Bicycling Empowerment Network Partnership
Bicycling Empowerment Network (BEN) Namibia has established a market-based system for the distribution of bicycles in rural areas throughout Namibia. BEN Namibia uses a combination of donations of bikes to healthcare volunteers, with capacity building and establishment of community-based bicycle workshops. The goal is to empower disadvantaged Namibians through the provision of sustainable transport and bicycle-related income-generating activities.
Both BEN and Elephant Energy see market based distribution systems as the best, most sustainable method of delivering social goods and services to the poor at affordable prices. BEN and Elephant Energy share the view that the use and sale of these goods should create wealth and foster economic, environmental, and social co-benefits. Considering Namibia’s vast distances, limited transportation network, and the considerable barriers to mobility for many rural Namibians, both endeavor to provide access to products within rural communities and in urban areas which serve as rural market hubs in order to “bridge the last mile” of access to these essential goods.