The event will be chaired by Chief Economist of the World Bank’s Africa Region, Shantayan Devarjan. He will be joined by discussants Peter Hazell, Visiting Professor at the University of London, and Ira Peppercorn, Senior Housing Finance Specialist at the World Bank. Mr. White will be accompanied by fellow authors Bruno Losch, Lead Economist and Research Director at the Centre de Cooperation Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Developpment (CIRAD), and Thierry Paulais, Deputy Director of the Africa Department, Agence Francaise de Developpement.

The event is scheduled to take place May 15, 2013 from 3:00 – 4:30 pm, EST in Auditorium J1-050 of the World Bank J Building, 701 18th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20433.

To RSVP for this event, please click here or email infoshopevents@worldbank.org.

Eric White leads Integra’s Development Analytics practice and serves as a manager and consultant in the firm’s work on Agriculture and on ICT for Development. He is a skilled practitioner of the Growth Diagnostics methodology, and co-author of the book “Structural Transformation and Rural Change Revisited”. He has consulted directly to several African governments, as well as to the African Development Bank. He holds a Master in Public Administration in International Development (MPA/ID) degree from the Harvard Kennedy School, and a BA in Economics from the University of Virginia.

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The National Broadband Strategy (NBS) was drafted during a high-level national workshop hosted by CCK October 14-19, 2012. The event took place during a week-long retreat in Naivasha, which was attended by a team of 50 public and private leaders including the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communications in Kenya. Integra Policy and Regulatory Specialist David Townsend also gave a keynote presentation to the participants and technical working groups.

Integra’s David Townsend (first row, 5th from left) contributed to the drafting of Kenya’s National Broadband Strategy at a workshop in Naivasha, Kenya.

The workshop capped off months of preparatory work. Integra consultants Muriuki Mureithi and David Townsend provided technical assistance including the completion of an internal work plan, proposing strategic objectives of the strategy framework, implementation planning of the development process and suggesting ideas for future projects. This work was done under USAID’s Global Broadband and Innovations Program (GBI), which includes providing technical assistance to Universal Service and Access Funds.

Integra worked alongside CCK over the past eight months as commission undertook a series of initiatives to improve its institutional capacity. Examples of such progress include stakeholder consultations with mobile network operators and Internet service providers, the constitution of a Broadband Strategy Steering Committee to oversee the development process, and the creation of technical working groups who helped draft the policy.

The work in broadband development and implementation compliments Integra’s previous work with CCK on their Universal Service Fund (USF). For Kenya’s USF, Integra also prepared a set of recommended priority Fund Programs, which CCK has accepted as the basis for implementation of the fund and future projects. The Commission plans to launch it’s first pilot project by the end of 2013.

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USAID Report

A key recommendation by a USAID report that was released in June and titled “Emerging Technology and Practice for Conservation Communications in Africa” is for international development agencies to institutionalize good practice in the use of ICTs for Conservation. The report noted that while the conservation community has a wealth of experience in harnessing ICTs and communications among its many members, the distribution of this expertise is uneven.

It goes on to say that, opportunities exist to learn within the conservation community as well as learning from others operating in different fields but with similar ICT requirements. The study, which was led by a team of researchers from International Resources Group (IRG) based in Washington DC, took a very broad approach to emerging technologies for the general growth and development in Africa. While the focus of the study was on the conservation sector, other ‘non-conservation’ sectors such as finance, agriculture, health, governance, knowledge management and e-learning were touched on.

Some of the key findings from the research include: 

On the plus side,

a) There is an increasing diversification of ICT devices and software combined with falling costs for equipment and subscriptions across much of sub-Saharan Africa in less than a decade.

b) A steady increase in the use of ICTs for conservation is seen in the area of management of research and monitoring data, remote sensing and communications, public awareness and education in the region.

c) The use of ICTs and especially mobile phone apps is prominent in transactions-based applications, such as electronic payments systems, mobile money and supply and value chain relationships.

d) Specifically, the kinds of ICTs used and the way in which they are used by the Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE) and Sustainable and Thriving Environments for West African Regional Development (STEWARD) has been largely influenced by the mission of each program, the geographic scope, the stakeholders involved and the communication and knowledge sharing strategies that each program evolved.

