environment, there is a great deal of literature related to design for development. The Appropriate Technology2 movement, which gained prominence in the 1970s, fell into some disrepute in the 1980s when many of the ideology-driven design requirements did not result in the sustainable alleviation of poverty or self-sufciency in LIEs. Design literature addressing LIEs is largely descriptive, characterizing the process and environment differences relative to MIEs. Bonsiepe (1990) developed a theoretical framework to classify the levels and evolutionary phases of industrial design in growing MIEs. Er (1997) extended Bonsiepes work by correlating product design activities with the level of national industrialization. Their work requires augmentation for applicability to less prosperous LIEs, such as Kenya. Several authors have attempted to explicitly dene the differences between LIEs and MIEs as they relate to engineering design. Atolagbe (1989) outlined constraints to product design in Nigeria, as representative of a developing country. He concluded that industrial development can evolve only if it is practiced in full and by many people, noting that short-term interventions such as technology transfer do not have the lasting impact needed for sustained economic growth. Other authors studied design differences between LIEs and MIEs within specic sectors. Tybout (2000) suggests that uncertainty about policy and demand, poor rule of law, and corruption inhibit product diversity and the growth of LIE manufacturing rms. Kabecha (1998) documents innovative capacity in Kenyas informal product design sector and calls for investment to increase know-how, appropriate tools, and machinery to foster sector growth. To the authors knowledge, there is no engineering literature addressing design within the NGO sector outside of project and program reports.

4 Scope and methodology Nairobi, Kenya, represents a mid-range LIE: industry in Nairobi is not so developed that Kenya would be
2

Businesses in the informal sector are typically referred to as micro-enterprises because of the small number of workers/owner(s) (14). Businesses in the formal sector are typically referred to as rms.

Appropriate Technology dates back to the 1968 Conference on the Further Development in the United Kingdom of Appropriate Technologies for, and Their Communication to, Developing Countries, although the movement is generally credited to have begun in 1973 with E.F. Schumachers book Small is Beautiful.

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considered a NIE, but Kenya is the most highly industrialized country in East Africa with a welldeveloped nancial sector. Furthermore, Kenyas informal sector is large, active, and highly visible; roadside artisans and hawkers are the main providers of goods and services to the average Kenyan. The rst ve questions posed in Sect. 1 guided the two investigative parts of this research in Sects. 5 and 6, respectively: Characterization of Kenyan Products and Design Activities (Questions 14) and Constraints to and Opportunities for Product Design in Kenya (Questions 5). This section describes the scope and methodology for each. 4.1 Scope and methodology: characterization of Kenyan products and design activities The scope of the rst investigation was limited to common-use products: those which the average-income Kenyan consumer purchases or with which has great familiarity. Examples of common-use products in Kenya are batteries, blankets, and plastic pails. A multi-method research approach was used to address Questions 14. The investigation started broadly with an examination of macro-level manufacturing data then moving to specic product-level data. For the macro-level investigation, analysis of countrywide product and manufacturing data from three Kenyan organizations3 resulted in patterns as to the types of products made in Kenya and their novelty relative to rm or enterprise size. It was possible to analyze 207 rms in detail and approximately 66,000 micro-enterprises by geographic location and product type from the data sets.4 For the second step of the investigation, the data set was narrowed to a cross-section of 55 products from the rst step. The products were (a) analyzed for quality (functionality and workmanship) and then (b) traced back to their manufacturers to learn about their design origins. Site visits and interviews were conducted at these 20+ rms and 30+ enterprises to determine design origin and document design processes.

4.2 Scope and methodology: constraints to and opportunities to product design in Kenya The scope for the second investigation was narrowed to common-use products primarily made of metal. Metalworking and associated light engineering industries play a pivotal role in the development of complex high tech industries and provide the capacity to create, repair, and maintain large capital goods which add value es to the processing of local raw materials (Guimara 1995). Both formal and informal metalworking sectors in Kenya provide a wide range of consumer durables, such as household posho mills (for grinding our), human-powered micro-irrigation pumps, kerosene lanterns and wheel barrows. To address Questions 5 (What are the constraints to product design in LIEs? What are the opportunities?), the authors experience as a participant observer at a NGO engaged in engineering design was supplemented with literature reviews, interviews, and site visits. Literature was used to direct research, verify, or dispute observations and ascertain similarities across LIEs. Engineers, designers, artisans, fundis (skilled craftspeople), engineering students, university faculty, NGO workers, and government ofcials were interviewed often at their place of work without remuneration. Site visits were made to engineering rms, informal sector stalls, universities, research centers, and government agencies. Because of the inherent MIE-biases of the author and literature, the discussion of LIE product design constraints and opportunities is relative to MIE design.

5 Characterizations of Kenyan products and design activities 5.1 What design processes are observed to be in use? Based on site visits to manufacturers and interviews with owners and workers, no coherent design processes were observed in this research. Early process design activity (rst two steps of Fig. 1), where it occurred, was not standardized even within the same organization. Design decisions were not documented, although in several cases, a rm or enterprise owner stated that everything he needed to know related to the design of a product or products was in his head. Informal and formal sector manufacturers were found to focus on the fabrication of affordable products rather than the design of new products or ongoing improvements to current products or processes. Ori-

The Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM 2002), the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI 1997) and the African Centre for Economic Growth (ACEG 2000). 4 Formal sector data (KAM and KIRDI) included the number of workers, factory location(s), goods produced, production methods and year established. Sales volumes, throughput, capitalization and prots were not available. Enterprise-level data (ACEG) were unattainable for the informal sector.

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ginal design was largely reactive redesign to adapt fabrication to inconsistent inputs. Engineering drawings, if they existed, were not current nor, in most cases, accurate compared with the product. Prototyping for user-testing was essentially unknown, and iteration was limited to achieving passable functionality. Engineers and technicians at the formal sector rms lacked design expertise. Furthermore, most did not see the need for a rigorous design process based on their economic environment; intellectual property lawsuits are rare in Kenya and the competition for most formal sector products is low. The attitude of managers was if the product can be made at the right price, why bother with extra work? Design process was not a serious consideration for any of the interviewed informal sector artisans despite incentives by several NGOs. The types of products produced by an artisan were based largely on his training and experience. For example, an artisan produced sheet metal storage trunks because he knew how es and because customers purchased them. Guimara (1995) suggested that informal design capacity existed among the informal sector enterprises he researched in Northeast Brazil, although he ceded that it consists of incremental innovations rather than coherent processes. Similarly, about half of the Kenyan artisans indicated that improvements to a product might be made following repair requests from customers, but any product modications were strongly dependent on the perceived value to the customer and the time and cost involved for the artisan himself. This caveat is supported by Kabecha (1998) who asserted that a tangible, sustained, and guaranteed rate of return must exist for any innovation to occur in the Kenyan informal sector. Product design processes varied greatly at the seven Nairobi NGOs visited as part of the investigation. When interviewed, design teams at each reported that they follow methodologies similar to that practiced in MIEs. While design process elements such as conceptual brainstorming (three NGOs), prototyping (all seven NGOs) and iteration (six NGOs) were observed,
Table 1 Characterization of Kenyan common-use products from manufacturing data and product traces Categories

