digital green annual report 2012

--- Human Innovation ---digitalGREENAnnuAl RepoRt

2012

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--- Human Innovation ---digitalGREEN

Progress

ImPact

our Work• partnerships

• Sustainability

• Scalability

• Quality Assurance

Lessons Learned

technoLogy

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ContentsPeoPLe• team

• uS Board Members

• India Board Members

Investors

Partners

FInancIaLs

connect

Annual Report 2012

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2,608

Videos Produced

2,242 Villages

reached

152,816Individuals

engaged

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Annual Report 2012

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2012 marked a watershed in the evolutionofDigitalGreen.Weextendedourworktonewgeographiesanddomains,developedinstitutionalarrangementstosupportourrapidgrowth,andestablishedpartnershipswithadiversesetofstakeholders.

Webuiltonourexperiencewithnon-governmentalorganizations(NGOs)toenterintoacollaborativerelationshipwiththeNationalRuralLivelihoodsMission(NRLM)inIndiatoextendourapproachin10,000villages,toreachover1millionfarmersinthestatesofAndhraPradeshandBihar.Wealsobeganpilotinitiativesinhealthandnutrition,andinpartsofEthiopiaandGhana.

Weinvestedinstrengtheningourhumanresources,financialandadministrativesystemstosupportourteamthatgrewthreetimes(from17to50)andannualbudgetincreasedfivefold(USD1milliontoUSD5million).

ProgressOuroperationshaveexpandedacross2,242villagesinIndia,EthiopiaandGhana.

Wecontinuetorefineandimproveourapproach,whichhasbeenfoundtobe10timesmoreeffective,perdollarspent,inmotivatingfarmerstotakeupimprovedsustainablefarmingpracticesthanclassicalextensionsystems.

Wehaveestablishedcross-cuttingdirectorates to capture and share learningsacrosstheteamonaspectsofprogrammanagement,training,qualityassurance,andresearchandlearning.OurregionalofficesinBangalore,Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, and patna provide support to our partner network,incoordinationwithourseniormanagementandtechnologyteaminNewDelhi.

across seven states in India,

72%of individuals

watching videos &

54% of individuals

adopting new practices are

women

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Ourapproachcontinuestoinspireconfidenceinitsabilitytoimpactthelivesofcommunityweserve.Whileittakestimetodeterminehowtheuptakeofimprovedpracticesresultsinbetteringthelivesofcommunities,wehave developed intermediate indicators thattrackourprogress.

Theseindicatorsincludethenumberoflocal intermediaries we train to produce and disseminate videos, and the numberofcommunitymembersthatattendthesescreeningsandthatadoptnewpractices.

ImpactOurdatacaptureandmanagementsystem, Connect online | Connect Offline(COCO),whichisdesignedforenvironmentswithlimitedandintermittentconnectivity,enablesustorecordnearrealtimedataontheseindicators.Wehavealsocarriedoutstudiestodeterminehowtheadoptionofpracticesresultsinincreasedproductivityinagriculturalinterventionsandbehaviorchangeinhealthprograms.

Arecentstudyconcludedthatfarmerswhoadoptednewpracticesrealizedanaveragegainof$243overaneightmonthperiod.Arigorousrandomizedcontroltrialtoassesstheimpactofourworkisunderway.

community members

trained in video production

271

community members

trained in video dissemination

1,771

adoptionsof new farm and health practices

219,827

Annual Report 2012

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33,102

146

26,175

63,900

3,073

7

296

86

8,820

75

4,277

4,981

9,455

49

4,621

7,143

18,968

201

18,850

35,070

23,739

32

7,346

3,562

25,298

71

17,814

21,930

Numberofhouseholdsengaged

Numberofvideosproduced

Numberofscreeningsconducted

Numberofnewpracticesadopted

Andhra Pradesh

BiharUttar PradeshMadhya Pradesh

Karnataka

Jharkhand

Odisha

“Conductingmeetingsusingvideoshelps us remember details and also increasesinterestandattendanceofcommunities.Womenarenowabletounderstandtheexactbreastfeedingpositionandcanalsoretainthatinformationbecausetheyhearandsee.”Kalavati,Accredited Social Health ActivistJeegonVillage,RaeBareillyDistrict,UttarPradesh,India

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“TheDigitalGreenapproachhelpedustocompletelybringaparadigmchangeinthecommunity.Becausepeopleareseeingtheirneighborsandrelativestalkingaboutandusingthetechnologyinthevideosfeaturingpeopletheyknow, they develop interest and trust in thetechnologies.”

Ethiopia

335

2

44

9

Teshale Fekdu Project Coordinator, InternationalDevelopmentEnterprises(iDE),Shashemene, ethiopia

Ghana

190

8

10

16

Annual Report 2012

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Wehavealsoestablishedknowledgesharingrelationshipswithresearchorganizations,likeInternationalRiceResearchInstitute(IRRI)andInternationalCropsResearchInstitutefortheSemi-AridTropics(ICRISAT)toprovidetargetedtechnicalsupporttoourextensionpartners.

