Tracking phones can help govts reach the poorest

Tracking mobile phone calls and texts to pinpoint and map out poverty in developing countries could provide aid agencies and governments with better data to help those most in need, researchers said on Tuesday. Mobile phone records offer more current and in-depth data than traditional poverty maps that are based on census and household surveys released after a time lag, said scientists at the University of Buffalo in the United States.

The greater the flow of information to and from a region, the less likely the area is to suffer from poverty, said the researchers, who are working with Senegal's government and telecom firm Sonatel to develop the model in the West African nation. "Mobile phones provide us with an unprecedented amount of information... but the lack of data in underdeveloped countries is a serious concern," said researcher Neeti Pokhriyal.

"It impedes development and disaster relief, as well as efforts to provide hundreds of millions of people with basic necessities of education, health and livelihood."

Using data of where calls and texts are made and received in Senegal, researchers broke down an existing poverty map, which divided the country into 14 regions, into 123 areas.

Researchers aim to expand on this map to focus on individual communities, and provide specific information on women, the elderly and other marginalised communities, Pokhriyal said. Senegal has one of the highest rates of mobile phone use in West Africa - there are 99 mobile subscriptions per 100 people - according to the latest figures from the World Bank.

Yet relying on mobile data alone may exclude certain groups like children who do not own phones and omit information on issues like malnutrition and child mortality - thus it should be used to build upon existing poverty maps, the researchers said.

Mobile phone records represent the most "cutting-edge" approach for governments to learn more about those most in need, said Elizabeth Stuart, research fellow at the Overseas Development Institute thinktank in London.

"Census and household surveys have really big gaps in them and don't cover the poorest and most marginalised populations - the very people governments are committed to reaching with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)," she said.

The UN adopted in September the set of 15-year objectives, addressing issues from poverty to climate change, which include a drive for better data in developing countries.