the processes were not rigorous, comprehensive, or necessarily deliberate. For example, at all of the NGOs new products were informally conceived by designers (most often expatriates) by identifying perceived niches in the local market. There was no systematic neednding with local customers to drive the design process. 5.2 How would the LIE design methods be characterized relative to that in MIEs? Four main characterizations regarding design methods and product origin emerged from the data. Table 1 indicates the product characterizations relative to the number of rms, enterprises, and NGOs. Of the 55 products traced, all but one were imitations or adaptations of foreign designs. 1: Imitation of foreign-designed productsBy far the greatest majority of locally available products, these are mature products originally designed by MIE designers for European, American, and/or Asian consumers. Within this category, informal and formal sector products are easily distinguished from each other by the fabrication methods employed and the resulting product quality. 1A: Attempted reproduction (Fig. 2a)In this subcategory, producers obtained detailed designs through reverse engineering of foreign-designed products. The products are relatively simple (minimal moving parts and a limited amount of joinery) and crudely reproduced. Informal sector products tend to fall into this sub-category because their inferior quality is an outcome of artisans limited skills and access to tools and machinery. Kabecha (1997) refers to the latter as the product-process mismatch. Price is the most important product attribute to the informal sectors market (Kabecha 1997), and product quality is further negatively impacted as artisans make functionality-cost trade-offs. Manufacturing of these products is labor-intensive; items are made one at a time (one-off) or in small batches to minimize investment and nancial risk. Product diversity is low, however competition among artisans is high.
No. of manufacturersa 66,086 103 70 32+ 4+ 1 Example Figure

See corresponding gures for description of each

a

Number of rms (formal sector), enterprises (informal sector) and NGOs

1 Imitation of foreign-designed products 1AAttempted reproduction 1BReverse engineered and adapted 2 Imported: designed outside the country 3 Original basic design 3AOriginal basic functional design 3BInnovative restyling of basic products 4 Specialty: original complex design

Sufuria Rubber ip-ops Commercial refrigerator Drainage grate Wicker lamp Micro-irrigation pump

2a 2b 3 4a 4b 5

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Fig. 2 a 1AAttempted reproduction: aluminum sufuria, a traditional Kenyan cooking pot. Most Kenyans purchase their sufuria from the informal sector. b 1BReverse engineered and adapted: foam and rubber ip-ops. The original design was adjusted for locally available materials

1B: Reverse engineered and adapted (Fig. 2b)Like 1A, designs in this sub-category are reproductions of imported products. These products, however, have been adapted to the local manufacturing conditions and are mass-produced in the formal sector. Typical adaptations of the product include redesign to use locally available raw materials and manufacturing capabilities. Local market preferences may also be considered if the desired product attributes are easily and inexpensively implemented. Products in this sub-category tend to be more complex than 1A products and have an established market. Product quality is noticeably superior compared with 1A products because the manufacturers have greater skills and access to capital. 2. Imported designs: designed outside of the country (Fig. 3)Imported designs are those that have been transferred into the country through: (a) the licensing of a foreign product, (b) the purchase of a production system for a popular foreign product or (c) the importation of knock-down items to be assembled in Kenya with negligible modications to the original design. These products are exclusive to the formal sector, they are the most complex of all locally made goods and tend to be of relatively high quality.
Fig. 3 2Imported design: large commercial refrigerator. This refrigerator was assembled in a large metalworking rm outside Nairobi from knock-down parts made in Greece

3. Original basic designOriginal basic design refers to products that are locally designed and manufactured with knowledge of the regional market and manufacturing abilities. Many such products are still recognizably related to simple foreign-designed products. Production is limited to small quantities because the market is modest and/or unproven and advertising is not possible or affordable. Original basic design, however, can be further sub-divided into basic functional design and innovative restyling. 3A. Original basic functional design (Fig. 4a)Because of the inherent nancial risk, most of this subcategorys products are the result of short-term contract work or a secondary prot-generating experiment in the formal sector. Designers or engineers on such projects most likely were foreign-trained. Firms in this sub-category doing contract work are similar to job shops in MIEs. 3B. Innovative restyling of basic products (Fig. 4b)Innovative restyling is the redesign of a products aesthetics. The nancial risk for manufacturers is low because few products marketed to Kenyans are positioned between affordable and plain and attractive, but exorbitantly expensive. Restyling is the business model of several NGOs; expatriate designers
Fig. 4 a 3AOriginal basic functional design: drainage grate. This grate is produced by a large foundry in Nairobi and exported throughout East Africa. b 3BInnovative restyling of basic products: wicker lamp. This product is typical of those designed by an expatriate designer and produced by local artisans

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conceptualize products and do the detailed design work with informal sector artisans fabricating the products. This sub-category is closely related to cottage craft industries in MIEs; production methods are small-scale and are predominantly carving, sewing, and carpentry. 4. Specialty: original complex design (Fig. 5)This nal category refers to original product design based on perceived local user needs. These products have large markets and are sufciently complex to require skilled labor and specialized equipment to fabricate. Specialty design in Kenya, however, is nearly nonexistentthe author observed only one NGO actively targeting a specic consumer group. Specialty design is only possible with access to capital for product research and development. In Kenya, this occurs at NGOs (supported by donors) or multi-national corporations (MNCs). The designers and engineers, like 3A and 3B, are expatriates or locals who were educated abroad. Referring back to Fig. 1, observed design processes were concentrated in the detailed design and manufacturing phases (bold in Fig. 6) for all sectors. The design processes were abbreviated with the earliest
Fig. 5 4Specialty design: KickStart Mini MoneyMaker micro-irrigation pump. This pump was added to KickStarts pump line to capture the low-cost market. Features such as valve box, cylinder, and piston make it a complex product

phases (need denition and conceptual design) absent when adapting designs (category 1) or importing foreign designs (category 2) for local markets. Conceptual design activities were observed at manufacturers engaged in original design (category 3) and specialty design (category 4). Need denition, however, was absent across all sectors (Fig. 6). These ndings appear to be consistent with cultural perceptions of design in East Africa. For example, there is no true equivalent in Swahili, the East African lingua franca, for the verb to design. The closest equivalent is kutengeneza, to make or to produce in common usage, reecting the local emphasis on product manufacturing or embodiment rather than on product creation or conception (more typical in a MIE). It should be noted that there were exceptions to the truncated design process model, but they fell outside the realm of common-use products. Service and retirement activities are largely the domain of the informal sector. Since consumer protection is non-existent, a product is serviced as inexpensively as possiblea roadside artisan xes it. Due to the dearth of resources, retired products are reused and recycled by the informal sector. Because donors provide funds to NGOs to specically address local needs, it was expected that NGO design processes would include comprehensive need denition and conceptual design activities. This was found to be rarely the case; funds are often disseminated based on previously (often poorly) understood, thus dened, needs. While no formal methodologies were observed to be in common use, conceptual design to product service phases were evident at most NGOs. 5.3 How enabling is the economic and entrepreneurial environment for industrial development?