WealsopartneredwithALINetodevelopanoverarchingstrategyforourresearchandlearningactivitiesforourprogrammaticworkacrossgeographiesandsectors.Wearealsoexploringwaystobetteralignourmonitoringsystemwiththatofourpartnerstoimproveefficiency.

Ourpartners’expertiseenrichedbyyearsofworkingatthegrassrootslevelhelpshapetheagriculturalandhealthpracticesandtechnologiesdisseminatedthroughournetwork.Wedevelopandprovidetechnologysolutionsthatcanbeincorporatedwithinthestructureofourpartnersto enable them to carry out their programsmoreeffectively.

Weworkcloselywithourpartnerstoensure that our approach incorporates linkagesatappropriatelevels:atthevillagelevel,withself-helpgroups;attheblocklevel,withserviceproviders;andatdistrictandnationallevels,withpartnerprogramsandgovernmentschemes.

our partnership development and trainingunitprovidesongoingcapacitybuildingandfieldsupporttopartners.

Our Work

PartnershIPs

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Wehaveembeddedourapproachinthe community networks with which weworktoensurelocalownership.the community produces videos on subjectsthatarerelevanttoitsneeds.Thesevideosfeaturelocalcommunitymembersasactors.Theythemselvesidentifyindividualsfromtheirvillagestoscreenthesevideostosmallgroups.

our partnerships are established by negotiatingcost-sharingagreementswitheachpartnerandthecommunitiesthatweworkwith.Theapproachisintegratedwithinthecontextofourpartners’existingextensionsysteminavarietyofways.Somepartnersuseourapproachtosupporttheirentireoperation,whileothersalignittocomplementtheirexistingextensionsystem.

OurregionalteamscontinuetoprovidetechnicalsupporttoexistingNGOpartners,documentlongtermlearnings,advancecontentandprocessquality,andensurethesustainabilityofprograminterventions.

sustaInaBILIty

Annual Report 2012

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WearebuildinguponourexistingbaseofoperationsinIndia.WeareworkingwiththeGovernmentofIndia’s nRlM to scale our approach to 10,000villagesinAndhraPradeshandBiharbyDecember2015.NRLMhasalsoexpressedinterestinsupportingactivitiesinothergeographiesinwhich we currently operate with other partnerssuchasPRADANandBAIF.Inaddition,wehaveleveragedoureffortsinIndiatocollaboratewithagenciesinotherpartsofSouthAsiaandSub-SaharanAfrica.

Thoughoureffortshavebeenfocusedonagriculture,thecontentproducedandsharedacrossourplatformincludes aspects across the value chain:fromcommunitymobilizationtofinancialliteracytoproductionimprovementtomarketlinkagestogovernmentschemes.Wehavealsobegunextendingourapproachintootheraspectsofruraldevelopment,includingpublichealthandnutrition.WehavebegunapilotwithPATHtouseourapproachtosupportaprogramon maternal and newborn health inUttarPradeshandwithUSAID’s

2012 has been a year of building upon our existing base of operations and forging new strategic partnerships in India, Ethiopia and Ghana.

StrengtheningPartnerships,ResultsandInnovationsinNutritionGlobally(SPRING)projectinOdishatointroducenutritionmessagingsuchashomesteadgardeningandhandwashing,aspartofourexistingagriculturalandlivelihoodworkwithVARRATincollaborationwithJohnSnowInc.,SavetheChildren,andInternationalFoodPolicyResearchInstitute(IFPRI).

WehavealsoinitiatedseveralpilotsinEthiopiaandGhanatotestourapproachindifferentgeographies.Inethiopia, we have started a project withInternationalDevelopmentEnterprises(iDE)toimprovelivelihoodopportunitiesoffarmersbypromotinglow-costirrigationtechnologiesandimprovedagriculturalpractices.WearealsocollaboratingwiththeMinistryofAgriculture,OxfamAmerica,andSasakawaAfricaAssociationtostrengthentheGovernmentofEthiopia’sextensionsystem.InGhana,wehavepartneredwiththeWorldCocoaFoundationtopromotepracticesrelatedtococoafarming.

scaLaBILIty

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Annual Report 2012

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Theagriculturalandhealthpracticesandtechnologiesexchangedacrossournetworkareshapedbyrigorousanalysesandtargetingofpracticesbasedonindividual-levelcommunityfeedbackandusagedata,soastoensurelong-termbenefitsforcommunitiesadoptingthem.

