I would not at all be surprised if lead elimination interventions (and lead in spices in particular) are better than GiveWell top charities. But the #1 concern I have is with tractability. Developing countries have lots of regulations on the books that are unenforced because of state capacity constraints. The most likely failure mode for a lead elimination intervention is that it fails to make governments actually enforce laws.
This looks like an exceptionally effective advocacy campaign where government regulators were convinced to spend a lot of time and money to enforce laws. I think the best thing Pure Earth could do is open up the black box of how exactly that happened.
How did the Bangladesh government react when you approached them?
How was the crackdown implemented? How much personnel did it require?
How organized was this practice? Organized vendors adulterating spices could fight against regulators more effectively than disorganized vendors.
I would not at all be surprised if lead elimination interventions (and lead in spices in particular) are better than GiveWell top charities. But the #1 concern I have is with tractability. Developing countries have lots of regulations on the books that are unenforced because of state capacity constraints. The most likely failure mode for a lead elimination intervention is that it fails to make governments actually enforce laws.
This looks like an exceptionally effective advocacy campaign where government regulators were convinced to spend a lot of time and money to enforce laws. I think the best thing Pure Earth could do is open up the black box of how exactly that happened.
How did the Bangladesh government react when you approached them?
How was the crackdown implemented? How much personnel did it require?
How organized was this practice? Organized vendors adulterating spices could fight against regulators more effectively than disorganized vendors.
What implementation support did you provide?