PRODUCT CATEGORIES 1 AND 2

PRODUCT CATEGORIES 3 AND 4

Conceptual design

Detailed Design

Detailed Design

FORMAL SECTOR DESIGN

Manufacturing

Manufacturing
DONORFUNDED DESIGN INFORMAL SECTOR DESIGN

Service

Service

Retirement

Retirement

Fig. 6 Design processes observed for common-use products in Kenya by category and sector based on the product life cycle (see Fig. 1)

Kenya, like other sub-Saharan countries and those in Southeast Asia, faces signicant challenges to the entrepreneurship, development, and economic growth utigam that foster an enabling environment (Bra 2003; Coughlin 1988). Because capitalization and prot data were not available for Kenyan rms, rm/enterprise size was indicated by the number of employees. Figure 7 shows the distribution of rms/enterprises by their size and product characterization. Nearly three-quarters of the analyzed Kenyan formal sector rms (B to G) have less than 50 employees (B + C). Smaller rms (B to E) produce a broad range of items ranging from buttons for clothing to paper clips. The larger rms (E to G) produce well-known international brands, such as

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1A Attempted reproduction design

100

1B Imitated design 2 Imported design 3A Original basic design - functional

90

Number of Enterprises/Firms

80

3B Original basic design - restyling 4 Specialty design

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0 KEY No. employees Size

A 1-4 micro

B 5-19 microsmall

C 20-49 small

D 50-99 smallmedium

E F 100-199 200-499 medium largemedium

G 500+ large

Enterprise/Firm Size

Eveready batteries, or household staples, such as blankets and kerosene lanterns. In comparison with the distribution of American rms5 the disproportionate large number of small rms (A to C) in Kenya suggests vertical integration, the ability for enterprises to grow economically and technically, is severely hindered in Kenya. Kenyas microenterprises (A) make up over 99% of the total Kenyan businesses, whereas the same in the United States make up 38% of American rms. Micro-small (B) rms in Kenya make up less than 1% of Kenyan rms, while American micro-small rms represent 34% of American rms. These data suggest that while US rms are better able to grow or vertically transition to larger rms, it supports literature by a variety of authors that Kenyan informal sector manufacturers face signicant obstacles to growth.6 Two further observations can be made from Fig. 7 regarding Kenyas economic and entrepreneurial
The data used for comparison are from the US Small Business Administration and Ofce of Advocacy (2003). For greater detail and discussion of the comparison see Donaldson and Sheppard (2004). 6 For a cross-section of discussions on obstacles to vertical integration in Kenya, see Kabecha (1998), King (1996), Livingstone (1991), Neshamba (1998) and Schmitz (1982).
5

environment. First, products purchased by the average Kenyan are mostly imitations of foreign-designed products (1A + 1B). All sizes of rms except the largest (G), which produce mostly imported designs (2), rely primarily on imitation. Second, the astronomical number of micro-enterprises (A) demonstrates high levels of entrepreneurship exist despite, or perhaps because of, Kenyas hostile economic environment. This disproportionately high number of micro-enterprises suggests that they are stuck crudely reproducing foreign designs and are unable to grow into formal sector rms. The data shown in Fig. 7 suggest that the informal sector manufacturing environment is far from enablingperhaps even disabling given the sectors high turnover of enterprises. Formal sector rms and NGOs, on the other hand, face minimal competition owing to their small numbers and the inability for micro-enterprises to vertically integrate. 5.4 Why do products in LIEs fail to adequately meet user needs? In most cases, material needs in LIEs are passably met with imitated products, those which are foreign-designed for foreign markets. While it can perhaps be

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argued that the same pen that works with an American hand is suitable for a Sierra Leonean hand, perfunctory cross-cultural application is tolerable to the consumer and protable to the producer only in the absence of competition. Need-nding is negligible, prototyping is viewed as wasteful and the minimal user-testing is limited to NGOs. Original products are informally conceived by designers identifying perceived niches in the local market. There is, however, little impetus for engaging in a more comprehensive design process, even when the resources or capacities exist. Why is this? Formal sector rms (and successful NGOs) have little motivation for ongoing improvement and market research; their products are relatively successful without the nancial risk of a full design process. Informal sector enterprises do not have the time or money to engage in activities that do not result in an immediate return on investment. While NGOs are well-positioned and sufciently capitalized to do original design for local LIE markets, many are unable to develop products that meet retail cost targets affordable to their consumers. As a result, NGOs often depend on subsidies to diffuse their products, further skewing the markets and hindering local industry.

6 Constraints to and opportunities for product design in Kenya Given the lack of products that adequately meet consumer need, there is unquestionably a great deal of
Table 2 Basic economic, social and human development indicators for Kenya and other select countries (adapted from CIA 2006; TI 2005a; UNDP 2005). All estimates are from the year 2006 and in US dollars unless otherwise noted
INDICATOR

entrepreneurial opportunity for product design in LIEs. Yet, as has been discussed, entrepreneurial capacity appears to be limited and hindered by a disabling environment. Literature tends to point to utigam the need for supportive government policy. Bra (2003) notes, based on historic economic data, that policies were critical in creating, or not creating, an enabling environment for entrepreneurship in subSaharan Africa and Southeast Asia. This situation in itself however appears to be cyclical: government ofcials are more willing to support entrepreneurs if they recognize industrialization as being in their interest (Coughlin 1988), yet data show that there are relatively few formal sector rms. Bwisa (2002) commented that LIEs lack a stable economic climate with minimal income equalities coupled with infrastructure, demographics, culture and education to support entrepreneurs which promote the enabling environment. But what exactly is different about undertaking design activity in LIEs? What are the constraints and opportunities evident relative to MIEs? These are Questions 5. Various aspects of the Kenyan product design environment are discussed in three broad categories: economy, people, and governance. Comparative indicators for each category are given in Table 2. Like any element of a complex system, social, economic, cultural, and other attributes are so interrelated as to cause difculty with linear organization in text form. Although LIEs characteristics vary, this paper argues that many distinctive characteristics relative to product design are somewhat common across LIEs.
Kenya $37.2 5.2% $1,100 44.51997 50% 40%2001 34.7 18.2 48.9 0.7% X 154 (low) 6.7% 14 2.55 (73) 1,500 (43) 144 85% 67% 25% 29% -0.1
2005

Dashes () indicate that the data are not available

a

Purchasing power parity

The denition of the poverty line varies by country

c

d Science and engineering bachelors degrees awarded in 2003 (adapted from NSF 2006)

