Sarafu Network Community Asset Vouchers, 2022-2023

Ruddick, William O. (2023). Sarafu Network Community Asset Vouchers, 2022-2023. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Service. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-856593

We describe a dataset of account information and transaction records for many digital community inclusion currencies aka community asset vouchers in Kenya as well as Cameroon and South Africa. One unit of each voucher is equivalent in value to a 10 Kenyan shillings of the issuers products. The Sarafu.Network system has existed since 2010 and began operating digitally via USSD feature-code cellular technology in 2017. This dataset includes pseudonymized account information for around 20,000 users and records of all voucher transactions conducted from 20/04/2022 to 04/07/2023. User transactions capture various economic and financial activities such as purchases, transfers, and participation in traditional rotational labor and savings and lending groups. So-called "chamas" are key to the operation of the Sarafu.Network system and clearly labeled in the data. This dataset will contribute to research on the operation of community inclusion currencies, monetary systems, and economic networks in underdeveloped areas.

Data description (abstract)

Data creators:

Creator Name	Affiliation	ORCID (as URL)
Ruddick William O.	Grassroots Economics Foundation	https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9798-2829

Sponsors:

Kenya Red Cross, OneProject, Interchain Foundation - Cosmos, Celo Foundation, GIZ, Danish Red Cross, Innovation Norway, Norweigian Red Cross, Mustard Seed Trust

Topic classification:

Social welfare policy and systems
Science and technology
Economics
Trade, industry and markets
Social stratification and groupings

Keywords:

MONEY, CURRENCIES, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, MOBILE PHONE SERVICES, COMMUNITY CURRENCY

Project title:

Community Asset Vouchers

Project dates:

From	To
20 April 2020	1 July 2023

Date published:

20 Jul 2023 11:26

Last modified:

20 Jul 2023 11:27

Coverage and Methodology

Access and Administration

Data sourcing, processing and preparation:

Information about account holders was extracted from the Grassroots Economics Foundation administrative database on 04/07/2023; this is the Users dataset. Also extracted were all voucher transactions conducted between 20/04/2020 and 1/07/2021; this is the Transactions dataset. During the routine administration of the Sarafu.Netowrk system new users are given an anonymous identifier. In creating their account, new users are given an option to express their age, gender, their topic of business, and their area of residence. These user-generated entries are standardized and aggregated by staff at Grassroots Economics. In post-processing, personal identifying information and idiosyncratic, user-generated fields were removed. A number of additional steps were taken to mitigate the risk of user re-identification and to technically validate the transaction data. To avoid sharing overly unique user characteristics, only broad geographic areas are reported. Counties with fewer than 100 Sarafu users are combined into broader localities and more detailed localities are reported only when they encompass more than 1000 users. The transaction records were validated against the final account balances obtained on 04/07/2023. The discrepancy in amount was within 1% of the total transacted. The transaction dataset references only the anonymous identifiers and thus contains no personal identifying information, on its own.

Rights owners: