Quantities and qualities of fecal sludge: Experiences from field implementation with a Volaser in 7 countries during a pandemic

Reasonable estimates for quantities and qualities (Q&Q) of fecal sludge that accumulate in onsite sanitation containments are fundamental for the design of appropriate management and treatment solutions, from community to city-scale. There are increasing attempts to improve Q&Q estimates, but current approaches are still at a conceptual level, and are not yet standardized with confirmed statistical relationships. To reach this level, we will need consistent approaches for planning, measuring, and global collaborations. Hence, the objectives of this study were: (1) to assess and compare Q&Q of fecal sludge from seven cities and communities, and explore statistical relationships that could be used to increase accuracy of Q&Q estimations;(2) to test and launch the Volaser device for measuring in situ volumes of fecal sludge;and (3) to capture lessons learned from field implementation with collaborators in seven countries during a global pandemic when no international travel was possible. The study took place in Ghana, India, Lebanon, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Zambia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Q&Qs were measured in 204 containments with a Volaser, laboratory analysis, and questionnaire. Results indicate that there are differences in Total Solids (TS) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) in fecal sludge based on containment type, toilet type, source, and whether there is a water connection on the premises. Based on the results of this study, together with previously published open-source data, an empirical relationship for Volatile Solids (VS) and TS of 0.49 (R2 = 0.88) was established using 1,206 data points. For COD/TS, no significant relationship was observed. Developing such empirical relationships will be useful for planning and modeling approaches. An external evaluation was conducted to evaluate overall project management, Volaser technology transfer, and effects of collaborating during the COVID-19 pandemic. Success factors for collaborating with new and existing partners without face-to-face meetings included laboratory capacity and experience with analytical methods, study objectives that were relevant for the partner and locality, and a strong quality assurance plan to ensure comparability of results. The lessons learned can be taken forward as ways to reduce carbon footprint, and contribute to resilient, inclusive development research projects. Copyright © 2023 Andriessen, Appiah-Effah, Browne, al Jahjah, Kabika, Kinobe, Korir, Nishimwe, Niwagaba, Pradeep, Prasad, Tembo, William, Ambuehl and Strande.

Aid and Influence: Patronage, Power and Politics: Second edition

This book turns the argument about aid effectiveness on its head. Since development assistance is inherently self-interested, a source of soft power, political manipulation and commercial opportunity, its real effectiveness could arguably be judged by the strength of donor influence and not by development impact. Its subjective nature means that its impact on development is often weak, mainly short-term and confined to limited and specific contexts. Aid as influence was prevalent during the Cold War era. The connection is equally strong in this century’s newly bipolar world in which the contest is between western donors led by the United States, and China which is spending hundreds of billions of dollars on infrastructure as a means of influence in the global South. Influence permeates both bilateral and multilateral aid and in parallel with official aid, the rise of global philanthropy has seen it taken up by some of today’s billionaires. The response by donors to the growing havoc caused by the three Cs - conflict, climate change and COVID-19 - confirms the main findings of the book, which concludes by outlining what aid without influence would look like. This book draws on the author’s 40 years of experience of the aid industry and will be essential reading for development students, practitioners and policy makers alike. © 2022 Stephen Browne.

Big Data Collection in Vulnerable Populations: Application to Real World Clinical and Public Health Settings

Introduction: Obesity is a major public health problem worldwide and the prevalence of childhood obesity is of particular concern. Effective interventions for preventing and treating childhood obesity aim to change behaviour and exposures at the individual, community, and societal levels. However, monitoring and evaluating such changes is challenging. Development in the fields of behaviour change science, public health, clinical paediatrics, technology, citizen science and Big Data analytics can be harnessed to implement multidisciplinary research addressing the prevention and treatment of child and adolescent obesity at a population level. The H2020 project “BigO: Big Data Against Childhood Obesity” (http://bigoprogram.eu) is one example of such research efforts. Following the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the BigO research team in Ireland adapted study procedures to ensure collection of Big Data could continue with modified procedures. Aim: To present the approach used for BigO data collection in Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic and to explore changes in data collection over time. Methods: Step 1 reviewed and sought approval for ethical and regulatory procedures relevant to the collection, monitoring, and storage of personal data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic in children from the general population and those attending a multidisciplinary clinical service for severe obesity. Step 2 explored recruitment strategies and the informed consent and assent process. Step 3 explored the collection of anonymized data including: photographs of meals, beverages and advertisements, physical activity metrics, and masked GPS data using geo-hash representing geographical area rather than detailed coordinates. Following aggregation, analysis, and visualization of collected data descriptive statistics were used to explore patterns of behaviour in the population over time in order to better understand whether the system could be used to monitor behaviours through a period of significant societal change. Results: New ethical approval was granted for the updated methods. From 88 secondary schools approached to participate in the study, five agreed to commence an online consent process with parents and students. In the school setting, 700 children were eligible for study inclusion and 178 consented to participate, respectively. For the clinical study, images of outdoor advertisements collected from participants in Ireland changed during lock-down periods as children had less access to outdoor space and use of study smartwatches was discontinued to adhere to local infection control policies. Please see Table 1 for further details on results of the clinical study. Conclusions: Real-time collection of Big Data was possible through a period of societal upheaval though the expected volume of data was reduced. Such data may prove an important tool for monitoring interventions at the level of the individual child or at the population level for this vulnerable group.