Table Of ContentTemina 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
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ForAditi,Arya,andSoma(T.M.)
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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
