About

Welcome….

Hello! My name is Jonathan Kalan, founder of The (BoP) Project. I am an internationally published journalist, photographer, and social enterprise blogger working in East Africa, reporting on stories of social innovations, technologies, enterprises, and entrepreneurs at the Base of the Economic Pyramid (BoP). I’m currently freelancing out of Nairobi, Kenya, while continuing to add stories and images to The (BoP) Project.

The (BoP) Project Mission:

The (BoP) Project seeks to report on the narrative of “potential” behind the veil of poverty in emerging economies, through the lens of social innovations, enterprises, entrepreneurs, and market-based approaches to poverty.

For over a year, The (BoP) Project has traversed East Africa uncovering, documenting and sharing stories which are redefining the development field and generating significant buzz among a new generation of donors, investors, development workers, and concerned global citizens.

This body of work has delivered visual narratives, independent reporting, and on-the-ground commentary of social innovations, technologies, enterprises, and entrepreneurs, exposing the growing movement towards more viable, effective, and innovative approaches to economic and human development in East Africa.

The (BoP) Project will continue to engage and inspire readers around the globe to begin re-examining the way they view the poor, poverty and its solutions. Instead of donating dollars out of a feeling of pity, perhaps readers may begin to understand the potential of investing time, skills, knowledge, and money in the hope of lifting up the BoP through innovation

In addition to covering these stories on The (BoP) Project blog, and returning with a full photo-journalistic piece to share with galleries and publications, I am contributing to various other blogs, publications, websites, and organizations dealing with these issues along the way. In recent months, The (BoP) Project has contributed to online and print outlets such as “On The Ground” New York Times Blog, The Christian Science Monitor, Stanford Social Innovation Review, NextBillion, The Star (Kenya), Dowser, BeyondProfit Mag, and many others.

The (BoP) Story: 

Four billion people on this planet live in relative poverty. While each of their situations are filled with a complexity, uniqueness, and essential suffering which is difficult to collectively define, most of these four billion people do share a similar set of economic characteristics that collectively place them in a category known as the Base of the Economic Pyramid (BoP).

Characteristics of the BoP

1.  Significant unmet needs. Most people in the BoP have no bank account and lack access to modern financial services. They live in informal settlements, without a true title to their dwelling, and lack access to water and sanitation services, electricity, and basic health care.
2. Dependence on informal or subsistence livelihoods. Most in the BoP lack good access to markets to sell their labor, handicrafts, or crops and have no choice but to sell to local employers or to middlemen who exploit them.
3. Impacted by a BoP penalty. Many in the BoP (and perhaps the majority) pay higher prices for basic goods and services than do wealthier consumers- whether that be in capital or in effort required to obtain goods, which are often of lesser quality than those received by their wealthier counterparts.(World Resources Institute/International Finance Corporations The Next 4 Billion Report, 2007)

Traditional forms of aid often fall short of addressing these critical issues and of providing sustainable solutions for those at the BoP to escape the poverty trap and enter the formal economy.

Over the past 25 years, social enterprises and entrepreneurs like Grameen Bank (Mohammed Yunus), Ashoka (Bill Drayton), and many more have been developing innovative approaches to meet the needs of those in the BoP, leveraging the powers of capitalism to help entrepreneurs lift their communities out of poverty.

Unfortunately, much of the general public is still largely unaware of these approaches, and the growing movement towards social enterprise and market based solutions to poverty. Their stories, successes, challenges and breakthroughs are inspiring; yet they are far too often left untold.

The Curator:

Jonathan Kalan, founder of The (BoP) Project, is an internationally published photojournalist, journalist, and blogger specializing in social enterprise coverage. A graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara Global & International Studies program, in just 23 years he has traveled to over 33 countries, lived and worked in South Asia and Africa, and simultaneously pursued careers in social business development and photojournalism.

Before relocating to Africa in 2010, Jonathan worked in Los Angeles for growing startup company Causecast, a “Cause-Integration Media Agency”, running their Mobile Fundraising services and Corporate Social Responsibility programs. He is currently based in East Africa, covering social enterprises, technologies, innovations, and BoP markets. He is a Staff Writer for NextBillion.net, a regular contributor to Dowser.org, and a Diageo Africa Business Reporting Awards 2011 Finalist.

Jonathan is currently based in Nairobi, Kenya, and can be reached at jonathankalan@gmail.com.

Jonathan E. Kalan
Journalist | Photographer
Founder, The (BoP) Project 

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