In 2022, Field of Hope partnered with another nonprofit, Her Mighty Hands, to provide video-based extension services for women smallholder farmers. This year, Her Mighty Hands had their third growing season deploying 30 phones to women farmers groups. Essentially, my job is to evaluate this program and the effectiveness of video-based agricultural extension on a variety of variables. This fellowship allowed me to be in Uganda for three months to work with Field of Hope on other efforts and conduct this data collection. Conducting research in an international environment comes with numerous learning opportunities, yet communicating international development programs and my research has always been a challenge for me. This blog is an attempt to consolidate reflections on my education and experiences into three important considerations for those interested in international development or international research:
- Good intentions are not enough. Development work and development research are complex and there is no one size fits all approach. When conducting research with human populations, the Institutional Review Board, must approve the entire research process to ensure it is culturally appropriate and ethical. After a year of prior desk research, this process took over eight months to complete to have two IRB applications approved. This process of ethical research takes time and goes beyond promising good intentions. The topic of good intentions also applies to the programs themselves. Good intentions in international development programs can still have harmful, unintended consequences. A good example of this is the well-known story of the play pump (see resource below).
- Language is incredibly important. The threat of a single-story narrative about a person or country can be damaging in a variety of ways. What I write and what I say should represent how my participants would write and say their own stories. This also includes understanding and using appropriate terminology, such as using avoiding “third world” when referring to low-income and lower-middle income countries.
- Continue to be vulnerable and question. I have learned through my mistakes and through being pro-active in informing myself to avoid mistakes. As I finish my education and move into my career, I continue to challenge myself to question the intentions of international development and the undeniable power dynamics at play. Therefore, I also challenge you to join me in being pro-active in learning and being open to feedback to ultimately be better global citizens.
Finding resources that challenge our worldview is a great start to help us grow. I used a variety of resources and experiences to shape these three considerations. I encourage you to read, listen, and watch the available resources listed below to craft your own considerations. These resources and blog do not reflect the views and opinions of Field of Hope and Her Mighty Hands.
State of the Planet: The PlayPump: What Went Wrong?
NPR: Memo to People of Earth: ‘Third World’ is an Offensive Term
TED Talk: The Danger of a Single Story
Tiny Sparks Podcast: On a Mission to Make White People Uncomfortable
Tiny Sparks Podcast: What Can We Do about the White Savior Complex?
NGO Story Telling: Informed Consent and Ethics in Nonprofit Storytelling
EDI Global: Navigating Ethics of Field Research in International Development
Meikah Dado, Fellow ’24
