The FedEx Award for Innovations in Disaster Preparedness Submission Form

Transcription

1 The FedEx Award for Innovations in Disaster Preparedness Submission Form I. Contact Information Organization: Mercy Corps II. Basic Information on Project Title of Project: Developing a Livestock Early Warning System (LEWS) Location: Mongolia Scale (choose one): Local/Community State/Provincial/Sub-national Regional International XX National Target Population(s): Government departments at aimag (province) and soum (district) level Local herders and agricultural businesses Academic institutions, organizations and projects of pasture management Number of Beneficiaries: 2,892,876 (2013 national population estimate) Partners: National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring; the Research Institute for Animal Health, the Mongolian State University, Texas AgriLife Research Center Funders/Donors: World Bank Total Funding: $899,080 Website:

2 III. Project Details 1. Intervention background and goals and objectives Mercy Corps LEWS project was intended to develop and institutionalize an early warning system for livestock risk that: 1) delivers accurate weather and forage information in real-time and forecasts across Mongolia and 2) strengthens local capacity to plan for and respond to these risk forecasts. Specific objectives included: Developing a forage monitoring system that provides near-real time spatial and temporal assessment of current and forecasted forage conditions for Mongolian livestock producers; Developing a nutritional monitoring system for sheep, goats, cattle, camels and horses that provides an assessment of the nutritional balance, changes in body conditions and optimal fodder interventions for Mongolian livestock producers; Creating 12 distinct types of maps to cover all 21 Mongolia aimags (provinces): o Current forage o Current forage deviation from long term average o 60 day forage forecasting o 60 day forage deviation from long term average o Vegetation greenness deviation from long term average o Annual rainfall surplus and deficit o 15 day CMORPH (global precipitation analyses) rainfall mm o Vegetation condition index o Total forage available percent difference from previous 15 days o Snow coverage and snow depth map covering o Night time temperature map, and o Day time maximum temperature Developing an appropriate information and communication infrastructure and analysis delivery system to provide herders and local/regional government officials with information on current and forecasted forage conditions and animal nutrition that will assist them to make timely and specific management decisions. 2. Please describe the project s key activities 1) Field work and analysis - The project team conducted 53 scientific field trips to Mongolia s 21 provinces, establishing 803 verified and calibrated monitoring points by establishing a transect to measure vegetation and soil conditions. The data collected was used as inputs into the Phytomass Growth Model (PHYGROW) model. Forage samples were collected and chemically analyzed for crude protein and fiber using the NIRS equipment. LEWS and RIAH developed one general equation standard for all samples collected and their crude protein and fiber parameters. GPS GIS technology was used to develop a Nutritive Value Map illustrating the spatial distribution of crude protein (CP) and crude fiber (CF) across Mongolia. An equation was developed and then mapped for horse fecal-diet pair using NIRS equipment and Grams AI software to predict crude protein in fecal samples. 2) Educating stakeholders - The project team trained 328 local officials from all provinces on LEWS maps and the possibilities for analyzing the data. Scientists in partner institutions were trained to input, calibrate, validate, and update the PHYGROW model and use NIRS technology

3 and develop equations. This training reached 121 herder alliances and thousands of herder households. 3) Information and dissemination - Once developed, the twelve types of maps were made accessible online, through print media, and on national television during peak viewing times. LEWS developed a new website ( to allow more flexibility in adding content and create interactive online mapping. 3. Please explain why the intervention is an innovation. Provide evidence in the following areas: Effectiveness/evidence of success: LEWS science was initially received with great skepticism from government scientists and specialists in our partner agencies. The variation in monitoring points was a nearly-endless source of contest. Even the difficult task of creating unique equations for NIRS analysis risked losing the support of key partners. In the end, however, each of these challenges were overcome by staying focused, educating partners and stakeholders alike, and working to show the direct and long-term benefits to improved livestock and pasture management. The unique collaboration between Mercy Corps, the government, and national and international research universities was critical to developing an accurate, useful, clear system. That this system was institutionalized by the Government of Mongolia is strong evidence of its usefulness. The project process itself increased the knowledge and capacity of all partners - but particularly the government - and demonstrated that staying committed to a participatory, consultative process, though time consuming, ultimately ensured ownership an sustainability. Sustainability: The wholesale institutionalization of LEWS, including the project team, into the formal structure of the Government of Mongolia ensures that LEWS science and products will continue well into the future. The institutional and financial commitment made by the government to sustain the LEWS science, the production of maps, and integrating the use of maps into key agencies, including the National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring, the National Emergency Management Agency, and the Climate Change Coordination Office ensures that LEWS maps and analysis will be used by an ever-expanding set of official institutions. Equitable gender outcomes: Mongolia s gender profile is different than most nations. In most of our programs, we struggle to bring a relevant number of men to programs and activities. Reaching equitable gender outcomes usually means attracting more men to be involved in programming. Because LEWS focused on a diverse set of stakeholders, Mercy Corps was able to bring men and women into the project scope at every level. For example, three of the four staff scientists were female, and in NAMEM, the ratio of female specialists was the same. Among local officials receiving training, 30% of those were female. Among herder alliances, because of the emphasis on households, the ratio was closer to 45% female; 55% male. Because of the unique way the project was implemented, a reasonable gender balance was achieved in each step. Efficiency/cost-effectiveness: Mongolia tends to react to disasters, rather than prepare for

