Introduction to Development Engineering: A Framework with Applications from the Field PDF
Preview Introduction to Development Engineering: A Framework with Applications from the Field
Temina Madon · Ashok J. Gadgil Editors Richard Anderson · Lorenzo Casaburi Kenneth Lee · Arman Rezaee Co-Editors Introduction to Development Engineering A Framework with Applications from the Field Introduction to Development Engineering Temina Madon • Ashok J. Gadgil Editors Richard Anderson (cid:129) Lorenzo Casaburi (cid:129) Kenneth Lee (cid:129) Arman Rezaee Co-Editors Introduction to Development Engineering A Framework with Applications from the Field Editors TeminaMadon AshokJ.Gadgil CenterforEffectiveGlobalAction DepartmentofCivilandEnvironmental UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley Engineering Berkeley,CA,USA UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley Berkeley,CA,USA Co-Editors RichardAnderson LorenzoCasaburi DepartmentofComputerScience DepartmentofEconomics andEngineering UniversityofZurich UniversityofWashington Zurich,Switzerland Seattle,WA,USA ArmanRezaee KennethLee DepartmentofEconomics ChiefResearchandEvaluationOfficer UniversityofCalifornia,Davis ThePharoFoundation Davis,CA,USA Nairobi,Kenya UnitedStatesAgencyforInternationalDevelopment(USAID) ISBN978-3-030-86064-6 ISBN978-3-030-86065-3 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86065-3 ©TheEditor(s)(ifapplicable)andTheAuthor(s)2023.Thisbookisanopenaccesspublication. 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Preface Adefiningquestionforeveryfuturegenerationishowtoimprovehumanwelfare, and reduce inequality, while respecting the boundaries of our planet. Indeed, sustainable development is perhaps the greatest challenge we face as a species. It willrequirecontinuousinnovationandadaptation,acrossmassivescales. DevelopmentEngineeringexploresthedesignoftechnologicalsolutionsthatcan rapidlyacceleratelifeoutcomesforpeopleinpoverty–particularlyforthosewho struggle most – without disruptive impacts on biodiversity and the environment. This textbook serves as an introduction to the nascent field, which sits at an intersectionofdevelopmenteconomicsandengineering. The scope of the textbook is broad, ranging from mobile services for low- literacyusers,tohardwaresolutionsthatbringcleanwaterandelectricitytoremote environments. It is also highly interdisciplinary, drawing on methods and theory frompoliticalscienceandpsychologyaswellasengineeringandcomputerscience. The book’s diverse subject matter is woven together by a set of common challengesthatengineersandscientistsfaceindesigningtechnologiestoaccelerate the development of disadvantaged communities. These challenges include market failures (like high transport costs and financial exclusion) as well as institutional weaknesses (like poor regulatory capacity or corruption). These forces commonly prevent even promising technologies from improving welfare at any meaningful scale. The book also considers the behavioral and social constraints facing com- munities, including the heavy burden of stress and anxiety among those living in poverty.Howcanresearcherslearntodesignaroundtheseconstraints? Theopeningpartofthisbookoffersahistoryof“technology-for-development” and an overview of the channels through which technological innovations can influence economic development. This is followed by a practical framework for researchthathelpstransformavastmulti-disciplinaryfieldintoatractablepractice. This framework consists of four interlinked activities: innovation, iterative imple- mentation,evaluation,andadaptationforscale. The remainder of the textbook consists of six thematic parts, each focused on a different sector: energy and resources; agricultural markets; education and jobs; water, sanitation, and health; governance; and connectivity. Each part contains vii viii Preface multiple case studies describing landmark research that has influenced the field of developmentengineering.Thecasestudiesdemonstratethepracticalframeworkfor research,analyzetheresearchers’pivotsandfailures,andincorporatetheoriesand conceptsrelevanttoeachspecificsector. Thisbookhasprioritizedresearchthatdirectlyintegratesengineeringinnovation with technically rigorous methods from the social sciences, such as randomized evaluation. This is the essence of the new field of “development engineering,” whichconnectsinsightsfromdevelopmenteconomicsandrelateddisciplineswith engineeringinordertopromoteimpactatscale. The intended audience for this book includes students, faculty, and other researchers involved in the design, use, and evaluation of technologies that sus- tainably accelerate development. It is also written for development practitioners (e.g.,engineers,serviceproviders,andtechnocrats)whoworkinlow-andmiddle- incomecountries.Ourmotivationinwritingthisbookistohelpdefineadiscipline for those working on technology-for-development. For several decades, the field hasbeendominatedbypractice(e.g.,programslike“EngineerswithoutBorders”), emphasizing service learning in the absence of theory and empirical research. This text attempts to provide a coherent intellectual framework for addressing the challengesofpovertythroughthedesignandscalingofbettertechnologies. The book is inspired by the lessons learned from a multi-year, $30 million investmentindevelopmentengineeringbytheU.S.AgencyforInternationalDevel- opment. This investment, made through an award to the University of California, hassupportedmorethan100pilotandlarge-scaleresearchprojectsin30countries, allfocusedontechnologiesforlow-incomecommunities. We feel that the text is particularly timely given the increasing emphasis in