On the minus side,

e) Due to costly infrastructure and the relative unavailability of cable and satellite feeds the spread of high bandwidth Internet has been slow, though this may change within the next decade.

f) The use of ICT directly in conservation activities in the region has been limited due to relatively remote and undeveloped nature of conservation sites in the region.

How Consistent are the Results of this Study with Others?

From these findings, it is clear that ICTs have come to stay and the onus is on the international development agencies to make it work. These findings reinforce other preceding studies that highlighted the growing importance of ICTs, and mobiles for conservation and development in the emerging countries. On the importance of ICTs and social media, the World Bank noted that people across the globe do much more than chat and play games using the emerging technologies. They are using the technologies to learn where best to fish; to identify what market to sell their produce in; to trace cattle from pastures to supermarkets; to report illegal logging and misuses of local budget; to pay bills, send money back home, and receive cash transfers; to do business on mobile phones; to prevent violence against women and empower them in their communities; to get state-of-the-art schooling online; to remotely monitor and switch on irrigation pumps; and to make their voices heard and trigger change. On mobiles for conservation, Ken Banks and Richard Burge co-authored a report in 2004 titled “Mobile Phones: An Appropriate Tool For Conservation And Development?”. The authors argued at the time that mobiles are ‘leapfrogging’ the technological gap between the developed and developing world due to the greater impact of mobile phones in the developing countries that have had poor telecommunications infrastructure over the decades. This statement has been confirmed by a recent report released by the World Bank, which revealed that about 77 percent of the over 6 billion mobile subscribers globally, are in the developing nations as against 23 percent in the developed nations. These are attestation to how communication technologies can dramatically influence almost every sector of the world’s economy.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the report noted that as Internet and high-density mobile networks spread across the African continent, it is highly likely that ICTs will play an increasing role in conservation activities. In order to institutionalize good practices therefore, agencies and development practitioners engaged in the design and implementation of Natural Resource Management (NRM) projects need to collaborate to systematically incorporate the use of ICTs in projects from project design through closure. They should build on networks of practitioners already recognized by their membership in communities supporting conservation. A successful example cited by the report is the Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group (ABCG), a community with strong representation of practitioners and a history of information sharing on conservation in Africa. There should be continuous dialogue on emerging technologies to educate and to develop field requirements. The use of requirements analysis at the outset of activity planning to calibrate human resources and technology investments properly against overall goal achievement should be a key component of institutionalizing good practice. Finally, knowledge management and learning through local use of multimedia such as low-cost technologies to bring together text, video and audio for learning associated with all aspects of program implementation for conservation.

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Jonathan Malagon, (fmr) Director of Compartel, speaks at a February Compartel Broadband Strategy event

On October 23 Integra wrapped up its technical assistance in Colombia, with the presentation of a strategic plan for Compartel, a telecommunications organization under the direction of the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MINTIC). The “Broadband Strategic Plan: 2013-2017” (below, in Spanish), was developed by Compartel in collaboration with Integra’s consultants working under USAID’s Global Broadband and Innovations program (GBI). The project also falls under the Broadband Partnership of the Americas, an initiative announced by President Obama while he was in Colombia in April 2011.

This plan signifies a continued commitment by the Colombian government to increase access to telecommunications throughout the country, particularly into rural areas. Specifically, it includes identification and analysis of broadband access gaps throughout the country, as well as a plan to close those gaps and expand service, particularly in rural and underserved areas. GBI consultants Daniel Espitia and David Townsend have worked alongside Compartel since the beginning of 2012 on several initiatives which led to the development of this strategic plan. Their work included a review of ICT coverage and penetration data, an ICT market assessment, and the evaluation of Compartel’s past and current programs.

In addition to the broadband strategy, the strategic plan suggests ways to strengthen Compartel’s institutional capacity, in light of its recent restructuring into the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology. One recommendation includes adopting an administrative model that will enable the organization to control its own budget. Such measures will better enable Compartel to implement and monitor it’s projects.

