A Foggy Desert

A FOGGY DESERT: EQUITABLE INFORMATION FLOW FOR A FOGWATER SYSTEM IN SOUTHWEST MOROCCO by LESLIE LYNN DODSON B.A. P SYCHOLOGY , L AKE FOREST COLLEGE , 1982 M.S. J OURNALISM , N ORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY , 1986 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado Boulder in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy College of Engineering and Applied Science ATLAS Institute 2014 This thesis entitled: A Foggy Desert: Equitable Information Flow for a Fogwater System in Southwest Morocco Written by Leslie Lynn Dodson has been approved for the ATLAS Institute ______________________________________ John K. Bennett, Ph.D. (Chair) ______________________________________ S. Revi Sterling, Ph.D. (Co-Chair) Date __________________ The final copy of this thesis has been examined by the signatories, and we find that both the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards of scholarly work in the above mentioned discipline. IRB protocol # 12-0664 ii ABSTRACT Leslie Lynn Dodson (Ph.D., Technology, Media, and Society; ATLAS Institute) A Foggy Desert: Equitable Information Flow for a Fogwater System in Southwest Morocco Directed by Professor John K. Bennett and Sarah Revi Sterling This dissertation describes the design, implementation and evaluation of a gender- inclusive information system linking rural women in Agni Hiya, Morocco and water project managers from the Association Dar Si-Hmad. This research was motivated by an interest in exploring the linkages between information and communication technologies (ICT), climate change, natural resource management and women’s participation in community development in the drought-ridden Aït Baamrane region of southwest Morocco. The research investigates the potential for mobile phones to help address communication constraints that rural Berber women face, including culture, religion, and lack of digital literacy. These issues are relevant to the study and design of a gender- inclusive information system (the “Fog Phone”) intended to help manage a fogwater distribution system that will deliver water from the Anti-Atlas Mountains to Berber villages. The research investigates two similar groups of low-literate, marginalized rural Berber women from the same geographic community who have mobile phones. Technology-focused ethnographic research methods were used to first investigate the social, cultural and technical factors involved in mobile phone use by women employed in an Argan oil Cooperative. Findings from the Argan oil Cooperative study were then applied and expanded in a study of Berber women involved in the operation of the iii fogwater system. By virtue of their responsibilities as principal water gatherers and water users in the community, Berber women are key stakeholders in the fogwater system. Their continued involvement in water management was extended to the participatory design and development of the prototype Fog Phone. Cultural conditions restricting communication between unrelated men and women led to an information system design that supported cultural, social, economic and technical constraints. The Fog Phone enabled women to report on the water system using a series of symbols that communicate water system status without violating cultural norms. In addition to an exploration of the relationship between gender and technology, this research explores related themes of climate change and environmental vulnerability as they pertain to women’s lives and livelihoods, as well as the ability of rural Berber women to manage the environmental assets on which their livelihoods depend. The contributions of this research include a prototype information system for the fogwater project; a better understanding of the mobile phone utility gap and its impact on the use of ICT by marginalized women in polyglot and oral-language dependent communities; and advances in the emerging practice of ICTs, Climate Change and Development (ICCD) by providing a case study of the linkages between mobile phones, water resources that are affected by climate change and women in rural communities involved in an environmentally sustainable development project in the Middle East and North Africa – a region that is largely missing from ICCD and overall ICT for Development research. iv DEDICATION For my mother Patricia Ungaro Dodson and the women of Agni Hiya and the Tafyoucht Argan oil Cooperative ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I gratefully acknowledge my committee members John K. Bennett, Sarah Revi Sterling, Francy Milner, Jennifer Bair, Jonathan Donner and Jamila Bargach who helped guide this research. I value their friendship and intellectual companionship. I am also grateful to the ATLAS Institute, the American Institute for Maghrib Studies (AIMS) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) for their generous support. MS-ICTD students Hawra Rabaan, Aaron Vimont, Leland Smith and Alexis Wagnon provided invaluable assistance. On a personal note, Jamila Bargach and Aissa Derhem from Association Dar Si-Hmad not only provided me with access to communities in southwest Morocco, they also generously welcomed me into their home where we shared insights and exceptional food. I could not have accomplished this research without their help and the help of Dar Si-Hmad colleagues including Marouane Smaili, Fatima Matousse, Renda Nazal, Hafsa Oubou, Rkia Mouna Toudrt and Laila Quessadi. Furthermore, I was always in good hands with translators and friends Abdkebir Najib and Omar Yasine who spent countless hours with me at the Tafyoucht Argan oil Cooperative and in communities around Mt. Boutmezguida. I am indebted to them for their good company and patience as we traversed cultures and customs. I am also indebted to my sister Lindsey Dodson who applied her sharp eye and green pen to these pages. This dissertation would not have been possible without her encouragement and unwavering attention to detail. My ATLAS friends Meg Ambrose, Heather Underwood, Jo White and Jo Kilde provided unwavering friendship. My sincerest thanks go to Daniel Glick who stunned me with his steadfast love and support. We are both looking forward to a life beyond the fluffy red bathrobe. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Research Progression 4 1.2 Research Questions 5 1.3 Contributions 6 1.4 Chapter Overview 7 Chapter 2 CULTURE, COMMUNITY, LANGUAGE AND SITE SELECTION 13 2.1 Development Indices 14 2.2 Berbers in Southwest Morocco 14 2.3 Marginalization of Rural Berber Women 15 2.4 Migration out of Berber Villages 17 2.5 Language Complexities 20 2.5.1 Spoken Dialects 23 2.5.2 Official Languages 23 2.5.3 Alphabets 25 2.5.4 Numbering Systems 26 2.5.5 Code-switching 24 2.6 ICT Use in North Africa and Rural Berber Communities 27 2.7 Site Selection #1: Exploratory Research 29 2.7.1 Association Dar Si-Hmad 30 2.8 Research Progression 31 2.9 Site Selection #2: Primary Research 34 2.9.1 The Fog Harvesting System 35 vii Chapter 3 RELATED WORK 38 3.1 Relevant Perspectives on the Environment and Development 38 3.1.1 Poverty and the Environment 38 3.1.2 Sustainable Development 39 3.1.3 Critiques of Sustainable Development 42 3.1.4 Water Scarcity in MENA 43 3.1.5 Desertification in Morocco 44 3.1.6 Integrated Water Resource Management 45 3.2 Information and Communication Technology for Development 47 3.2.1 ICTD and Water 49 3.2.2 Improving Information Flow 53 3.2.3 Ambiguity and Failure in ICTD 55 3.2.4 Effective Use of ICT 57 3.2.5 Mobiles for Development 59 3.3 Human-Computer Interaction for Development 65 3.3.1 HCID Design Approaches 67 3.3.2 HCID and Literacy 68 Chapter 4 THEORIES AND MODELS 70 4.1 The ICTs, Climate Change and Development Model 71 4.2 Theories of Gender and Development 76 4.2.1 Gender and Development Theory 76 4.2.2 Women in Development Theory 82 4.2.3 Gender, Environment and Development Theory 83 viii 4.2.4 GED and Water 87 4.2.5 Other Theories Relation to Women and the Environment 88 Chapter 5 METHODS 90 5.1 Ethnographic Action Research 90 5.1.1 Participant-Observation 93 5.1.2 Communicative Ecologies 94 5.1.3 Social Mapping 95 5.1.4 Focus Groups 95 5.1.5 Public Presentations of Research 96 5.1.6 Technology Inventory 96 5.2 User-Centered and Contextual Design 96 5.3 Sustainable Livelihoods Framework 100 5.3.1 Definitions 103 5.4 Stakeholder Analysis 106 5.5 Complimentary Methods and Models to Inform the ICCD Model 107 5.6 Summary of Methods 108 5.7 Research Instruments 109 5.7.1 ICT Interviews 109 5.7.2 Water Use Interviews with Stakeholders 111 5.7.3 Coding and Data Retention 113 5.7.4 Secondary Data 114 Chapter 6 EXPLORATORY RESEARCH 115 6.1 Observations from the Exploratory Research 116 ix 6.1.1 Types of Phones 116 6.1.2 Cost of Ownership 117 6.1.3 Limited Use 117 6.1.4 Importance of Proximate Literates 119 6.2 Mobile Literacy Workshops 120 6.3 Contributions of Exploratory Research to Primary Research 124 Chapter 7 COMMUNITY ANALYSIS 126 7.1 Application of the Sustainable Livelihood Framework 126 7.1.1 The Vulnerability Context 126 7.1.2 Capitals and Assets 130 7.1.3 External Structures 141 7.1.4 Livelihood Actions 144 7.1.5 Livelihood Outcomes 145 7.1.6 Transformations 146 7.2 Application of the Stakeholder Analysis 147 7.2.1 Stakeholder: Female Water Users 147 7.2.2 Stakeholder: Male Water Manager 149 7.2.3 Stakeholder: Dar Si-Hmad 150 7.2.4 Stakeholders: Male Community Members 152 7.2.5 Stakeholders: Telecommunications Authority 153 7.2.6 Stakeholder Analysis for the Fogwater Project 153 7.3 Applying the 8 Tools of Gender and Development 155 7.4 Applying a Gender,

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