John Coonrod is the Executive Vice President of The Hunger Project — a non-profit organization that helps give poor people the means to lift themselves out of poverty. As part of this organization’s leadership, John Coonrod empowers poor people to lift themselves out of poverty by placing special emphasis on female farmers, who are among the poorest people in the world.
Origins
Coonrod has been advocating for social justice for a very long time. While he was training as a physicist at Stanford and the University of California-Berkeley, he was an active member of local civil rights and anti-war movements. When The Hunger Project was first founded in March of 1977, John Coonrod was its first volunteer and he continued to volunteer while he worked at Princeton University from 1978 to 1984.
In 1985, he became an official member of The Hunger Project’s staff. In addition to meeting his future wife while working at The Hunger Project, Coonrod used — and still uses — his expertise to help poor people in developing countries. To this day, John Coonrod empowers poor people to lift themselves out of poverty.
The Hunger Project
The Hunger Project is a non-profit organization that seeks to end poverty and world hunger by pioneering grassroots movements. While it believes that everyone should be free of poverty and hunger, they place a special focus on women and gender equality. The reason for this is that women are typically in charge of meeting a family’s needs, but are often denied the means and resources to do so by their society.
The Hunger Project currently works with organizations in 11 countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Senegal, Uganda, Bangladesh, India and Mexico. Between these countries, they have helped more than 85 organizations start 2,900 projects. In addition, they have chapters and investors in Australia, the U.S., Canada, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Peru, Switzerland and the U.K.
In all of the countries where they work, The Hunger Project seeks to empower women, mobilize communities and engage local governments. In India, for example, their main focus is on helping women get elected into local governments. The organization has done this in nearly 2,000 panchayants (clusters of villages) across 6 states, and the women they have helped now lead 9 million people.
In Africa, The Hunger Project helps turn clusters of villages into epicenters where up to 15,000 people can band together to help their communities thrive. These epicenters, in turn, create their own development programs, which reach more than 1.6 million people across the continent. In Bangladesh, local volunteers, especially women and children, are mobilized to reach 185 sustainable development goals in their communities, reaching 5 million people. Finally, in Mexico, community development focuses on indigenous women and children, helping to improve childhood and maternal nutrition; this admirable work reaches 21,000 people.
Partners A-Plenty
The Hunger Project has numerous partners in the countries where they work. One of these partners is Rotary International, a global organization in which 1.2 million people work in sustainable projects to improve life in general across the globe. This includes fighting diseases, providing water, supporting educations, saving mothers and children, growing local economies and promoting peace. The Hunger Project mainly works with Rotary International in Ethiopia, where Rotary International uses vocational training to teach doctors how to resuscitate newborns.
In India, SKL International is a major partner of The Hunger Project. SKL International is a Swedish organization that uses the model of Sweden’s extensive local governments as a baseline to help developing countries achieve democracy. Like The Hunger Project, SKL International’s main goal in India is getting local women elected.
In Mexico, The Hunger Project works with Water For Humans — a non-profit organization that uses sustainable technology to bring clean water to those who need it, especially in Mexico. The organization is currently working on helping indigenous people build eco-cookstoves which require less wood than traditional stoves, need only one fire to work in multiple burners at once, and keeps coffee warm every day — as is culturally preferred.
Local Empowerment
All in all, John Coonrod empowers poor people to lift themselves out of poverty by helping to create and promote local movements, especially women-centric movements, that promote community welfare and engage with local governments. By working with several partners in various countries around the world, John Coonrod and The Hunger Project make lives better for women and other people across the globe.
– Cassie Parvaz
Photo: Flickr
Ending Female Genital Mutilation in Sierra Leone
Female Genital Mutilation in Sierra Leone has recently become a topic of conversation both nationally and internationally since it is one of the 28 African countries that still partake in the practice. The World Health Organization officially described female genital mutilation (FGM) as “procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.” The procedure usually involves some kind of cutting or removing of the genital flesh of a female as part of the initiation into womanhood. Several organizations are spreading awareness of the devastating results of this barbaric procedure and working to end this practice once and for all.
Why FGM Occurs?
The reasons for the procedure of FGM depend on the culture, they but usually fall into four categories: psychosexual, as a way to control female sexuality and maintain virginity; sociological and cultural, the practice is viewed as a vital tradition to the cultural heritage; hygiene and aesthetics, as some communities view the external female genitalia as unappealing and unclean; and finally, socio-economic factors since FGM is often a pre-requisite for marriage and the right to inherit.
The procedure is often performed with penknives, razors or even cut glass, and can result in severe pain, bleeding, cysts, infections, complications in childbirth, infertility and in extreme cases, death. The initiation can also often result in psychological issues from the trauma and pain of the event as well as from the inability to experience sexual pleasure thereafter. An estimated 200 million women and girls have undergone the procedure worldwide, with a staggering 90 percent in Sierra Leone.
Challenges in Stopping the Practice
The practice is ingrained into the culture and holds high social significance. In fact, 69 percent of women and 46 percent of men aged 15-49 believe in the continuation of the practice. FGM has been viewed as an initiation into womanhood and has been an important cultural touchstone for the people of Sierra Leone. This makes it difficult to stop the practice, as many see it as socially embarrassing and being unworthy of marriage if they have not received the initiation.
Another challenge faced to end FGM is that many Soweis, who usually perform the initiation, refuse to end the practice as they see it as a threat to the traditions of the Bondo society. They also receive large amounts of money for the initiations and do not want to lose this source of income.
Organizations Working to End FGM
The Amazonian Initiative Movement (AIM) is a non-governmental organization aiming to end the procedure. It was founded in 2002 by Rugiatu Turay, a victim of FGM herself, and many other women while living in a refugee camp in Guinea during the Sierra Leon’s civil war. AIM activists visit villages and speak with the women who perform this procedure and try to convince them to give it up. They have convinced 700 practitioners from 111 villages to stop practicing FGM.
