Field Practitioners Toolbox – Handheld GPS Units

Last week I wrote about some of the important contributions that have helped to strengthen UNIDOs field programmes through the use of Mobile Phones and SMS messaging. Another area where UNIDO field staff are seeing important results is with the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) hand-held data collection units. GPS has been around commercially for over 25 years. It is used in navigation, in marking ‘features’, measuring areas and distances, and as an important tool in building a much more complete picture of an operational environment.

One of the most obvious areas where GPS has improved the efficiency of project implementation activities is in its use as a navigation tool. Two areas that UNIDO has seen a real improvement in the field is with the use of GPS in rural areas where government services are extremly limited and in post-conflict zones where infrastructure is destroyed . In the Nuba Mountains of Sudan, the accurate mapping of communities on reference maps is uncommon. Most villages/village clusters are spread out over large areas and knowing with certainty where project activities are being rolled out or where surveys informants reside can be a time consuming process. However, GPS has provided UNIDO field technicians and consultants with the ability to quickly navigate to communities, beneficiaries, and other stakeholders with far greater efficiency and reliability. It has also greatly reduced the turn around time for various follow up and monitoring initiatives.

Another somewhat similar situation can be found in a number of post-conflict zones. As a result of war, sectarian violence, and on-going instability limited efforts and investments have been made to create a reference system which details the location of residential, commercial, and government buildings. In Iraq, UNIDO has been using GPS to identify the location of project linked ministerial counterparts, training facilities, enterprises and workshops, and other beneficiary groups. Field technicians are able to move between standard geo-referencing and other commonly used systems that are typically used in conflict zones; like, the US Military Grid Reference System (MGRS). Given that UNIDO’s reach and movement in Iraq is facilitated by the UN in coordination with the US military. Being able to clearly identify site assessment locations for security providers helps to minimize transportation costs and builds greater confidence between various national and international organizations and agencies.

Marking site assessment locations (stored as waypoints) is not just limited to proposed survey areas. The use of GPS features ‘marking’ has also been used extensively by the Organization to identify a number of other features that are core components of our livelihoods or micro-enterprise support programmes. UNIDOs South Korean funded project in Fallujah (TARGET) has been using GPS for a number of years. GPS has allowed project managers to conduct an intensive survey of the Fallujah Industrial Zone and capture that data with greater repeatability. We have been able to link survey results to particular workshops which helps to build a much more comprehensive profile of the enterprise, its existing technology, and the operational context that it works within. GPS has also helped to ensure that suppliers that are contracted to conduct rehabilitation and civil upgrades at these enterprises can easily locate the site; as well as providing much better logistical planning information for those involved in the delivery, installation, and commissioning of project financed technology and equipment packages procured for these enterprises in the Fallujah Industrial Zone.

GPS is also an important tool in calculating and mapping areas (eg. industrial areas) and lines (eg. roads and waterways). It can also help with the planning activities of project and programme managers. One area where GPS is seeing increasing use is around land resource management. In southern Sudan, UNDP has recently launched an important project aimed at mapping plots of land so as to help confirm plot locations, building properties, and other land features that will likely be affected by a potential influx of people once Southern Sudan gains independence and greater international engagement and support. Technologies like GPS are likely to play an important role in assisting the coordination of development programming in post-independent Southern Sudan.

Finally, UNIDO places great importance on the safety and well-being of its staff who operate out of large number of field offices throughout the globe. Nowhere is this concern greater than in countries that are just emerging from conflict and instability. One way that UNIDO monitors the security and well-being of its field staff is through the use of GPS-enabled technologies. One of the ‘tools’ that UNIDO is using in a number of challenging operational environments in Africa and the Middle East is GPS Messaging Units; like SPOT. Next week I will discuss this technology and other equipment that is being used by field practitioners to facilitate their work and enhances their security in areas that remain unstable and volatile. These sorts of dedicated investments are becoming standard issue for many programme and project staff as they work to improve the quality of life of project targeted beneficiaries, households, and communities.

Field Practitioners Toolbox – Mobile Phone and SMS

For field practitioners working in some of the more challenging operating environments on the planet, many of us our constantly looking for tools and practices that will help to improve development outcomes for the people and communities we are engaged with. Typically we are handcuffed by programmes and projects that have been developed by programme/project design teams who are far removed from the realities of the field and the socio-economic barriers that are regularly encountered by field practitioners.

Programme and project documents claim to assist communities to ‘kick-start’ the private sector development process, or strengthen the community reconciliation process, and/or increase output by strengthening investment flows to name just a few ostentatious claims. Although these goals are clearly important, project field staff/technicians are rarely provided with the guidance and tools necessary to achieve these ambitious targets. This ‘dis-connect’ inevitably leads to frictions between the implementation field team and programme/project designers living in the more sheltered milieus of Washington, New York, Geneva, Rome, Vienna, etc. Furthermore, project designs rarely explicitly consider the extent to which the channels through which implementation activities are rolled out become politicized; especially when local counterparts re-direct programme inputs towards self-serving or nefarious ends. In many of the world’s troubled spots, these are the ‘realities on the ground’.

To help minimize the emergence of these sorts of project-level pathologies, many of UNIDO’s Agri-Business Development Branch’s field staff are introducing a new set of technical tools so as to strengthen the development results under our various post-conflict country programmes. Three noteworthy initiatives are (i) the growing use of data collection and monitoring efforts that leverage the growing use of mobile phone and SMS communication,  (ii) enhanced use of GPS and GIS-related technologies, and (iii) using cost-effective and commercially available tracking units to promote the safety and security of field staff. Over the next few entries, I will make a few observations about how these technologies are leading to real improvements on the ground.

It is widely recognized that mobile phones are enhancing communication flows and feedback mechanisms throughout the world. One of the important lessons that has emerged from the work of writers like Joseph Stiglitz is that poor information, leads to poor decision-making, which leads to poor technical/human/financial resource allocations, which lead to sub-optimal development outcomes. Taking this contribution as an important referent point, our Branch’s field staff has begun using mobile phone and SMS messaging in three important areas:

1.    Communicating with project survey informants;

2.    Communicating with project-targeted beneficiary groups; and

3.    Monitoring project/programme impact

One area where many UN agencies are regularly criticized involves how information is collected and how survey informants are kept informed about how their information is used. In many country operations, UN agencies regularly collect information about quality of life indicators, market prices, security levels, consumption patterns, etc. In many cases, survey teams collect this information but never keep the survey informant updated on how the information supplied will feed into programming or how these important contributions will impact their lives and communities. To address this issue, UNIDO has begun collecting mobile numbers of survey informants and through the use of Group SMS we are able to not only thank survey participants but also keep them updated on how the information is being used and the project activities that have been developed or strengthened as a result of their contributions. As a result, UNIDO’s ‘brand recognition’ has been strengthened, project stakeholders report a greater sense of ownership, activities are conducted in a much more transparent manner, and community level monitoring of our efforts are greatly enhanced. This is a cost effective and easily implemented approach that has resulted in large dividends in areas where it has been practiced. Although it is a fairly recent initiative we expect to see its applicability extended to other operational activities involving stakeholder communication and ownership.

In post-conflict environments, a number of UN organizations have limited access to the field. We are constrained by adverse changes in the level of security in our programme targeted areas. In these environments we rely on local counterparts to facilitate the unfolding of project activities. In a number of UNIDO’s country programmes, political and sectarian cleavages are an operational reality. Working at the local/field level puts staff in direct contact with individuals, groups, elites, etc. that may believe that it is in their best interest to control/channel the distribution of project resources to particular constituencies. Not only does this inevitably lead to a ‘negative blowback’ for the reputation of the Organization but it may also lead to increased polarization and a tearing apart of the social fabric of the community. To reduce the likelihood that beneficiary targeting is politicized, UNIDO has been using mobile phones and SMS to directly communicate with project beneficiary groups. The use of SMS allows project managers to notify potential beneficiaries about important and upcoming community workshops, the location and start-up date of a capacity building training session, and even for some WEP-enabled phones beneficiary selection forms can be received, completed, and returned. The use of SMS to communicate with project beneficiaries is an important development for field practitioners and managers. It allows us the opportunity to communicate directly with a beneficiary and in so doing, potentially take out the perverse incentive to politicize our technical and livelihoods assistance programmes.

Finally, mobile phones and SMS are becoming a powerful tool to assess the impact and results of our projects. In many of our livelihoods and micro-industry support programmes we regularly compile detailed information on our beneficiaries. For example, UNIDO has built up a large portfolio of projects that have vocational training components as a key programmatic feature. By collecting information from our trainee (including mobile phone details) we are able to directly sample the impact that our training has had on the income, employment, and quality of life status of trainees that have successfully graduated from our various technical and vocational training programmes. We are also able to assess the quality of training, the competency of our training staff, and seek recommendations that will strengthen our programming. This is a cost-effective approach to monitoring; especially for programmes that cover a large geographical area or where there is low level of security. It has also improved transparency and reduced instances of corrupt practices. One area where we see great potential is in gathering regular data on the activities, viability, and operational constraints and opportunities facing the micro and small-scale producers that we have been engaged with.

Technology is making in an important impact in the lives of people across the globe. UNIDO Agri-Business Development Branch is continuously learning from these changing dynamics and is designing approaches that can leverage technical/technologies so as to enhance the results and outcomes for our programmes but also ensure that our resources are allocated towards those that need our assistance. More importanty, the information that is collected and communicated can then be directly fed back into the design considerations of project managers, who are largely involved in programme development efforts, but for a variety of reasons are far removed from the realities in the field. Technology is helping to close this gap and as a result, better information is being generated which will lead to stronger project designs that much more effectively reflect the conditions regularly encountered by the implementation teams and other technicians.  Next week I will look at how GPS and GIS-type technologies are improving reporting and tracking methods for field managers.