WehavealsosetupaTechnicalAdvisoryCommittee(TAC)comprisingimplementationagenciessuchastheBiharRuralLivelihoodsPromotionSociety(BRLPS)andresearchagenciesliketheInternationalLivestockResearchInstitute(ILRI),InternationalMaizeandWheatImprovementCenter(CIMMYT),andInternationalPlantNutritionInstitute(IPNI).

TheTACfacilitatesknowledgeexchangebetween extension partners and researchagencies,prioritizeslearningneedsofthetargetedcommunities,andvalidatescontentthroughscientificpeerreview.

Wehavedevelopedasetofstandardoperatingprocedures(SOPs)forour

approach,suchasmobilizingthecommunityandbuildingtheircapacityduringinitiation,topicidentification,videoproduction,disseminationandfeedbackanalysis.TheseSOPshave evolved based on our work with partners across contexts and geographies.

Wehavealsoputinplaceaninternalcontrol system which includes procedurestoperformreviewsandaudits.Videos,disseminations,andadoptionsareselected,observed,andverifiedatvillage,district,andregionallevelsbypartnersandourstaffbasedonthisqualityassuranceframework.Thefeedbackanddatageneratedthroughthesevisitsiscollatedandusedtoinformtrainingprogramsandmakecoursecorrections,asappropriate.

Ourmonitoringandevaluationsystemhelpstrackandanalyzeprogressandcapturelearningsandbestpracticesforfurtherreplication.

QuaLIty assurance

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Lessons Learned

context adaPtatIon Therichdiversityandcomplexityofourstakeholders,fromlargecentralizedorganizations,tosmalldecentralizedagenciesandsmallholderfarmingcommunities,hascontributedlearningsthathaveinformedouradaptability.Wehavesuccessfullycustomizedourapproachtofacilitatemeaningfuldialogueswithcommunities.Ourqualityassuranceprocesshasprovedvitalinidentifyingopportunitiesforsupplementaltrainingandseeinghowourapproachcanbebetteradaptedtosuitaspecificcommunity.

InFLuencer IdentIFIcatIon Weconductedapreliminarystudyofthehistoricaldataforthefarmersweworkwithtoidentifykeyinfluencersinacommunitybasedonwhetherfarmerssubsequentlyadopt(ordonotadopt)thepracticesthattheyseeovertime.Ourpreliminaryresultsidentifiedhighlyinfluentialindividualsandpatternsamongtheircharacteristicswhichwillhelpinformourapproach.Wehavefound,forinstance,thatthegenderofthemediatorplaysanimportantrole;farmersaremorelikelytoadoptapracticescreenedbyamediatoroftheirowngender.

Annual Report 2012

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vIdeo ProductIon and screenIng Wehaveexperimentedwithalternativetechnologyplatformsandfoundthatbecauseoftheirlowcost,easeofuseand durability, pocket video cameras to capture videos and pico projectors toscreenvideosareidealfortheenvironments in which our partners operate.

traInIng methodoLogy Wearecommittedtobuildingthecapacityofourcommunityvideoproducersandvillagefacilitators.Wehaveworkedwithexternalagencies,includingAgro-Insight,VideoMakerand one Media player per teacher, toimprovethecreativeandaestheticelementsofthevideoproductionprocess.WehavealsoengagedwiththeBodaGrouptoinstitutionalizetheircoachingapproachtostrengthenourteam’sabilitytounderstandmultiplepointsofviewandbuildlong-term,productiverelationships.

organIzatIonaL deveLoPmentWecontinuetofocusonenhancingstaffandorganizationaldevelopmentthroughinitiativessuchasorientationprograms,leadershipcoaching,andretreats,whichensurethatnewstaffaresensitizedtoboththeDigitalGreenapproachandthepartnersandcommunitiesthatweworkwith.Ourteamhastransitionedtoregionalofficestoallowforgreaterknowledgesharingandcohesionwithintheorganization,whilealsoprovidingthetypeoftrainingandsupportthatourpartnersneed.

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TechnologyOur suite of technological solutions has been upgraded for improved farmer feedback, robust data analytics, as well as to leverage new delivery platforms.

connect onLIne | connect oFFLIne, coco

COCOisanopen-sourceonline-and-offlinedatamanagementframework,designedforconnectivity-challengedandremoteareas.Ithasbeenimprovedtosimplifyandacceleratedataentry

andtransfer.AmobileversionofCOCOforlow-endphoneshasbeenpilotedinAndhraPradeshincollaborationwithDimagi,atechnologydevelopmentfirm.

Annual Report 2012

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Wonder vILLage apps.facebook.com/wondervillage

WonderVillage,asocialgameonFacebook,exploreshowourcoreworkinthefieldmightconnectwithotheraudienceswhocouldlearnandengagewiththeissuesofagricultureandruraldevelopment.WonderVillagehasalsobeenlinkedtoFarmerbooktobringtogetherexistingonlinesocialnetworkswiththeofflinenetworksoffarmingcommunitiesandpartners.

anaLytIcs dashBoard analytics.digitalgreen.org

OurAnalyticsdashboardprovidesaviewintothedatainvarioustime,geographyandpartnerdimensions.Thechartsandgraphshavenowbeenupgradedtoincreasethespeedofdataretrieval.

