An application to change lives
World Food Programme expert Mai Alaraji explains why ‘digitalization is vital for longevity of the food-ration system’
A new mobile app in Iraq means families can easily access food entitlements from home, at the same time reducing the risk of contracting coronavirus.
Jointly pioneered by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Ministry of Trade, the Tamwini (“My food ration”) app furthers the digitalization of the Public Distribution System — Iraq’s biggest social protection programme.
Here, Business Transformation Officer Mai Alaraji talks to WFP colleague Sharon Rapose about the latest developments and the digitization process as a whole.
Sharon Rapose: Mai, Tamwini is such an exciting development for Iraq, for the Public Distribution System (PDS) and for WFP. Tell me how you ended up developing an app in a partnership between a humanitarian organization and the Government.
Mai Alaraji: So, it’s taken a whole team of us. For my part, my career with WFP began in a different field, but in some ways has come full circle. I’ve been with the Iraq office for five years, starting in procurement, monitoring and evaluation, and most recently I was the focal point for WFP’s system that keeps track of all our project data, COMET. But actually I did a Master’s in biomedical engineering before I came to WFP.
Funnily enough my studies linked with the work we did last year on introducing fingerprinting and iris scanning to the PDS, as forms of verification when people come to collect their food rations. Families found the iris scanning in particular very convenient and easy. The PDS is an almost-universal food-ration scheme: providing rice, oil, sugar and wheat flour to most families in Iraq, once a month. If you are Iraqi, earn less than one million dinar in a month and are resident in the country, you are eligible.
SR: And now the Tamwini app is helping families further.
MA: It’s been quite a journey. It’s two years since WFP started working with the Ministry of Trade on reforming the PDS: to enhance the programme to make sure the right food gets to the right people at the right time. Digitalization cuts out the literal mountains of paper that we’ve seen at the PDS offices. It saves people time: both the families waiting in long lines, and the PDS staff themselves! Imagine all the manual data entry time that is saved because systems are automated and run smoothly.
SR: Business transformation.
MA: Exactly. Digitalizing the food ration system — also bearing in mind its scale — is a large change-management project, one that is vital for longevity of the food-ration system in the 21st century. The PDS first started in 1991. We’re working with the government to do much more than bring the system online: it’s secure, encrypted, tailored to people’s needs. We ran extensive consultations with groups of citizens to find the right digital solutions and subsequently an app that is truly user-driven. Even now, we’re going to continue testing the app before widening to national coverage. The launch of the app trial took place in July in Baghdad, at the food agent’s office, then in Mosul.
SR: How do people access the app?
MA: The families in neighbourhoods served by this food agent are given special cards, like business cards, with a unique QR code to download the app. It is available on the Google Play Store, so after you scan the QR code, you are given unique access.
SR: Then it’s going to become available to everyone in Iraq?
MA: Steadily, yes. We have two more development rounds planned in the next two months, giving us a chance to improve, refine, address any potential unforeseen glitches. It’s all part of the process. This innovative, problem-solving aspect of our work is what I enjoy the most.
Supporting the Government to deliver a solution which is easy and intuitive — and unexpectedly, it also addresses a need to stay safe during the coronavirus pandemic. We never foresaw that when we first designed the app. We were just thinking: “how do we make people’s lives easier?,” “how do we make this system work better?”
SR: So, through the app, families can update their information to receive entitlements — and stay home.
MA: Staying home, as we’ve seen and learned, is the key to avoiding transmission. With Tamwini, people can avoid visiting PDS branches, and easily update their family information on the app. As time goes on, we also foresee a few other accompanying solutions via the app — such as being able to donate your food ration to those in greater need. But that’s later in the app development.
SR: What’s immediately next for Tamwini?
MA: We are rolling out the app countrywide. If all goes well and the situation is safe, we’re also planning a trial soon across all of Najaf governorate, where Tamwini can reach the some of the most vulnerable Iraqi families. In the longer term, Tamwini and the digitalization can make a real difference: gains in efficiency and in prioritizing people in most need.
SR: You’re a role model for young women in Iraq who are thinking about a career in technology and humanitarian work. Harnessing technology as a solution for the challenges being faced by the government and everyday citizens.
MA: And applying technology resulted in this application! But seriously, I would advise anyone thinking about working in this field to study hard, to have a real passion for digital innovation. Because it’s hard work creating something out of nothing — a solution doesn’t appear out of nowhere. It’s the result of months and months of research, dedication, consultation and development — and really caring about the social welfare of your neighbours and friends.
And we learn from every experience. My work in procurement taught me how to select the strongest private entities to work with, as we needed for the app development for this initiative. From subsequent roles, as well as my Master’s, I learned all over again the importance of impact, robust data — and how having good data gives you a sound basis for making informed decisions on your project. Perhaps most of all, to create change you have to have faith, the long-term vision of the eventual impact on people’s lives, and how introducing technology solutions can help humanitarian and development work.
With thanks to USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), for their continued support for innovation in social protection and capacity building by the World Food Programme in Iraq, including during the COVID-19 crisis.