Compartel is no stranger to success in administering ICT programs including its rural telephony program, and the deployment of over 2000km of terrestrial fiber and 800km of undersea cable. It also has a contract to build out another 18,000km of its national fiber network. Taking these strides into account, the strategic plan redefines the organization’s mission and provides a national broadband strategy so it can continue to build upon their progress made in recent years. Furthermore, through the market assessment, it can target its efforts to address high-priority areas. This is the first document of its kind under the GBI Program, and Integra hopes that Compartel will benefit from the strategy to better serve communities throughout the country in need of telecommunication services.

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The Objective of the NEXTT Program is to support the Nigerian government’s efforts to expand trade domestically, within the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) sub-region and beyond, and improve its efficiency so that trade, particularly in agricultural products, can provide inclusive economic growth and development of Nigeria.

Integra will participate in the initial agricultural corridors assessment and will provide all ICT needs arising from this assessment. Integra will also be on hand to identify and support all project ICT tasks as these opportunities arise.

Nigeria NEXTT is not Integra’s first experience in Nigeria. Under the Global Broadband and Innovations Program, Integra has been working closely with leadership in the Nigerian Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, The Nigerian Communications Commission and the Universal Service Provisioning Fund, to assist in creating a new strategy and processes for more effective use of Fund resources. For more information about this work, please visit our Universal Service Fund project page.

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As the global population approaches 8 billion people, it will become increasingly difficult to provide a steady supply of food, let alone at a price point the majority of people can afford. In this respect, ecosystems perform a vital function by producing food and providing access to water, thereby increasing food security for communities around the world. For example, it is estimated that a mangrove can yield an annual harvest per hectare of 220 lbs of fish, 44 lbs of shrimp, 33 lbs of crabmeat, 440 lbs of mollusk and 88 lbs of sea cucumber. With food prices predicted to rise an additional 30-50% over the next several decades, ecosystem-provisioning services will be heavily relied upon, particularly in areas of poverty.

In addition to the increased demand on food supply, climate change also has the potential to significantly impact an ecosystem’s ability to produce food, regulate water, and irrigate land (among other functions). Given the provisioning and regulating services ecosystems perform, it is crucial that agricultural areas in particular are managed and maintained to increase resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate change. For example, small-scale rainwater harvesting in Tanzania has improved agricultural production, and increased the water soil capacity, reducing vulnerability to dry spells. When correctly managed, ecosystems have the ability to resist drought and help prepare for water and food shortages that may occur throughout the year.

Jordan Valley Permaculture Pilot Project: start date, 6 months later, three years later
Photo credit: ProAct (2008)

One example of a natural resource management approach to improving ecosystem services is the Jordan Valley Permaculture Project, implemented by the Permaculture Research Institute of Australia. Established in 2008, the project aimed to increase food and water production in the Jordan Valley by rehabilitating the land, known for month-long droughts ranging up to 122 degrees Fahrenheit. In order to improve the health of the ecosystem, a swale system, or land contouring system, was used to help the land trap water in the soil during the winter months to be used during summer droughts. Drought and salt resistant crops were also planted to better trap water in the soil. Using this system over 10 acres of land, the project was able to increase freshwater sources and overall food production. This can act as an important lesson in natural resource management, particularly for dry lands, which support one-third of the global population, up to 44 percent of the world’s cultivated systems, and approximately 50 percent of the world’s livestock.

Not only are ecosystems a vital source of food and water, but for poor and rural populations in particular, they are also a crucial source of income. Better-managed fisheries for example, can increase revenue by improving the fish supply. Water regulation is also very important, to enhance food production and provide water for livestock, fish farms, etc. Whether a community’s food supply is mainly a source of nourishment or a source of income, the livelihood of that population is greatly dependent on a given ecosystem’s ability to function properly. It is therefore very important that community members, farmers and fishermen, are also kept informed about natural resource management tools they can utilize.

