Using Machine Learning To Improve Targeting Of Humanitarian Aid

As cell phones have grown increasingly prevalent worldwide, with a projected global penetration level of 73 percent in 2020, research on wealth forecasting from digital trail data has concentrated on mobile phone metadata (GSMA, 2017). Machine learning algorithms based on call detail records (CDR) have recently been proved to yield meaningful estimations of prosperity and well-being at a fine geographical resolution. Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence can be used to target poor populations effectively for humanitarian aid using digital indicators. The challenge of assessing who is qualified for humanitarian help and who is not is a key cause of problems in anti-poverty programme management. Typically, programmes target people based on administrative records like tax records or survey-based asset or consumption measurements.