6.3 Governance

Those 15 years and older who can read and write

Gross Domestic Product, GDP (billion)2005, A GDP real growth2005 GDP per capita2005, A Income inequality (Gini index) Population below the poverty line2000, B Unemployment2005 Population (million) Median age (yrs) Life expectancy (yrs) Percentage of population foreign born (1990-1995) Country where over 50 languages spoken Human Development Index rank2005 (group) HIV/AIDS Adult prevalence2003 Physicians per 100,000 people (1993-2003) Mobile phones (millions)2004 (phones per thousand capita) Internet users (thousands)2005 (users per thousand capita) Corruptions Perceptions Index2005 Literary 2003, C Net primary enrollment2005 Net secondary enrollment2003 Tertiary students in math, science or engineering (of all tertiary students, 1997-2003) Net migration per 1,000 people

U.S. $12,360 3.5% $40,800 452004 12%2004 5.1% 298 36.5 77.8 7.9% X 10 (high) 0.6% 279 1942005 (653) 203,400 (684) 17 97% 92% 88% 32% D 3.18

Norway $194 3.9% $42,300 25.82000 -4.2% 4.6 38.4 79.5 4.4% 1 (high) 0.1% 367 4.22003 (913) 3,140 (748) 8 100% 100% 96% 18% 1.73

South Africa $533 4.9% $12,000 59.31995 50% 25.2% 44.2 24.1 42.7 3.1% 120 (medium) 21.5% 25 19.5 (441) 3,600 (81) 46 86% 89% 66% 17% -0.16

Tanzania $27.1 0% $700 38.21993 36%2002 36%2002 37.4 17.7 45.6 2.3% X 164 (low) 8.8% 4 1.64 (40) 330 (8.8) 88 78% 82% 21% 22% -3.05

6.2 People

6.1 Economic

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6.1 The economy The obvious factor differentiating LIEs from MIEs is the amount of capital citizens have, have access to, and are able to generate. Is the lack of capital the problem of LIEs or is it a symptom of other handicaps, such as unskilled management, inadequate property rights, and lack of education (De Soto 2000; Staley and Morse 1965)? Access to capital for the average LIE entrepreneur is expensive and formidable. Interest rates have fallen signicantly since 2002 when they ranged from 30 to 80%. Small businesses access to credit, however, is still limited by high transactions costs (Blattman et al. 2004). Economic disparity is acute and more clearly dened with poverty sub-dividing the mainstream economy into parallel private economies (formal and informal sectors) and a prominent non-governmental sector. MIEs, in contrast, have smaller and less apparent informal and non-governmental sectors. 6.1.1 The formal sector Manufacturing, including metalworking, accounts for 13% of Kenyas gross domestic product (GDP) and employs 1.5% of Kenyas population (Blattman et al. 2004; CBK 2004). The formal metalworking sector comprises 38% of Kenyan exports, the second highest derbom 2001b). The structure and after textiles (So nature of the formal sector lead to several LIE-specic design attributes. The quality of locally made and supplied stock and components is often poor and/or inconsistent. The few local stock producers are unwilling or unable to meet their own generous published tolerances. For example, a square hollow sections cross-section may be decidedly rectangular, or the carbon content of the mild steel will vary from batch to batch. Designers have no choice but to adapt. A further complicating factor is that inconsistencies are inconsistent: when a high quality input is found, the material/component/part is either from an imported batch that has been discontinued (affordable, but limited supply) or the quality is a coincidence (affordable, but this one could be the last). Imported materials and parts are prohibitively expensive for products targeting the average Kenyan consumer. Firms lack technical depth. Medium-sized and smaller rms often have one or two experienced workers capable of engineering and design. Because of their competence, those technical ex-

perts also have administrative responsibilities and are thus unable to oversee all technical operations. Exacerbating the inadequate depth of skills is insufcient technical reference materials, minimal practical data on local conditions (such as water table depths), outdated or dilapidated equipment, and limited enforceable industry standards (Atolagbe 1989). It was observed as part of this research that contracting rms often provided hands-on technical assistance to their manufacturers. Baranson (1969) similarly documented this arrangement in the automotive industry of a LIE: the manufacturersupplier relationship in developing economies is the exact reverse of what is typical of industrialized areas, where the manufacturer relies on supplier know-how even to design required [supplied] components and parts. In developing areas, it is the other way around (emphasis added). Production culture varies by sub-sector. The metalworking rms visited as part of this research were found to act primarily as job shops. Typical projects include short production runs and a protable oneoff product for a donor organization, contract work for multi-nationals, and maintenance work for Kenyas sizeable food and beverage industry. Locally mass-produced metal goods are limited to simple products (categories 1B, 2 and 3A in Sect. 5.2). Safety standards are poor. The culture of worker protection and dened safety standards evident in MIE businesses, is absent in the average LIE rm. Safety regulations are unenforceable, labor pools are large, and workers and management lack familiarity of potential hazards. Common sights in Kenyan manufacturing rms are welders without masks and bare wires pinched into outdoor electric sockets.

According to 169 Kenyan formal sector manufacturing rm managers and owners, their top problems are (in order): insufcient demand, limited access to derbom credit, power shortages, and corruption (So 2001a). These problems varied with rm size; large and medium rms cited corruption or power disruption as their number 1 problem, while micro and small rms derbom). cited insufcient demand or credit access (So 6.1.2 The informal sector Kenyan informal sector artisans are called the jua kali7 (hot or erce sun in Swahili in reference to their openair businesses, see Fig. 8, 9). Estimates of the size of
7 The term jua kali is used as a noun (singular and plural are the same) and as an adjective.

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Fig. 8 Jua kali carpenters on Outer Ring Road, Kariobangi, Nairobi

Fig. 9 Jua kali metalworkers on Outer Ring Road near Dandora, Nairobi producing and selling security gates and window grills

informal sectors vary, largely because of the difculty in collecting accurate data. The ILO (1999) estimates that the urban informal sectors in Africa comprise 61% of their local labor forces. In Kenya, approximately 1.3 million micro-enterprises employ over 2.4 million people, and the jua kali accounts for 19% of the GDP (ACEG 2000). Kenyas informal metalworking sector is estimated to be 16 times larger than the formal metalworking sector in terms of the number of people employed (ACEG). The nature and size of the informal sector result in a highly competitive and saturated market. Despite the differences between the formal and informal sectors, they share several product design characteristics. Inputs are inconsistent or of poor quality. Informal sector artisans obtain inputs from formal sector manufacturers (through middlemen) or informal sector suppliers who acquire stock through unauthorized channels or rely on discarded materials. Recycling and reuse levels are high. The lack of available and affordable resources ensures that discarded or scrap materials are recycled. For example,

metal drums are hammered into pots (with little consideration of the drums previous contents) and stamping scrap becomes webbing (Fig. 10). Technical skill varies greatly as evident by the quality of goods. Most jua kali learn their trade through apprenticeships with kin who in turn were once apprentices (King 1996). Less than 2% of artisans have received formal technical training, thus knowledge of mass production methods and manufacturing techniques is limited to those with formal sector experience (Kabecha 1998). High costs discourage tinkering and prototyping. Iteration is negligible. Bhalla (1989) similarly found that the fear of damaging manufacturing tools and machines limits tinkering, and the high costs of inputs discourages prototyping. Informal sector products tend to be of poor quality. Strong market competition and the shared opinion that customers are unwilling to pay for good workmanship drives down informal sector product quality and diversity (Kabecha 1997). Consumers of jua kali goods also value price over quality, although still felt that the products had failed them in terms of appearance, workmanship, and nish...[and] materials (Kabecha). Consumer protection is almost non-existent. Jua kali products have no guarantee. High attrition means that the seller may disappear shortly after a purchase. Moreover, there are no brands to which one can attempt to associate higher value or quality (Kabecha 1997). Many consumers reported patronizing known artisans or those with seemingly permanent stalls, but this approach does not ensure quality. Ingenuity and technical condence is high. Technical problem-solving is often done ingeniously and with great assurance in the informal sector,