Sheep, Car Batteries and Money in Tal Afar, Northern Iraq

I am a big fan of William Easterly at NYU. This guy gets it. For the UN, I believe that Easterly is a powerful voice helping to shape the way that we work throughout the world. One area where Easterly has been extremely helpful in shaping the programmes that I have been associated with focuses on strengthening field practices/modalities that emphasize the importance of working with local partners to develop innovative and appropriate solutions to the problems and challenges that confront the communities and stakeholders we work with.

Over the last seven (7) years, UNIDO’s Agri-Business Development Branch has slowly grown its presence in some of the most challenging operating environment on the planet. Our Branch provides important technical assistance in a large number of post-conflict/post-crises states. In terms of UN organizations, UNIDO is a very small specialized agency and as a result our Branch size affords us a great deal of opportunities to inter-face and share information on Lessons Learned from our technical assistance programmes in Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, southern Lebanon, northern Uganda, and other fragile operating milieus.

Over the next week or so, I will draw attention to some of the small local solutions that are generating large returns for the individuals and communities we work with. Although we actively work to ensure that our local efforts exhibit strong synergies with larger UN sector programming, we really are more focused on what is working at the local level. By working with entrepreneurs, focal leaders, extension workers, and other stakeholders we are able to compliment local knowledge and expertise with our own technical assistance and programming strengths. One such success has been in Ninewa governorate Iraq, where UNIDO has been working with local producers to improve shearing practices, wool collection, and income-streams for pastoralists in Tal Afar district.

As a result of international isolation, war, and on-going sectarian and political strife the security situation in northern Iraq is highly volatile. Amplifying this instability is the impact that criminality and a fractured social fabric has on efforts to establish and promote economic activities that add value to local resources. Livestock ownership in northern Iraq is not only an important commercial activity but also is a clear and tangible indicator of wealth. As a result, many pastoralists are deeply concerned about not only protecting their wealth but maximizing the value that they receive from their livestock holdings.

Through comprehensive discussions with a large number of shepherds, wool brokers, and extension officers, UNIDO was asked to assist in identifying a shearing technology that would reduce shearing time, afford maximum mobility, and lead to better economic returns on livestock holdings. With these criteria guiding our technology identification efforts we were able to focus in on a 12V (car battery) operated sheep shearer that would be mobile enough to operate in any possible location. To introduce this new technology into the district, UNIDO procured a small number of units, shipped them into country, contracted a local training provider and conducted a pilot production run. The results from this pilot phase led to a large order of 50 units which we also augmented with the procurement of a number of different shearing attachments. UNIDO organized, with the support of a local livestock association, a training programme for project nominated shepherds.

The result is that, in Tal Afar, we have shepherds that are able to shear their sheep in any environment, leveraging best practices which anchor our training programme, which together result in high quality outputs that are generating substantially enhanced income flows for our project beneficiaries.

Our role in improving socio-economic outcomes for these pastoralists is becoming widely recognized and has recently resulted in official notification being made to UNIDO HQ (Vienna) confirming the appreciation that project stakeholders have regarding our innovative approaches to local technical assistance requests. This seems to confirm Easterly’s belief that small targeted and locally relevant initiatives can lead to or generate larger social rates of return. 

The Right Mix

Over the years I have had the opportunity to work with a number of government officials in a variety of operational contexts. One of the lessons that I have learned from this engagement is that development practitioners whose outputs are measured in number of meetings held, symposiums attended, and/or study tours conducted typically don’t produce much of an impact on the ground. Failure to produce meaningful/tangible results on the ground is unlikely to be appreciated by those living on the ground.

My experience is also shaped by the unsubstantiated sense of importance that many of these practitioners have about the relevancy of their work to shaping development outcomes; especially in environments that remain highly unstable. I am not sure how these well tailored and credentialed members of the international development field managed to navigate their way into these sorts of positions but I suspect that it has less to do with improving the quality of life for the citizens of these countries under stress and a lot more to do with the generous entitlements that come with these positions. In some circumstances, when it is clear that these individuals are without a doubt incompetent, many petition their home governments to lobby on their behalf to ensure that they will have a place at the trough for years to come.

We are at a critical junction in our work in fragile states. There is a growing storm that is approaching. A storm that can also be traced back to certain failures that have become obvious to all to see in many extremely important parts of the world. I know it is easy to say but what we need to see more of is the right inputs, in the right mix, at the right time, and at the right price. To continue on the current path, given the encroaching winds of instability, will only exacerbate the difficulties that are visible under the current culture or entitlements. We need fewer meetings and more people on the ground willing to dismantle the relations/network of powerful forces that prolong these dreadful conflicts and crisis.

Over the next few weeks I will be highlighting and reporting on some of the innovative and courageous field practitioners that are bringing real results to the people that are most in need of our assistance.