universities(andinbusiness)onsocialinnovationandsocialentrepreneurship.New generationsofyoungscientistsandengineersareinterestedincareersthatadvance social welfare, tackle inequality, and directly address climate change. They are passionateaboutimprovinglivingconditionsforpeopleatthebaseoftheeconomic pyramid. However, there is a need for a rigorous discipline to help channel this energyandgrounditinanunderstandingofcomplexeconomic,political,andsocial systems.WeaimtofillthisgapwithAnIntroductiontoDevelopmentEngineering. Berkeley,CA,USA TeminaMadon Berkeley,CA,USA AshokJ.Gadgil Seattle,WA,USA RichardAnderson Zurich,Switzerland LorenzoCasaburi Nairobi,Kenya KennethLee Davis,CA,USA ArmanRezaee Acknowledgments The impetus for this textbook first emerged from a conversation with three dear colleagueswhohavehelpedforgethisnewfieldofdevelopmentengineering:Eric Brewer,EdwardMiguel,andCatherineWolfram.Weareindebtedtothesepioneers for their individual intellectual contributions, and for their help in disciplining a complexbutvitalareaofresearch. In truth, this book (and our field) has been shaped by decades of research published by a diverse set of colleagues across the world. Art Rosenfeld, Rob Socolow,andAmulya(A.K.N.)Reddyarethreeoutstandingresearcherswhohave impactedhowwedealwiththerealworld.AlaindeJanvry,RachelGlennerster,and ElisabethSadoulethaveshapedourthinking,inpragmaticways,abouthowmarkets andinstitutionsoperate.Manyothershavecontributedthroughtheirparticipationin the Development Impact Lab, including Gaetano Borriello, Silvia Hostetler, Craig McIntosh, Joyashree Roy, Evan Thomas, and Amos Winter as well as Engineer Bainomugisha,MichaelCallen,EdwardKirumira,andPaulNiehaus. Alongtheway,anumberofcolleaguesatUCBerkeleyhavecontributedtoour thinking.Wearegrateful,aboveall,toAnustubhAgnihotriforinsightsandresearch into the political and disruptive nature of technology; we are grateful also for his gracious and persistent management of the textbook’s drafting. We acknowledge valuable input from faculty and students across the campus, including Joshua Blumenstock,JenniferBussell,PrabalDutta,DanielFletcher,MeredithFowlie,Ken Goldberg,AngeliKirk,JeremyMagruder,KaraNelson,RobertOn,KwekuOpoku- Agyemang,MatthewPodolsky,andJavierRosa. We are particularly grateful to Maryanne McCormick, Shankar Sastry, and the teamattheBlumCenterforDevelopingEconomiesforspearheadingthisinitiative inpartnershipwiththeCenterforEffectiveGlobalAction.Wearealsoindebtedto past members of the Development Impact Lab staff, including Carson Christiano, GuillaumeKroll,HeatherLofthouse,Anh-ThiLe,SophiMartin,KevinMcCarthy, LinaNilsson,andSarahWhite,fordrivingthislearningodyssey. Thecontoursofthistextbookhavebeenprofoundlyshapedbyearlyinstructorsin developmentengineeringatBerkeley,includingAliceAgogino,PaulGertler,David Levine, Matthew Potts, and Jennifer Walske. We are also grateful to participants ix x Acknowledgments in the 2020 Development Engineering graduate courses at UC Berkeley and the University of Washington, for providing helpful insights and feedback on early versions of the text. In particular, we thank doctoral students Casey Finnerty and IsaFerrall,whohavedraftedthecompanioninstructorguideforthetextbook. This endeavor would not have been possible without the support of the U.S. AgencyforInternationalDevelopment,whichhassupportedanimpressivebodyof researchindevelopmentengineeringandhasenabledustopublishthetextbookas an open access title. Colleagues at the agency, including Ticora Jones, Tara Hill, and David Ferguson, have been valuable partners, supporters, and mentors. We would also like to acknowledge Berber Kremer, Amy Bilton, Susan Amrose, and the editorial board of the journal Development Engineering, which has advanced thefieldimmeasurablyoverthelast5years. Finally, much of the research described in this textbook has been supported by dedicated individuals at non-profit organizations like BRAC, Innovations for Poverty Action, the Abu Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, Evidence Action, and GiveDirectly. We are grateful for their meticulous, creative, and tireless work in the domain of economic development. We are also grateful to all of the research participants, individual contributors, chapter authors, and communities whose life experiencesarerepresentedinthisbook.Youreffortsarehelpingtoputinnovation toworkfortheresilienceofpeopleandplanet. Contents 1 IntroductiontoDevelopmentEngineering............................... 1 AnustubhAgnihotri,TeminaMadon,andAshokJ.Gadgil 2 TechnologyandDevelopment ............................................. 17 MennaBishop,RobinBurgess,andCélineZipfel 3 APracticalFrameworkforResearch .................................... 59 TeminaMadon,AnustubhAgnihotri,andAshokJ.Gadgil 4 Askingthe“Right”Questions............................................. 83 TeminaMadonandKentaroToyama Part I Expanding Access to Affordable and Reliable Energy, WhileMinimizingtheEnvironmentalImpacts KennethLee 5 ExpandingAccesstoElectricityinKenya ............................... 101 KennethLee 6 MeasuringGridReliabilityinGhana.................................... 129 Noah Klugman, Joshua Adkins, Susanna Berkouwer, Kwame Abrokwah, Matthew Podolsky, Pat Pannuto, CatherineWolfram,JayTaneja,andPrabalDutta 7 MonitoringIndustrialPollutioninIndia ................................ 161 AnantSudarshan Part II Market Performance: Technologies to Improve AgriculturalMarketPerformance LorenzoCasaburi 8 DigitalAgriculturalExtensionforDevelopment........................ 187 Raissa Fabregas, Tomoko Harigaya, Michael Kremer, andRavindraRamrattan xi
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