Fig. 10 A mkokoteni, a rickshaw-like cart used to transport goods (vegetables to rebar). Note that the padded webbing is the discarded rubber foam from the stamping of ip-op sandals

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especially given artisans lack of resources and formal education. King (1996) sums up this condence as a kind of can-do attitude...an attitude of mind that [is] ready to gure out how something could be made...condence in their own capacity to understand and mould materials for particular purposes. For example, a jua kali artisan was observed to design and produce rotating (impact) sprinkler heads from mostly discarded plastic containers. Kabecha (1998) divided the constraints to informal sector growth into two categories: those internal (entrepreneurship, management) and external (access to resources, hostile environment, and exploitation by larger rms). In a large-scale survey of Kenyas informal sector, more than one-third (34.1%) complained of market saturation or low product demand (ACEG 2000). Other problems included access to limited credit owing to lack of collateral (18.4%), transportation problems (7.2%), inadequate raw materials/stock (6.8%), interference from local authorities (6.0%), poor security (3.1%) and lack of worksites (2.5%) (ACEG). 6.1.3 The NGOs More than 1,000 NGOs with a total estimated annual development expenditure of $150350 M are registered in Kenya (Onyando 1999; Riddell 1997).8 Of the several dozen NGOs doing technical, engineering or product design work in Kenya, a majority are focused on improving skills in the informal sector. NGOs often disrupt local markets with product subsidies. If NGOs donate or subsidize products, they skew the local market by falsely driving prices. A monitoring ofcer at a Kenyan NGO was told by a small-scale farmer: Why should we save and buy your [micro-irrigation] pump, if we can get one donated like our neighbor? (personal communication). Such interventions necessitate donor dependence rather than sustainably strengthening local capacities. Transience of people and ideas weakens user trust. Development has been prone to an extraordinary number of fads. Citizens of LIEs are understandably wary of yet another outsider with a novel solution to solve their problems. An expatriate engineer reported that he was reproved when testing a prototype with a potential user: Its okay for you if your product breaks after I buy it, because

you go back home to your country, but I am stuck here with this loss (personal communication). There is a disconnect between designers and users. Many NGO engineers and designers are expatriates or foreign-educated locals, immeasurably separating them culturally, socially, economically and educationally from the product users (typically the poorest of the poor or one step above). While this gap may be ideally bridged with diligent need-nding and user-testing, it was shown in Sect. 5.2 that these design activities were observed to be sporadic and inadequate at best, even in organizations with design capacity and resources.

Many of the constraints faced by NGOs may be alternatively viewed as opportunities. For example, the transience of expertise may result in less institutional knowledge and local distrust, but it gives NGOs the opportunity to benet from cutting-edge design methods and skills. Non-governmental organizations engaged in product design and engineering work face unique obstacles related to how they are funded. Fundamentally, a NGO has two customers, the end user who uses the product and the donor organization that provides the NGOs resources. Both customers needs must be met for the organizations continuity and survival (Donaldson et al. 2006). If the end users needs are not met by the product, the project will be a failure and the NGO will have difculties securing future funding. If the donor is not satised because, for example the NGO did not follow a pre-approved timeline, future funding may be in jeopardy. The priorities for these two customers rarely coincide, thus complicating the prioritization of design specications and marketing decisions (Donaldson and Sheppard 2001). 6.2 People 6.2.1 Ethnicities Industrialization in Kenya began in the 1920s with European settlers needs for agricultural equipment utigam 2003). These factories, some of the rst in (Bra sub-Saharan Africa, were started and owned largely by Europeans and then later by Kenyan Indians (Asians) whose families had rst come to British East Africa as skilled laborers. Indigenous Africans, men particularly, left traditional activities to work as farm laborers to pay imposed colonial taxes, in the process breaking up traditional tribal apprenticeship systems (Kabecha 2001). The European- and Asianowned industries ourished with minimal competition,

This gure represents those registered under Kenyas NGO Coordination Act of 1990. Onyando (1999) estimates the actual number of NGOs may be as high as 3,000.

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and according to Kabecha, pre-empted the emergence of an indigenous industrial sector. Although Kenya has attempted to promote indigenous African business through licensing requirements and regulations, Coughlin (1988) concludes, Kenyan manufacturing industry [today] is almost exclusively owned by MNCs, Kenyan Asians, or government parastatals; [indigenous] Africans own very few medium or large-sized manufacturing rms. Data support this; of locally owned rms, nearly two-thirds of large-scale rms are owned by Kenyan Asians, while nearly all micro/smallscale rms are owned by indigenous Africans (Bigsten et al. 2002). Although there are less than a dozen major tribal groupings, over 60 languages are spoken in Kenya. Tribalism and other ethnic-based discrimination and preferences are common.9 Stereotypes of tribes and ethnic rivalries disrupt many LIE workplaces and communities, not just those in Kenya.10 Management at many visited rms reported that they had recently started programs to ensure non-preferential hiring. In addition to workplace tribalism, there is the further racial division between owners/managers (most often Asians, but also Europeans or Kikuyus) and workers (other indigenous Africans). King (1996) claims Africans have signicant animosity toward Asian business practice which does not have to do with ill-treatment. Ethnic ties disrupt the free market environment. Kenyan Asians are notorious for favoring contracts within their ethnic community regardless of cost and quality considerations. Ramachandran and Shah (1999) offer data to support their argument that informational and nancial networks created by Asians in Africa provide access to credit, information, and technology for members of these networks. As a result, non-indigenous-owned rms start out larger and grow signicantly faster than derbom 2001a). indigenous-owned African rms (So

relatively small tract of land upcountry called a shamba. The shamba is typically used for subsistence farming and symbolizes independence, self-sufciency, and security in retirement. This notion is counter to modernization and success in MIEs where wealth and security depend on specialization of labor and improved efciencies. It is also in contrast to the West is best product stereotype discussed in this section. Consumers have little faith in vendors. The low trust is an outcome of the poor product quality, insufcient consumer protection, and the absence of xed prices. LIE consumers are wary of being ripped off and skeptical of seemingly high quality products. Consumers have a West is best product bias. The disdain for local products elevates the status of MIE-designed or modern-looking products. Large local rms and multi-nationals exploit the modernity bias in aesthetic styling and advertising.11 Product buyers and sellers focus on the near-term. Atolagbe (1989) notes that it is the richer folks who want to make a quick prot. Experiences from this investigation suggest that a short-term time perspective is prevalent regardless of socioeconomic class in Kenya. A NGO worker commented: [Local carpenters] will always buy the cheaper tool, although it will break almost immediately, over a slightly more expensive one that will last indenitely...they will always choose so, always (personal communication). Entrepreneurship is esteemed. About half of the interviewed securely employed Kenyan formal sector workers aspire to own their own informal sector businesses (Donaldson 2004). It is perhaps because of the signicant economic limitations, that the ability to take risk is admired. The culture of entrepreneurship supports the dynamism of the jua kali and ensures that improvements and new ideas are quickly imitated.