As the world continues to rely on the provisioning and regulating services ecosystems provide, it will become increasingly important to ensure the health of ecosystems, and control for environmental degradation wherever possible. Environmental policy tools such as payment for ecosystem services, and economic valuation strategies can assist in this effort by making it easier to provide incentives for this purpose. In the forth blog of our Ecosystem Services series, we will look into how ICTs can help support such policies, involving a variety of players from corporate leaders to local farmers, in natural resource management.

Stay tuned next week for the final blog of our Ecosystem Services series, “ICT for Ecosystem Management and Environmental Policy”.

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Red Cross volunteers monitor the growth of mangroves in Vietnam to reduce the effects of typhoons and large waves. Photo credit: IFRC

Healthy ecosystems and the services they provide help reduce a community’s risk to natural disaster. Conversely, poorly functioning ecosystems increase this risk, ridding a community of its natural protective barriers. As part two of our Ecosystem Services Series, we’ll be taking a look at the role ecosystem services can play in disaster risk reduction (DRR).

Ecosystem services such as flood regulation for example, have the potential to reduce risk in a variety of natural disasters. For example, mangroves have the ability to reduce wave energy of tsunamis up to 70%, and off-short drift and sedimentation help create barrier islands to provide protection for coastal communities. Most ecosystem services for DRR belong to the category of regulatory services, and are greatly impacted environmental degradation. Accordingly, it is important that ecosystems be managed properly, to increase the level of protection they are able to provide.

In addition to their DRR-related benefits, ecosystem services are also a cost-efficient alternative to hard-engineering solutions for natural resource management. China for example, spent $3.15 billion in flood control over the course of four years, avoiding $12 billion that would have incurred otherwise.  Similarly, forests also provide an array of ecosystem services with large economic benefits, particularly in avalanche-prone areas. It is estimated that by breaking up snow cover and preventing wind-blow drifts, approximately $100 per hectare per year is saved in areas of open land, while more than $170,000 per hectare per year is saved in areas with valuable assets.

The Coastal Community Resilience (CCR) Initiative exemplifies a DRR program that incorporates both ecosystem services and natural resource management. Implemented throughout the Indian Ocean region, CCR takes a collaborative approach to build resilience to disaster, across the environment and coastal management sectors, involving both government and civil society organizations.  It is also important to involve members of a given community, since the majority of environmental degradation results from human actions. Processes such as deforestation or grazing for example, decrease an ecosystem’s ability to perform regulating services efficiently, thereby increasing a community’s risk for disaster. Poorer communities are often more vulnerable to disaster, as their livelihoods depend on many of the other services ecosystems provide, such as food production and income generation. In this respect, natural resource management can play a crucial role in preserving ecosystems, ensuring their functionality for DRR.

Given the amount of damage and loss of life caused by natural disasters, it is important to recognize both the social and fiscal benefits of ecosystem services for DRR. This is not to imply that ecosystem services alone can sufficiently protect against natural disasters, as a combination of hard and soft engineering is most likely also necessary to build up adequate resilience. Areas of natural resource management such as biodiversity conservation and proper land management are also necessary to sustain the quality of life within an ecosystem. It is therefore important that policy officials and community members are informed of the benefits ecosystems have the potential to supply. With the proper knowledge and plan of action, ecosystems can be sustained to better defend populations from disaster worldwide.

Stay tuned next week for the third blog of our Ecosystem Services series, “Natural Resource Management for Increased Food Security”.

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Ecosystem Services: Categories and Examples

According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, ecosystem services are defined as the benefits people obtain from ecosystems, split into four categories of provisioning, supporting, regulating and cultural services. Because they are so beneficial in a variety of ways, the international community has begun to monitor and monetize these services, in addition to advocating for environmental sustainability.

Each category of ecosystem services provides a certain type of benefit to the global population.

• Provisioning services are often described as ecosystem goods, and refer to benefits such as food production.
• Supporting services are services that enable other categories to work, including but not limited to nutrient production and habitat provision.
• Regulatory services, such as carbon storing, are processes often considered to be public goods, and are perhaps the most difficult to measure.
• Lastly; cultural services refer to social aspects of the ecosystem, such as the services sacred land provides and eco-tourism.

