Miscellaneous Knowledge Notes
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Publication
South Africa - Results-Based Financing and the Book Supply Chain: Motivating Writers and Publishers to Create Quality Storybooks
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-12)Literacy serves as an essential building block for learning, so when children master reading, they are more likely to succeed in school generally. To support the South African government’s campaign to improve literacy rates and foster a love of reading among children, room to read implemented an initiative that included results-based elements to increase the availability of affordable, quality storybooks in African languages. The project brought together public and private sector players in the book supply chain to develop new national standards on storybooks and translations, and helped to identify and build capacity of smaller publishers and writers to publish African-language storybooks. In doing so, the project demonstrated how results-based financing can be effective in the production and procurement stages of the book chain in South Africa. Results-based financing motivated and engaged publishers and writers to participate and stay engaged in the two-year project, which armed them with the skills and knowledge they need to continue to create and publish quality storybooks on their own. The success of the South Africa project underscores the potential of using innovative models such as pooled procurement, open licensing, and one day one book workshops along with results-based financing to increase the availability of quality children’s books in a cost-efficient manner. By strengthening the book chain, the project ultimately helped to foster children’s love of reading and helped them to become better learners. -
Publication
WASH for Human Development: Can Scaling Up Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene Interventions Help Children Grow in Tanzania?
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-09)In Tanzania, chronic undernutrition is at 35 percent among children under five. This makes the country home to the third highest population of children with chronic undernutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa, just after Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This brief provides an overview of the trends in undernutrition, as indicated by stunted growth, over time and by subgroups of gender, age in months, rurality, geography, and poverty. It also provides a geo-spatial stunting map which shows 1km x 1km pixel-level estimations of stunting rates. Using the UNICEF Synergies Approach (1990) and drawing on existing scientific literature, the brief then outlines the theory behind different pathways to chronic undernutrition through inadequate food, care, environment, and health services. Further econometric analysis has been conducted on the DHS 2016 data using Shapley decomposition, to identify the relative contributions of various determinants including water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) variables in determining stunting rates, and hence chronic undernutrition in the Tanzania. The relative contributions of other factors such as poverty, the child’s characteristics, mother’s characteristics and location are also highlighted. Finally, it provides operational and policy implications along the lines of multisectoral and nutrition-sensitive approaches for intervention design to reduce stunting in Tanzania. -
Publication
Health Impact and Effectiveness of Distribution Models for Plastic Latrine Slabs in Kenya
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-03)Lack of sanitation is a huge development challenge in Kenya, but also a potentially sizeable market opportunity. The World Bank and IFCs ‘Selling Sanitation’ project worked with large plastics manufacturing firms in Nairobi to design, test, and support market development and distribution of a range of plastic latrine slabs. The products were designed from the consumer’s perspective using the Human-Centered Design approach and priced well below the cost of the prevailing concrete slab. This research brief summarizes baseline findings and monitoring results from an impact evaluation of the plastic latrine slab, evaluating its health impact and the effectiveness of niche distribution and financing mechanisms for reaching base-of-the-pyramid households. Baseline findings show that children in the study area suffer from high rates of diarrhea and many are underweight, but worm infections are rare. The majority of households at baseline had unimproved pit latrines with either no slab (49%), or a mud slab, and overall sanitation and environmental hygiene conditions are poor. Feedback on the plastic slab from monitoring visits is overwhelmingly positive, with respondents citing ease of cleaning, safety for children, and prestige. However several barriers to adoption were noted. Most participants perceive the slab as unaffordable for the target beneficiaries, while a lack of adequate follow-up and marketing from sales agents, and limited availability of the product in remote, rural villages are major obstacles to generating demand for the slab. Additional public sector resources will be needed to further support the development of distribution channels and financing mechanisms to reduce the price for base-of-the-pyramid households and increase adoption of the slab among target beneficiaries. -
Publication
Ending AIDS in Johannesburg: An Analysis of the Status and Scale-Up Towards HIV Treatment and Prevention Targets
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-10)Johannesburg, one of South Africa’s metropolitan municipalities and one of the 52 health districts has more people living with HIV (PLHIV) than any other city worldwide at ~600,000. This brief provides the key results of a modeling analysis estimating what it would take in terms of programmatic targets and costs for Johannesburg to meet the Fast-Track targets and demonstrate the impact that this would have. The Optima HIV epidemic and resource allocation model was used, distinguishing 26 sub-populations and populated with the available demographic, epidemiological, behavioral, programmatic and financial data. The analysis demonstrated that Johannesburg has rapidly expanded HIV diagnosis and treatment between 2010 and 2015, reaching 267,236 PLHIV with the ART program in 2015. In 2015, an estimated 70 percent knew about their positive status, about 64 percent of diagnosed PLHIV accessed treatment, and about 54 percent of them were known to be virally suppressed. The analysis suggested that the health impact of successfully scaling-up HIV testing, treatment and ART adherence to the 2020 and 2030 Sustainable Development Goals target levels is very large in Johannesburg. The increase in PLHIV on treatment will result in reductions in new HIV infections (an estimated cumulative difference of ~327 thousand infections from 2016-30). It will also results in reductions in HIV-related deaths (a cumulative difference of ~104 thousand deaths from 2016-30). -