6.2.2 Culture Cultural outlooks and attitudes understandably vary with history, regional stability, and economics. For example, the idea of success and wealth for many Kenyans, particularly those of the working class, is owning a
9 Four formal sector metalworking rms in Nairobi showed strong patterns of hiring workers based on their tribal ethnicity in 2000. However, a similar collection in 2002 did not show evidence or tribalism. 10 See King (1996), Marris and Somerset (1971) and Spring and McDade (1998).

6.2.3 Health Poor nutrition, limited access to health care and high rates of HIV/AIDS contribute to the attrition of skilled and semi-skilled workers in LIEs. Biggs and Shah (1997) looked at the effect of HIV/AIDS on worker attrition in African manufacturing rms in economic terms: the cost to replace the average employee was relatively low
11 For an example of corporate irresponsibility in promoting the image of modernity in LIEs, see Bottle-Feeding Babies in the Third World in Rogers (1995).

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because of the large pools of unskilled and semi-skilled labor, but rms took up to 24 weeks to replace a deceased skilled employee or professional. They concluded at the time that the impact of HIV/AIDS on worker turnover was minimal, although this situation could change as the epidemic matures. A 2002 study notes that previous attempts to measure the cost of HIV/ AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa are likely to be signicant underestimates of the social and economic value of the losses of human capital (Cohen 2002). 6.3 Governance There has been much attention on closing the digital divide, investing in social capital, and discouraging corruption in LIEs. Kenya has made strides in the rst two areas in the last several years: internet service providers have increased 30-fold and primary education is again free under President Mwai Kibaki. The incidence of corruption, although still high, has decreased somewhat. This section examines the impact of inefcient infrastructures, corruption, and inadequate education on product design. 6.3.1 Infrastructure LIE infrastructures, notorious for corruption and inefciencies, are common subjects for political cartooning in LIEs. Kenya has an exceptionally poor infrastructure relative to its regional stability and wealth. Only 12% of highways in Kenya are paved (CIA 2006), and even then, tarmac is a poor indicator of quality. Slightly less than half the formal sector manufacturing rms in Kenya have paved roads in good derbom condition in their immediate vicinity (So 2001a). The worst roads are those closest to the larger rms, a constraint that negatively impacts overall industrial efciency because larger rms supply smaller rms. The deteriorated infrastructure is responsible for delivery delays which result in product refusals and returns worth 2.5% of Kenyan rm sales (Blattman et al. 2004). Since the 1990s, unexpected electricity outages have become increasingly common in Kenya. The US Commerce Department faults aging and poorly maintained equipment (USCS 2002). Blattman et al. (2004) found that Kenyan manufacturing rms average 33 outages and two-thirds of rms lost capital equipment due to surges in a 1-year period. The postal, telephone, and port services are similarly riddled with insufcient funds, poor management and corruption. Packages and letters containing anything of value rarely reach their intended recipients. Telephone

services are sporadic and expensive. Eighty-two per derbom cent of the formal sector rms surveyed by So (2001a) have at least one telephone line which appear[s] to work relatively well, on average 6 days a week. Landlines cost USD $0.10 per minute for a local call and mobile calls may be three to ve times that.12 The port services in Mombasa improved when neighboring landlocked countries started moving business to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. An inadequate or expensive infrastructure impedes a design teams ability to dene a product, acquire resources for the project, and accomplish seemingly straightforward tasks. Isolation: designing in a vacuum? Lack of reliable and affordable internet connection limits access to reference materials, technical advances, international collaborations, and specialized expertise. Parts and samples are difcult to obtain by post or courier without fees. Tarmac bias is still the norm. Populations and communities that are not located near the nancial centers or major roads are excluded from markets. If consumer research occurs, potential consumers in rural areas are overlooked or ignored because distribution costs are too high to establish viable sales there. Unexpected difculties are common. Project timelines are difcult to plan and realize without reliable resources. For example, internet service providers or telephone services may go down for days without advance warning or an estimated time of repair. Unpredictability increases cost... unpredictably. Inconsistent basic utilities require redundancy to maintain business. On-site generators or battery back-ups are investment requirements for productivity.

6.3.2 Corruption Corruption is the lack of integrity or honesty and the use of a position of trust for dishonest gain. It is one of the most signicant barriers facing formal sector rms. Blattman et al. (2004) documented that Kenyan manufacturing rms make unofcial payments worth on average 6.1% of their revenues. McArthur and Teal (2002) determined that corruption is linked to signicant adverse effects at rm- and country-levels in
12

It should be noted that despite the relatively high cost of mobile phones, mobile networks have greatly improved communications and access to information, particularly with the Internet.

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are ripe for skimming. The trick, a rm manager related, is to make money, but stay below the radar (personal communication). Esuha and Fletcher (2002) had similar ndings; low visibility was one of four strategies medium-sized Kenyan rms adopted to manage the hostile business environment. Work ethics, morale, interpersonal relations, and professionalism are negatively impacted. Project timelines are difcult to keep, moral is low, crime increases, and frustration is high. Fatalism, already documented in indigent communities by Rabow et al. (1983), is exasperated. There [is] a sense of hopelessness, and corruption is accepted as a way of life (A Nairobi matatu driver, Whittington 2003). Talented engineers and designers typically do not want to work in such environments, preferring instead to work overseas or in positions where they are less impeded (personal communication). Corruption drives other crime. Theft by employees is common and expensive to guard against. The direct and indirect losses to crime are estimated to be 4 and 2.7%, respectively, of annual revenue in Kenyan manufacturing rms (Blattman et al. 2004).

