Nairobi’s slums are packed with daycares, but the businesses are difficult to spot. Childminders often keep their unmarked doors shut, perhaps for fear of passersby seeing what goes on inside – young children crammed into tiny, dusty huts for hours on end with poor sanitation, inadequate food and little interaction.



Kidogo, however, is easy to find. This childcare centre announces its presence with bright blue signs and the noise of kids playing outdoors.

The fanfare is deliberate: with its two Nairobi pre-schools, the social enterprise is trying to set an example for other local childcare operators, and provide a training ground for women in the sector. So far it is working with five “mama-preneurs”, teaching them about finance, hygiene and nutrition.

Kidogo is part of a growing international movement seeking new ways to provide affordable, high-quality childcare to underserved communities, from the slums of Nairobi to the outskirts of Mangalore.

Most developing countries suffer from a severe shortage of quality early childhood care. The Overseas Development Institute estimates (pdf) that, worldwide, at least 35.5 million children under the age of five are being left alone or with other young children while their parents work.

Even those who are supervised often lack the necessary stimuli for a developing brain: a 2007 research project found (pdf) around 200 million children were failing to reach their cognitive potential every year because of poor early-life care. Girls are disproportionately affected, since they are often the ones taken out of school to look after younger siblings.

Parents seem to appreciate the increased quality of care offered by Kidogo. “My daughter can’t wait to come over every morning,” says Judith Chisakane, whose four-year-old attends its centre in the Kangemi slum. Chisakane says her young daughter is already more independent than her eight-year-old sister who attended a different local pre-school. “The only thing I would change,” she says “is having a bigger playground.”

Hippocampus founder Umesh Malhotra (pictured) says the for-profit childcare model can deliver good results for low-income families. Photograph: Nilotpal Baruah

Infrastructure is expensive, however, and working for low-income customers means profit margins are slim: Kidogo’s fee of up to $18 (£14) a month is already at the higher end of what most parents pay in the area. Childcare providers need to find ways of making the equation work.

For Umesh Malhotra, co-founder of Indian educational company Hippocampus, a business mindset is key. His company runs 316 centres in rural India and keeps costs at £5 to £9 a month by streamlining processes and training its own teachers. “When you are for-profit your client must come first and this ensures we are delivering value to both parents and children,” he says.

Using profits to subsidise fees

Others are opting for a co-payment model, using the profits from wealthier communities to subsidise fees in low-income areas. Steps Baby Lounge in Brazil began by offering early childhood education in rich areas of São Paulo. Two years ago, it started using the profits to provide the exact same programme to underserved communities. “Inequality starts in early childhood,” says the company’s founder, Glaucia Maciel, “that’s where we can break the cycle.”



Still, with profit margins tight, scaling up is a challenge. The solution, experts believe, could be governmental support. “It is likely that public-private partnerships will meet equity and quality objectives better than relying only on fully private solutions,” says Michelle Neuman, programme director at the Results for Development Institute, an international development NGO.

Some are already testing this system. In Colombia, aeioTU began as a childcare provider with a re-distribution model that allowed them to provide the same standards of care in both the richest and poorest neighbourhoods of Bogotá. Now the government covers 80% of the cost per child in many of their pre-schools, which has allowed aeioTU to grow their network to over 50 centres across the country. “There is so much money in the public sector,” says aeioTU executive director Nathalia Mesa, “it would be ridiculous not to tap into it.”

Yet there’s another actor that could help provide childcare solutions to families in need – corporations. “Workplace solutions bring together innovative partnerships to share costs and responsibilities among various partners,” says Naomi Cassirer, a consultant specialising in maternity protection policy.

Kidogo is now exploring this option, and looking to partner with companies willing to cover the small cost of their workers’ childcare as a way to boost their image and the productivity of working mothers.

The hope is to get vital support to more working women like Chisakane. “No mum can do this alone,” she says, watching her daughter play. “You need a team.”

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