Will the data drive spurred by the Sustainable Development Goals be useful to inclusive business? Will data ... Business
THEME November 2017 Data for inclusive business The data revolution is here. But what does it mean for inclusive business? Will it bring an end to the uncertainty of business in base of pyramid markets? Can data straddle the development-business divide? Will the data drive spurred by the Sustainable Development Goals be useful to inclusive business? Will data gathered by business be shared and create impact? This month, we hear from development practitioners, data experts and businesses about these and other questions.
This month, we want to know how the data revolution affects inclusive business. Image: Pixabay
Data, data everywhere, but what does it mean for inclusive business? Our Editor in Chief Caroline Ashley introduces this series in her overview blog, outlining the key trends in access to data and its usability for businesses operating at the base of the pyramid (BoP).
Understanding the BoP market
In Kenya, BoP households account for 1 in 5 of every dollar spent, and almost a quarter of this is spent on food and beverage. The global BoP segment is set to shrink from 40% to 16% of households by 2030. In Nigeria, the BoP segment spends over 70% of income on food and beverage, and will account for almost a quarter of Nigerian households by 2030. These and other highlights on the shape and spending of BoP consumers are shared by Euromonitor International, based on their interrogation of multiple data sources, combined with modelling and forecasting.
170,000 or 700,000? Which figure best represents the population size of the slum Kibera in Nairobi? Without data, how can these households be understood in terms of their needs and market power? Endeva’s Christina Tewes-Gradl explores the huge potential of the data revolution to unleash investment at the BoP.
Businesses providing data solutions
Big data on smallholder farming is already emerging in high-value sectors. The potential across smallholders is huge, with possible gains for businesses and farmers alike. BoP expert Karen Smith outlines those gains and how a new business, Smallholdr, provides a new databased system for supply chain management and upgrading.
At Endeva’s Inclusive Innovation Factory ii2030, pioneers from the agriculture sector discussed how technology can provide solutions for precision agriculture. Building on the model of e-Kutir, Christina Tewes-Gradl presents innovative ideas on how smallholders can access data and business opportunites.
Wild fish catch from Lake Victoria has dropped significantly to half of what it was. A mobilebased survey confirms the slump. TTC explains this mobile tool, and how it has helped a public private partnership invest in aquaculture.
Through a mobile app Smallholdr uses big data for commercial and development returns.
TTC uses mobile phones to conduct surveys and get accurate consumer data from BoP markets.
Sector-specific data initiatives and partnerships
The Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data harnesses the data revolution for the Global Goals. Photo: Michael Padmanaba/CIFOR
Data and collaboration provide new opportunities for action and impact. This is as true for business as for others. Claire Melamed, leading Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, outlines the data revolution in development with examples of how companies are tuning in.
Data on food fortification saves lives argues the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN). Investing in food fortification has a return on investment of 30:1, saves lives, and prevents longterm sickness. Yet, under-investment prevails. Good data won't build political will overnight but is a step towards better planning and investment. GAIN’s Global Fortification Data Exchange (GFDx) was launched to do just that.
In Pakistan, water managers are using data from NASA gravity satellites to track groundwater resources. In Kenya, space observations and climate models are being used to update hazard maps to help counties better prepare for extreme weather events. An app is under development to enable farmers to access data they need from satellites, such as frost warnings. Ellen Stofan, former Chief Scientist of NASA, explains how huge reams of data from space are being tapped to help governments, business and citizens to manage resources in the face of climate change.
Lack of data about household energy use and poverty levels is holding back necessary investment and planning decisions in the renewable energy sector. Dimitrios Mentis and Sanjoy Sanyal share how geospatial information system (GIS) datasets and visualised maps are being used to close this gap.
Looking for useful data? These are our suggestions on open data sources, toolkits and an introduction on how to apply big data to help you dive into the data that is out there.
Open tools and data are critical to inform decision-making in the energy field. The World Resources Institute’s energy map on Tanzania is one of these tools.
Going beyond ‘just’ generating data
Mere access to data will not lead to a better world warns Andreas Pawelke from the World Wide Web Foundation. Too much data is accessible to only a few people. So instead of investing in everbigger data, investment is needed in new legal frameworks, local data capacities, and requirements to share data.
Making data collection less of a burden and more of an opportunity for its investees is a key objective of the Department for International Development (DFID) Impact Programme. Here, they share the first case study in their Deep Dive series that shows how gathering customer-centric data enabled a Ghanaian animal feed business to understand their value to BoP consumers and scale their business.
The Impact Programme came up with three easy principles that could unlock business and social value at the same time.
With the My World Survey 2015, the United Nations started an ambitious attempt to get data from 10 million people to define their priority actions. In an interview, Gayan Peiris, Digital Strategist of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Action Campaign stresses the importance of using global data sources wisely to identify the needs of local communities and showcase ‘real’ progress made. One way to achieve this goal is to find the ‘hidden stories’ in the data. Dr Consulta is a Brazilian business rapidly expanding its chain of clinics. The company is focussed on keeping costs low so that their prices are 20% of typical private competitors. So why are they investing time and effort in customer feedback, from daily SMS, to annual surveys, to ‘customer safaris' service testing? Product manager Jorge Tung tells us why they invest in customer feedback, how they do it efficiently, and how valuable it is to them.
My World Survey 2015 - the UN’ global survey for a better world
Dr Consulta offers high quality, low cost healthcare services in Brazil
Editor’s Choice This month, Caroline Ashley did not pick a typical publication as the Editor’s Choice, but a website that is all about data. Find out what it makes Our World in Data so special and unique that you should not miss it.
Source: Our World in Data
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