6.3.3 Education Seventy-eight percent of British Broadcasting Corporation African Service listeners (BBC 2003) believed a Western university degree to be more valuable than an African one. There are two reasons a LIE technical education is regarded as sub-standard. First, graduates are not suitably trained for the needs of their economies and environments. Second, the most entrepreneurial and most talented often leave for MIEs (the brain drain). University curricula in Kenya and many LIEs are often based on MIE curricula (Makhurane and Kahn 1998). This results in a theory-reality disparity which is particularly stark in the sciences and engineering. Gaidzanwa (1995) called for African universities to avoid the dominance of culturally and socially inappropriate curricula and structures which do not reect the interest of the major stakeholders. Kenyatta Universitys Appropriate Technology Centre (ATC), originally funded by the World Bank, is a good example of this thinking. ATC aimed to create a technical curriculum suited to local engineering and design needs. However, programs like ATC tend to be viewed by Kenyan students and professionals as inferior to a traditional (MIE-type) engineering degree from another Kenyan university (personal communications).

Fig. 11 Eric Wainainas song Nchi ya Kiti Kidogo. Translation and comments are from the news program Carte Blanche (adapted from SABC 2002)

Africa: bribe-paying rms have a 20% lower output per worker, and rms in countries with pervasive corruption are 70% less efcient than their counterparts in countries relatively free of corruption. The kiti kidogo (little something) is pervasive throughout all facets of Kenyan life (see Fig. 11). The ordinary Kenyan is asked to pay a bribe in 35% of their encounters with government or public entities (TI 2005b). In addition to lowering productivity, corruption has several other observed negative effects on product design in a LIE: Operating costs are increased substantially and unpredictably. Hidden costs of business are ultimately passed on to the consumer. Greater prots mean greater bribes. Kenyan businesses do not want to appear so successful that they

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Engineering and science programs, in particular, are hampered by the lack of funds available for education in Kenya. Students and teaching staff have limited resources for such classroom basics as handouts. Textbooks are unaffordable to students and faculty, and libraries are poorly stocked. The few laboratory facilities that exist suffer from a shortage of equipment and experimental resources (Donaldson and Sheppard 2003). Computer equipment, when available to students, is expensive, inaccessible, or in disrepair (Donaldson and Sheppard). Without resources, design and engineering educations are impractically theoretical. The best educated and most-enterprising often emigrate to wealthier countries. LIEs lose up to 30% of their highly educated workforce to MIEs (Lowell and Findlay 2001). Estimates are slightly less for scientists and engineers: 400,000 individuals from LIEs are working in MIEs compared with approximately 1.4 million still working at home (Stalker 2001). One Nigerian contributor to the BBC debate on African versus Western educations, gives insight as to why many African students call going to university chucking stones for 4 years: When strikes by teachers, students and other labor disputes take more than 250 days in a year, how many days are left for a student to stay in the classroom and study, and especially when you take out two days of weekends? Do the mathematics. (BBC 2003) A potential opportunity in education is the rise of distance learning programs and virtual universities to meet the demand for quality tertiary education in LIEs. For example, the African Virtual University, which started as a World Bank project, now has 34 learning centers at African universities in 19 countries that teach primarily technical courses via the internet. Despite the impressive statistics, the university appears

to mass-instruct without necessarily addressing the unique local needs for which Schmitz and Gaidzanwa called. Critics have pointed out that those involved in the planning and coordinating of the AVU seem not to have recognized the contextual complexity of establishing a virtual university in Africa and question if the money invested is not better spent on improving the deteriorating local institutions (Oketch 2004). 6.4 What are the constraints to product design in LIEs? What are the opportunities? The investigations in Kenya found that conditions in LIEs and MIEs are signicantly affect engineering design process. Table 3 highlights the observed constraints and opportunities.

7 How applicable are ndings from Kenya to other LIEs? Many of the economic attributes from Kenya discussed here appear to share commonalities with other LIEs of similar economic status, albeit to greater and lesser degrees. For example, while material reuse is high across LIEs, the diversity and quality of input materials tends to be greater in the wealthier LIEs (NIEs). This makes senseNIEs have more skilled workers, better education systems, higher enrollments, more foreign investment, greater political stability, and less (apparent) corruption. The role of the informal sector appears to vary with relative regional wealth. Unlike in Africa, most poor families in South America do not purchase a majority of their products from the informal sector (Schmitz

Table 3 Summary of constraints and opportunities in Kenya relative to product design in the formal, informal and NGO sectors

Bold x (X) indicates that the constraint/opportunity strongly affects (positively or negatively) the sector A dash () indicates no relationship

CONSTRAINTS Resources are scarce and access to capital is expensive and limited The quality of inputs and stock materials are inconsistent and/or of poor quality There is a dearth of technical expertise and resources Safety standards are inadequate Consumer protection is nonexistent Costs are increased unpredictably throughout the supply and distribution chains by a poorly-maintained infrastructure, corruption, and high crime rates Professional isolation and market exclusion result from infrastructure inadequacies and disconnects between designers and users Ethnic ties and subsidies disrupt a consumer- and quality-driven free market Short-term time perspectives dominate over long-term investment There is low consumer confidence in local products, producers, and sellers Lack of capital reduces access to machinery, equipment, and tools Technical education is often inappropriate to local needs and lacks resources

Formal sector X X X X x X x X X X x X Formal sector x x

Informal sector X X X X X X

NGO sector x X x x X X

X X X X X Informal sector X X X

X X X x x NGO sector X X

OPPORTUNITIES Recycling and reuse of waste materials is high There is a culture of entrepreneurship and a large labor pool Ingenuity and technical confidence is high

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1982). Widespread recycling and reuse appears to be a function of economics rather than of any other factor; es (1995) notes in Northeast Brazil, one of the Guimara countrys poorest regions, the reutilization of materials is widespread. With greater skills levels, vertical integration between formal and informal sectors is greater in NIEs than in the poorer LIEs. Sub-contracting between the formal and informal sectors is well-documented in Indian and Southeast Asia (Bors utigam 2003; Owens and Nandy 1978). utzky 1992; Bra Such arrangements in Kenya are almost non-existent. Literature suggests ethnic and tribal issues which relate to product design are common across LIEs. Minorities of non-indigenous descent have been acknowledged to have high levels of economic control utigam 2003; Marris and in most LIE markets (Bra Somerset 1971; Spring and McDade 1998). For example, the economic activities of Chinese and Indian businessmen in Southeast Asia and Lebanese businessmen in Ivory Coast are well-documented (Bors utigam; UNOCHA 2003). utzky 1992; Bra Kenyas conditions appear to be representative of many sub-Saharan African countries, which is somewhat surprising given the high diversity of its peoples. Lister and Donaldson (2003) drew parallels between South Africa (a NIE) and Kenya with corruption, crime, geographic, and economic isolation of specic groups and societal aspirations. Anecdotal evidence and personal experience also suggests continental consistency. A factory owner in Zambia stated that her major issues were the tentacles of corruption and theft in the workplace. The country as a whole, she said, had an overabundance of unskilled labor and extreme poverty (personal communication). The quality of education in an economy is linked not only to the cultural importance of education in a society, but also to the economys resources and available skills. Kenyans, like most Africans, attach high value to education. Governments depend on the social prominence education affords rather than on economic reimbursement to retain skilled academics, but one cannot support a family on reputation. Unfortunately, addressing this problem seems to be a low priority; a development specialist, when asked how engineering professors were to be paid at Mozambiques $350M-revitalized sole engineering university, answered: We havent gured that out yet (personal communication). The brain drain is perceived to be a problem almost everywhere except in the wealthiest countries. For example, Malawi loses its well-educated to countries like Kenya, but Kenya loses its own to South Africa, South Africa loses its professionals to Canada, and the number of highly skilled Canadians in

the United States is staggering (Crush et al. 2000; Simpson 2000).