As climate change increasingly warrants international attention, a system that measures and monitors the benefits of ecosystem services will prove to be more necessary than ever before. In addition to having a set measurable indicators, it will also be valuable to monetize these services for both the public and private sector.  Fortunately, some of the information and technology needed to perform these functions are already in development. The US Department of Agriculture for example, recently launched Comet 2.0, a web-based tool to help farmers estimate farm-specific carbon sequestrations and net greenhouse gas emissions from soils, biomass, annual crops, and fossil fuel usage.  Another tool, the i-Tree, allows municipalities to monetize the value of urban trees, and is used in over 6,000 communities worldwide for city planning initiatives.

Recognizing the monetary value of ecosystem services, the private sector has also begun to show their commitment to the environment as part of an overall business strategy. This past June at the Rio+20 Summit, 24 global Fortune 500 companies including Coca-Cola, Dell, General Motors and Xerox, released a report called The New Business Imperative: Valuing Natural Capital. The report, sponsored by the Corporate Eco Forum and The Nature Conservancy, urges businesses to recognize how their companies are dependent on ecosystem services in a range of areas, from supply chain to cost savings.  Complete with a commitment from each company involved, the report estimated the world’s ecosystem contributes about $72 trillion in goods and services per year to the global economy.

While ecosystem services may be a relatively new topic on the environmental agenda, the momentum behind the discussion is building. In fact in February 2012, the UN Statistical Commission recently approved the System for Environmental-Economic Accounts (SEEA) to account for material natural resources in a nation’s economy. It should be noted however, that an internationally accepted method of accounting for ecosystem services, as opposed to goods and materials, does not currently exist.

Because this is an increasingly important topic with a potential impact on Environmental Natural Resource Management (ENRM), we’ll be taking an in-depth look at ecosystem services in the areas of disaster risk reduction, food security, health and technology. Each week, we’ll look at specific areas of ecosystem services and how they fit into the larger development picture.

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Ms. Hamilton joins the Integra staff after recently completing a term as a GBI Intern.  Prior to that, she worked with the Monitoring and Evaluation Department of EngenderHealth, to evaluate the Client-Orientated, Provider-Efficient (COPE) tool used within the ACQUIRE Tanzania Project (ATP); a USAID-funded project in reproductive health and family planning services. She also fieldwork experience, spending the summer of 2011 in Nepal on the increased privatization of higher education and it’s impact on youth. Enthusiastic about education policy and women’s health, Kimberly is particularly interested in how technology can be used to facilitate improvements in these areas. As a GBI Intern, she contributed to telecommunications research for several Latin American countries. She holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs from The New School in New York, with a concentration in Development.

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Photo Credit: Akamai http://www.akamai.com/stateoftheinternet/

The broadband revolution is proceeding apace across the globe as internet speed and adoption have increased at faster paces.  The Akamai company recently released its First Quarter, 2012 State of the Internet report which discusses important global broadband statistics like internet penetration rates, mobile connection speeds, regional and global connection speeds, and broadband adoption among many others.  The report, in addition to providing invaluable insight into global trends in broadband, also underscores the role broadband and mobile technologies can play in the future of development.

Thanks to an ever-increasing demand for connectivity in both developed and emerging economies the world has seen a dramatic rise.  Broadband speed has increased to such an extend that Akamai has redefined what it calls “high-broadband.”  Previously, any connection at speeds of 2Mbps or higher was defined as broadband, but now Akamai will consider connections of 4Mbps has broadband and connections of 10Mbps has high broadband.

For the first quarter of 2012, the report points out a series of trends:

• A 6 percent global increase in the number of unique IP addresses to over 666 million in between fourth quarter 2011
• A global average of peak connection speed of 13.5 Mbps
• A global average connection speed of 2.6Mbps
• A global average mobile connection speed range between 32.2 Mbps and 2.2 Mbps
• A doubling in global mobile data traffic between the first quarters of 2011 and 2012
• A global increase in adoption of high broadband

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