4 them; this is a very inefficient costly approach. Harsh winters, called dzud, are among the most chronic disasters, yet there is little systematic anticipation and preparation for them. The LEWS forecasts and the focus on early warning represent a paradigm shift in how the Government of Mongolia intends to take in, analyze and use scientific data to improve preparedness. Through the newly-established Climate Change Coordination Office and other partners, Mercy Corps past and present programs consolidate preparedness responses to improve efficiency and reduce the cost of recovery for herders, their communities and the broader economy. Replicability/adaptability: The availability of maps and data for all 21 provinces was only realized in the last days of the project in March Yet by April, multi-agency discussions were already underway to explore how to integrate LEWS maps and science into emergency responses, as well as into livestock and pasture management systems. The diversity of LEWS mapping provides a broader platform from which the science and resulting data can be introduced to a breadth of stakeholders. The broader is the demand for LEWS products, the greater the likelihood that today s commitments from the government will extend for a longer period of time. Mercy Corps will support the bottom-up demand for LEWS products through a follow-on project that builds on the momentum of LEWS and pushes it forward via ICT solutions. Now that the LEWS science has been demonstrated in a sparsely populated nation with environmental extremes such as Mongolia, other nations facing livestock and pasture constraints can learn from and adapt LEWS findings into their own systems. Because it is a global agency, Mercy Corps country programs and technical units are already exploring the potential to adapt and replicate LEWS into other contexts, including sub-sahel Africa. 4. Challenges & Lessons Learned The project team faced three main categories of challenges in implementing the project; each generated its own specific lesson. 1)Harmonization of monitoring points. Mongolia s official monitoring sites differ from those of LEWS. Harmonizing the data points was a source of friction between project and NAMEM (National Emergency Management Agency) staff throughout the life of the project, with each camp initially taking an I m Right-You re Wrong tone. After the project team physically moved into the NAMEM building, more productive discussions unfolded once trust had been established. The conversation became more about the strengths and weaknesses of the two systems, through which consensus emerged. 2) Scientific rigor. On occasion, western standards for exacting detail in scientific efforts created some frustration among Mongolian program partners. There were different understandings of what was good enough. The LEWS team managed this challenge by working consistently with stakeholders to bring them to an understanding and appreciation of the value of defensible, tested methods and findings. 3) Sustainability. Delays in delivering the final collection of all 21 provinces maps risked the positive results of the entire project. Working with the donor, Mercy Corps invested some of its own private funds to support the project team until final maps were in hand, thereby ensuring that the project met its full promise. Following the production of maps for all 21 provinces, the

5 Government of Mongolia officially took the project team, its research methods and map production into its structure. Today, LEWS officially sits in NAMEM. 5. Have you held or do you plan to hold a consultative process with target groups in which you gather feedback? If yes, please explain. Feedback was collected in surveys, trainings, and official seminars, depending on which group of stakeholders were being consulted. During the project, feedback was used to adjust and improve information dissemination strategies, particularly in reaching the rural herder communities. In addition, Mercy Corps has received additional funding from another donor to further push out the LEWS science and technology deeply into rural areas. During that process, we will create an iterative feedback loop that connects herders with local officials and relevant national authorities to sustain a vibrant dialogue about and for LEWS. The Vice Minister of Environment and Green Development has invited Mercy Corps to partner with the newly created Climate Change Coordination Office. Through this process, Mercy Corps intends to nurture greater demand for and use of LEWS maps and analysis to promote greater sustainability and financial support from the State. 6. Please provide a testimonial from someone who has benefited from this intervention. Specialist Tsetsodoroltsoo from NAMEM (National Emergency Management Agency), once a critic of the LEWS approach, noted in an April 2013 multi-agency meeting that included officials from NAMEM and the World Bank that: The LEWS product has three advantages over our own system: 1) LEWS maps are based on ground-truthed data and satellite images and those two sources of data can be merged. Mongolian agencies can develop ground-truthed maps or satellite maps, but we do not have the ability to merge them; 2) LEWS pasture maps have a range of colors to show fine distinctions about environmental conditions. The NAMEM map has only three colors (red bad, green good, yellow mean); and 3) LEWS can show snow cover and snow depth. We cannot show snow depth. 7. If selected, how will your organization use the funds? Mercy Corps would use the FedEx award funds to leverage our follow-on project with the Ministry of Environment and Green Development to speed and amplify the reach of LEWS information across Mongolia via ICT solutions. With more than 95% mobile phone penetration, mobile applications are a viable, efficient means to generate two-way information exchange with widely distributed populations. The additional funding will enable Mercy Corps to develop a greater range of beta-version multi-platform software applications drawn from the 12 distinct maps, noted above, than the existing project budget allows. The additional funds would also enhance our ability to increase awareness of these software applications. Putting these maps and analytics into the hands of herders nationwide is the best way to democratize the LEWS science and approach. completed applications to: mappinginfo@interaction.org.