8 What are the implications to development? Precisely because there appears to be so many needs in LIEs, these economies appear to be fertile ground for facile but economy-altering product design. This is a dangerous misconception. The constraints faced in LIEs are so complex and interwoven that solutions that are both successful in meeting needs and sustainable without continued intervention are not straight forward or easily attained. The constraints discussed in this paper highlight some of the signicant inconsistencies in the practice of design for development, not just in LIEs, but in any design aimed at disadvantaged or marginalized users. First, when a full design process is required and is possible to implement in LIEs (because of donor funding), Western designers often take process shortcuts because of the perceived lack of complexity in nding a solution. Existing products that are perceived to offer inexpensive and efcient solutions with simple modications appear well-matched to LIEs. Development projects that should be market-pull quickly become technology-push. Design for development must move from being technology-centric to being user-centric. Unfortunately with many development projects, products are designed and implemented based on poorly dened needs. For example, it would be inappropriate to have MIE university students design a water transport system without doing comprehensive need-nding, concept evaluation or prototype testing with the targeted LIE users. The resulting product may be innovative at best, perhaps even useful to the target group, but rarely is it sustainable or appropriate. Part of the problem is remote design, which is not limited to MIE designers developing LIE products (Sect. 5.1). This is not to say that designers and engineers cannot contribute to remotely located projects; they can and should appropriately. To be user-centric, input must be to assist on-the-ground designers who work with the users and understand the culture and environment. To further complicate matters, design for development has traditionally been above criticism because of its seemingly altruistic nature. Such design often provides real motivation for the designer who feels his or her work is constructive and needed. But the noble image of this type of design discourages open dialogue and constructive criticism within the eld and by out-

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siders. Awards for design for development are given for products that have not been rigorously tested with real users, let alone proven in test markets. Technology that is not suited to the user and/or environment, or that is simply poorly engineered, can only be detrimental to users with no nancial safety net to take risks. A second inconsistency in design for development is the surprisingly widespread confusion of goals. Practical design that aims to truly meet peoples needs must start without biased ideological and emotive restrictions that hinder a full design process based on consumer needs. The review of literature related to Appropriate Technology and other movements reveals strong ideological biases. A designers or movements philosophy should rarely take precedence over consumer needs. Unlike Schumachers motto, small is not necessarily beautiful and furthermore truly sustainable technologies are often not impact-free. Finally, it may not be appropriate to promote MIE-style design for LIEs. If design is viewed as a social process (Bucciarelli 1994; Minneman and Leifer 1993; Rittel 1984), it must be asserted that the appropriate design process will change with varying societies and cultures. Smaili (2002) raised the issue of culture in design practice, stating that design and culture are intermediately linked and undoubtedly inuence each other. If this is indeed the case, then it is plausible that different cultures have different design processes appropriate to their needs. The ndings from these investigations in Kenya suggest that the LIE industrial structure and economic environment for design are signicantly dissimilar from that in MIEs. For example, the intellectual activities associated with design, sketching, pondering, and brainstorming are typically viewed by most of the interviewed LIE designers and engineers as an extravagance; their immediate benets were not obvious. If the aim is sustainable economic growth, the user-centric approach must be applied not just to product design, but the design process itself. Strengthening engineering and design education must be done in the context of LIE constraints and opportunities. Flexibility of design and production are key skills. For example, perhaps it would be appropriate for Kenyan engineering students to learn design for jua kali fabrication in addition to mechanized mass production. The growth of local engineering and product design is strongly dependent on the quality of products in terms of consistent and high quality manufacturing. Without the capacity for high quality manufacturing, efforts to strengthen design capacity may be in vain. That said, with direct skill transfer links

between the informal and formal sectors (Donaldson 2004), incentives should be provided to formal sector rms to increase on-the-job training.

9 Conclusions The reemergence of design specically to advance human development, design for development, requires an improved understanding of the state of design and constraints to and opportunities for design in LIEs. Product design and engineering in Kenya were analyzed in two investigations. The rst, Characterization of Kenya Products and Design Activities (Sect. 5), describes design process in Kenyan rms, enterprises, and NGOs. The second investigation, Constraints to and Opportunities for Product Design in Kenya (Sect. 6), sought to identify many of the underlying economic and social challenges to engineering, industrialization, and design in LIEs relative to MIEs. There were no indications of the use of formal design processes, as dened in the literature, in the Kenyan formal or informal sectors. NGOs were observed to follow semiformal MIE-style design processes. Across sectors, activities related to need denition and conceptual design phases were limited. Product design activities focused on detailed design and manufacturing phasesa nding consistent with East African perceptions of design. Four characterizations of product design in Kenya became evident from patterns of design acquisition: (1) imitation of foreign-designed products (attempted reproduction and reverse engineered and adapted), (2) imported designs, (3) original basic design (original basic functional design and innovative restyling of basic products), and (4) specialty design. Nearly all of the products purchased by the average Kenyan consumer are imitations of foreign-designed products. Of the 55 products traced to their manufacturer, 54 were based on foreign designs. Although Kenyan formal, informal, and NGO sectors face different constraints to product design, they also share some common obstacles such as difculty procuring consistent inputs, nding skilled workers, and maintaining quality control and safety standards. Ethnic ties and donor subsidies in Kenya disrupt the free market environment. Engineering education is mismatched with local needs and hampered by the lack of resources. The most-enterprising and often besteducated designers and entrepreneurs emigrate to MIEs. Corruption substantially and unpredictably increases costs and erodes consumer trust, worker mor-

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ale, and professionalism. An inadequate infrastructure increases isolation and limits engineers access to reference materials, the larger engineering design community and product users. The frequency of unexpected impediments, such as erratic electricity supply, drives up the cost of business and, ultimately, products. Economic attributes of Kenyan product design are believed to be consistent with other economies of comparable wealth, although the role of the informal sector in different economies varies. Despite great differences in peoples, anecdotal data and literature suggests that many LIE social and cultural attributes related to product design share commonalities. Product design aimed at disadvantaged or marginalized populations (design for development) must be user-centric and without ideological biases. Technology that is not suited to the user and/or environment, or that is simply poorly engineered, can only be detrimental to users without disposable incomes.
Acknowledgments The author gratefully acknowledges Pro zgu r Eris for their input and fessor Sheri Sheppard and Dr O assistance. This work was in part supported by the United States Department of Energy Manufacturing and Post-Processing Fellowship.

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