Publication
Strengthening Regional Collaboration and Integration
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-04)West Africa’s coastal area is critical to the region, home to a third of its people and the source of about half of its gross domestic product (GDP). Because most of it is composed of mangroves and sand formations, the area’s coastline is also highly vulnerable to erosion caused by coastal currents and storm surges. Erosion is evident from Mauritania to Gabon - and the rates of erosion are increasing. Around the port of Lome, for example, Togo’s coastline is estimated to have receded by as much as 12 to 15 meters a year. Regional integration will improve the sustainability of shared coastal waters, the protection of environmental services, and the livelihoods that rely on coastal ecosystems. Cooperation will also contribute to the development of regional principles or guidelines for coastal infrastructure investments. -
Publication
Improving Data and Information for Decision Making
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-03)Making evidence-based decisions regarding coastal environments, infrastructure, and natural resources and their interaction with people requires accurate data. Because of the nature of coastal phenomena and their impacts on livelihoods and the environment, integrated systems that collect and share data regionally and focus on coastal areas and marine conditions, land use, climate patterns, and natural hazards are needed. Monitoring coastal areas requires scientific input, public-private partnerships, and an interconnected effort among national and regional actors. A harmonized monitoring system will increase the visibility and efficiency of data and information systems, facilitate decision making, promote best regional coastal management practices, and increase the resilience of coastal environments. -
Publication
Reducing Marine and Coastal Pollution
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-03)The West African coastline is home to major industries, mining activities, peri-urban and agro-industry, and tourism, as well as urban and seaside residences, all of which generate waste and cause pollution. Many areas along the coast also lack adequate wastewater and solid waste management systems. As a result, large volumes of untreated wastewater and solid waste are dumped into the open, polluting the land and water. Water quality studies can help policy makers set targets and baselines and develop pollution reduction plans at the local, national, and regional levels. Such studies generally focus on pollution from sewage/wastewater, nutrients, and marine litter; they may also include other pollutants, such as oil (spills from ships and offshore oil exploration and production), chemicals, and heavy metals. Reducing the generation of plastic debris requires collect¬ing data on the origin, volumes, and types of plastic litter, so that appropriate measures can be taken to reduce the use of, reuse, or recycle plastic products. -
Publication
Protecting the Region’s Natural Resources
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-11)The West African coastal zone hosts critical natural resources and habitats that provide important ecosystem services. The area’s natural resources play vital roles in the functioning of the shoreline, providing natural protection against erosion, pollution, sea level rise, and extreme weather events. Coastal and marine ecosystems, including cold-water coral reefs, sea¬grass meadows, mangrove forests, and coastal wetlands and lagoons, also provide indispensable ecosystem services for the fisheries sector, as spawning and nursery areas for fish. The destruction and degradation of coastal natural resources has trans-boundary impacts. Joint efforts are therefore needed to develop win-win solutions. Regional collaboration and integrated decision making on the part of West African coastal countries is paramount if long-term, viable solutions are to be identified and implemented. -
Publication
The Effects of Climate Change on Coastal Erosion in West Africa
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-11)The effects of climate change, from changing precipitation patterns to rising seas, will exacerbate the coastal erosion already affecting West Africa, increasing the exposure and vulnerability of the people and assets located there. Given the importance of the coastal zone to the region as a whole, it is critical that policy makers consider the effects of future climate change in the decisions they make today. Regional cooperation is challenging, but it has been successful in many places, particularly where the issue addressed presented an existential challenge to the coun¬tries affected. Efforts to build trust and coordinate efforts will help policy makers protect the lives and livelihoods of the people in the region and allow their countries to build on the development gains made in recent years rather than see them rolled back as a result of climate change. -
Publication
Building Climate Resilience
(World Bank, Entebbe, 2015-05-01)Climate change is a critical issue facing the countries of the Nile basin. While individual weather events are difficult to attribute to climate change, their sum is already having adverse effects on socioeconomic conditions across the region. While climate change was not an overt focus of the Nile basin initiative’s (NBI’s) mandate when it was launched in 1999, it has emerged as a key challenge for countries of the Nile to take seriously. Understanding variability in river flows is one of the first steps in understanding climate change impacts and planning how to respond to them. Developing this understanding and getting it into use has been at the heart of the NBI’s technical work.