Benefits and Challenges of Making Data More Agile: A Review of Recent Key Approaches in Agriculture

Elena Serfilippi (), Daniele Giovannucci, David Ameyaw, Ankur Bansal, Thomas Asafua Nketsia Wobill, Roberta Blankson and Rashi Mishra
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Elena Serfilippi: The Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA), Philadelphia, PA 19147, USA
Daniele Giovannucci: The Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA), Philadelphia, PA 19147, USA
David Ameyaw: International Center for Evaluation and Development, Sakumono JWCP+XJ7, Ghana
Ankur Bansal: GDi Partners (GDi), New Delhi 110065, India
Thomas Asafua Nketsia Wobill: International Center for Evaluation and Development, Sakumono JWCP+XJ7, Ghana
Roberta Blankson: International Center for Evaluation and Development, Sakumono JWCP+XJ7, Ghana
Rashi Mishra: GDi Partners (GDi), New Delhi 110065, India

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 24, 1-18

Abstract: Having reliable and timely or ongoing field data from development projects or supply chains is a perennial challenge for decision makers. This is especially true for those operating in rural areas where traditional data gathering and analysis approaches are costly and difficult to operate while typically requiring so much time that their findings are useful mostly as learning after the fact. A series of innovations that we refer to as Agile Data are opening new frontiers of timeliness, cost, and accuracy. They are leveraging a range of technological advances to do so. This paper explores the differences between traditional and agile approaches and offers insights into costs and benefits by drawing on recent field research in agriculture conducted by diverse institutions such as the World Bank (WB), World Food Program (WFP), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA). The evidence collected in this paper about agile approaches—including those relying on internet and mobile-based data collection—contributes to define a contemporary dimension of data and analytics that can contribute to more optimal decision-making. Providing a theoretical, applied, and empirical foundation for the collection and use of Agile Data can offer a means to improve the management of development initiatives and deliver new value, as participants or beneficiaries are better informed and can better respond to a fast-changing world.

Keywords: data innovation; data quality; household surveys (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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