InteractIve voIce resPonse systemWeareworkingwithVodafoneFoundationtodevelopaservicethatautomaticallycallsthemobilephonesoffarmersviewingvideoswithapre-recordedmessagethatreinforcethecontentthattheyhaveseen.WearealsoleveragingVodafone’snetworkofruralstoresandmobilevanstoserveasadditionaldistributionpointsforourvideos.

vIdeo LIBrary videos.digitalgreen.org

our online video library hosts over 2,500 videos in 20languages.Inadditiontogeography,language,seasonalityofpractice,thevideoshavenowbeenclassifiedaccordingtosector(e.g.,agriculture,health),topicandsubject.

FarmerBook farmerbook.digitalgreen.org

FarmerbookplotsallthevillagesweworkinonGoogleMapsanddisplaysdetailedtimeline-basedactivitiesofindividualfarmersthereinonanopen-accessplatform.WehavepartneredwithMaduraMicrofinancetomapvillagesusingGPS-enabledphonestoprovideaccurategeographicalcontextwithinFarmerbook.

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Peopleteam

executIve LeadershIP team

the dIgItaL green FamILy

Rikin GandhiChiefExecutiveOfficer

Vinay KumarChiefOperatingOfficer

Neeta VinayChiefFinancialOfficer

Saureen ShahChiefTechnologyOfficer

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Soumen BiswasNationalMissionManager-NGOpartnerships, NationalRurallivelihoods Mission GovernmentofIndia

Srikant VasanPresident,MyCollegeFoundation

Melissa HoSenior policy Adviser,U.S.AgencyforInternationalDevelopment

Eric WalkerSenior Adviser, pAtH

Rajesh Veeraraghavan DoctoralCandidate,UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley

Kentaro ToyamaVisitingSeniorResearcher, UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley

Aishwarya RatanDirector,Yaleuniversity and InnovationsforPovertyAction

G.N.S ReddyManagingDirector,Akshayakalpa

Tejesh ShahDirector,ToposDevelopers

Board Membersu.s.

IndIa

Indrani MedhiResearcher, MicrosoftResearchIndia

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Investors

PartnersIn IndIa

agrIcuLture and LIveLIhood

heaLth

research & technoLogy

In aFrIca

Annual Report 2012

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FinancialsExpenses US Expenses India Expenses

travel 5,950 278,137

Consultants 38,125 68,034

personnel 156,780 647,772

Sub Contracts 279,924 117,050

Indirect expenses 61,578 352,811

Equipment 61,559 132,793

19%

9%13%

5%

37%

18%

Travel Consultants Personnel Sub Contracts IndirectExpenses

Equipment0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

800,000

900,000

284,087

106,159

804,552

396,974 414,389

194,352

2012 exPenses (amount In usd)

u.s.

$ 603, 916

IndIa

$ 1, 596, 596

IndIa and u.s. exPenses

totaL exPenses

totaL exPenses - Percentage

travelConsultantspersonnelSub ContractsIndirect expensesEquipment

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Connectour oFFIces

Digital Green D6andE6,ClarionCollection,the Qutab, ShaheedJeetSinghMarg,NewDelhi-110016,India +91-11-41881037

India Address (Registered) FlatNo.T4,4thFloor,#33RaceCourseRoad,Swiss Complex, Bangalore-560001,Karnataka, India +91-80-41527080

South India Office HouseNo.8-2-672\1\C\A\1,135Ave2,RoadNo13,NexttoTajBanjaraStaffEntrance,Banjara Hills, Hyderabad-500034,Andhra pradesh, India +91-40-66664958

Central India Office TH-27,AkashGanga,E-8,AreraColony,Bhopal-462039,Madhya pradesh, India +91-755-4078142

Eastern India Office-Odisha PlotNo-N3/18,Ranjita Apartment, FlatNo-401,IRCVillage,Bhubaneswar-751015odisha, India +91-674-6009800

Eastern India Office- Bihar 2ndfloor,46,A.N.Path,north Sri Krishna puri, BoringRoad,Patna-800013,Bihar, India +91-612-2571950

Madhya Pradesh Office

Digital Green Trust

Karnataka OfficeAndhra Pradesh Office

Odisha Office

Bihar Office

US Address (Registered) 2342ShattuckAve.,#151,Berkeley,CA94704,uSA

Digital Green Foundation

twitter.com/digitalgreenorg

facebook.com/digitalgreenorg

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digital green annual report 2012

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