Poverty, Water, Climate Change, & Health in Sub-Saharan Africa
Start Year: 2020 | End Year: Ongoing
As described below (see other project summaries), the Multidimensional Poverty Assessment Tool (MPAT) was created in two phases (from 2008 to 2014) via a collaborative, international initiative to develop, test, and pilot a new tool for local-level rural poverty assessment. The work was guided by a Sounding Board of experts from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), other United Nations agencies, international and regional organizations, and universities around the world (see www.ifad.org/mpat). Following MPAT’s finalization and institutionalization in 2014, it was used in multiple countries including many in Sub-Saharan Africa. We are currently working on multiple desk-based studies with a variety of collaborators to analyze data from ~7,000 households across Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Mali, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Because MPAT was developed based primarily on data from Bangladesh, China, India, and Mozambique, one study we are leading is an updated assessment and evaluation of MPAT’s indicator structure and robustness based on its use in the sub-Saharan region. Other studies we are working on focus on a cross-county analyses of MPAT’s water, climate change, and health focused components and sub-components, and related programs and interventions. We anticipate publishing a number of papers on this research in 2024.
Funding & Support
Bottled Water Safety & Use in Low- & Middle-Income Countries
Start Year: 2016 | End Year: 2021
In the course of our work studying drinking water access, contamination, and treatment in rural areas, we have observed relatively high rates of bottled water use. The reasons for increasing bottled water use in rural areas of low- and middle-income countries are varied, but available data indicates that some of the primary reasons are related to perceptions that bottled water is convenient and safer than available drinking water sources. Results from some of our research studies suggest, however, that bottled water may not always be safe. To better understand increasing use of and reliance on bottled water in LMICs we studied available market data which shows that more than half of the top-ten bottled water consuming countries globally are LMICs, and that bottled water use in LMICs is growing rapidly. With respect to global environmental health this trend is problematic in a number of respects, and, we argue, this increasing reliance on bottled water will likely hamper efforts to provide safe and affordable drinking water for all – one of the key objectives of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. As part of this work, we wish to better understand the nature and extent of bottled water contamination; however, there is relatively little publicly available data on bottled water quality, in LMICs or in high-income countries. To complement one of the only systematic review studies examining bottled water use and safety in LMICs, we conducted a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis of publicly available research studies on bottled water quality and associated health outcomes in China. After reviewing 7,000+ Chinese-language records, we extracted and analyzed data from 200+ eligible articles; we published our findings from this research in early 2022.
Funding & Support
Refinement & Finalization of the Multidimensional Poverty Assessment Tool (MPAT)
Start Year: 2010 | End Year: 2014
Following the release of the working-paper User’s Guide for the Multidimensional Poverty Assessment Tool (MPAT) in 2009, a number of agencies and universities used the beta-version of MPAT in a variety of settings. In order to finalize MPAT and develop a comprehensive User’s Guide and associated resources, we built on the lessons learned from early adopters of the the tool (e.g., an NGO in Kenya) and iteratively used and evaluated the tool with IFAD-supported projects in Bangladesh and Mozambique. Details on the participatory expert elicitation methods we used are provided in a Journal of Development Studies paper. We developed an Excel-based data entry platform so users could easily calculate MPAT’s indicators at household, village, and project levels. We also wrote a comprehensive, 300+ page, 2014 MPAT User’s Guide which provides step-by-step instructions for using MPAT as well as training modules and materials, all with the goal of making MPAT an accessible open-source tool. The User’s Guide and accompanying resources were presented at a 2014 launch event in Rome. Since its 2014 release, MPAT has been translated into a number of languages, an optional 11th component focused on climate change was added, and MPAT has been used by a variety of agencies and institutions around the world. MPAT publications and related resources are available at www.ifad.org/mpat.
Funding & Support