AIM believes that one of the most efficient ways to begin the ending of practice is to teach women how to read and write since most of the procedures are performed by illiterate elder women. Providing them with the knowledge to read and write will open opportunities for them to pursue alternate means of income and reduce their interest in performing FGM.
Another non-governmental organization, AMNet, is fighting against the old fashioned initiation rite. AMNet works with Soweis, the senior female community members, to change the social stigmas surrounding women in regards to FGM in local communities. The group has high profile supporters like Sia Koroma, the first lady of Sierra Leone, which helps bring attention to their cause.
Legislation is Needed
Non-governmental organizations are working hard to provide knowledge on the issues surrounding FGM, but formal legislation against the practice will further help end the societal pressures and stigmas that encourage the continuance of the initiation rite. Several countries have banned the practice, including more than 20 countries in Africa and most Western European countries. Ending the practice has also become a part of the United Nations 2030 sustainable development agenda.
Female Genital Mutilation in Sierra Leone is not yet illegal, though progress is being made to eradicate the procedure. The country recently ratified the African Unions 2003 Maputo Protocol on Women’s Rights, stating in Article Five of the protocol that female genital mutilation should be prohibited by the government in order to finally end the procedure.
Female Genital Mutilation in Sierra Leone has been a huge cultural touchstone for many communities. The procedure, though, is highly dangerous for females in many areas of their mental and physical health. Many of the activists fighting to end the procedure recognize that immediate ending of the practice will not work, but could lead to underground practices, as the social and cultural significance of the initiation is far too important to many communities. Instead, they hope to use education to spread awareness about the harms of the practice, hopefully, changing opinions over time with respect to cultural significance.
Photo: Flickr
Increasing Access to Vaccines in Egypt
For the past 20 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States has assisted the Egyptian government by providing aid to fight vaccine-preventable diseases. Efforts such as strengthening immunization services, responding to public health emergencies and conducting surveillance studies and surveys have contributed to the reduction of these fatal diseases. The CDC has provided financial support for diseases that can be prevented by vaccines in Egypt through the World Health Organization (WHO), which focuses on polio, measles and rubella elimination.
Impeding Access to Vaccines
In 2006, vaccinations in Egypt eradicated wild poliovirus transmissions. The government continues to monitor the environment for wild polioviruses in a program involving the CDC and other organizations. However, despite the efforts of these organizations, many of those living in poverty in Egypt still do not have access to the vaccination. This presents a problem in the eradication of vaccine-preventable diseases since disease such as the wild poliovirus could return.
According to WHO, full immunization coverage for the poorest to the wealthiest populations showed national levels in Egypt to be under 20 percent. Studies show that the high rates of unemployment and low literacy rates contribute to the increase in the population living in poverty. This results in many individuals being unaware of the healthcare and medical aid they are entitled to and leads to the low proportions of immunization within the population.
Many children are also part of the child labor industry. Working interferes with their school attendance and education, resulting in low literacy rates, which perpetuate the ongoing poverty cycle. Without awareness of health and safety maintenance, those who live under the poverty line may not have the necessary knowledge to access vaccinations in Egypt.
Improvements Made in Vaccinations
The Expanded Program of Immunization (EPI) in Egypt focuses on saving lives by controlling vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, diphtheria, tetanus, polio and whooping cough through constant surveillance and an increase in vaccine coverage. Despite the extreme decline of cases of vaccine-preventable diseases in the past decades, outbreaks of measles in 2013 and 2014 suggests that full immunization coverage is not yet supported for all populations of Egypt.
However, despite 60 percent of the population living under the poverty line and a large number of people not receiving immunizations, resources and efforts towards improving access to vaccinations in Egypt have increased. WHO claims that only 24 cases of measles, 5.9 cases of mumps and 34 cases of rubella were reported in 2017. A drastic decrease compared to decades of consistent outbreaks in the thousands. Part of the progress could be a result of the fact that 94 percent of children aged 12-23 had received measles vaccinations in 2017. Furthermore, in 2008-2009, there was a significant increase in vaccines in Egypt for measles, mumps and rubella, with 95 percent of children having been vaccinated, an increase of 53 percent from 2007.
The Future of Disease Control
The Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) works to promote the funding of the Haemophilus influenza vaccine as a part of the PENTA vaccine, a type of vaccine designed to protect the receiver from multiple diseases. The PENTA vaccine will help fight bacterial pneumonia, a communicable disease that contributes to high mortality rates. With WHO supporting the MoHP, the push for programs that fight viral hepatitis is stronger as more resources are being devoted to procuring equipment, allocating funding and the constant surveillance of vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks.
Efforts to control vaccine-preventable diseases are allocating funding to provide coverage for those who may not be able to afford it. Now, increased focus on spreading awareness to the population about the importance and availability of vaccines in Egypt is needed in order to increase coverage and finally eradicate some of the vaccine-preventable diseases in the country.
– Aria Ma
Photo: Flickr
Israel: The Start Up Nation
Out of the ashes of World War II rose a small, independent nation situated on the Mediterranean Sea. Since 1948, the nation of Israel has become a great leader in innovation and technology. In just 70 years, Israeli settlers have transformed the country’s desert landscape into lush green gardens by high-tech agricultural methods. With a population just over 8.5 million, Israel has earned the nickname “Start-Up Nation” which rose to popularity in 2009 after Israeli author Dan Senor’s book.
MASHAV Providing Humanitarian Aid
Since 1958, Israel has been committed to providing humanitarian aid through the Foreign Ministry’s Center for International Cooperation and provides more assistance to more than 140 countries. MASHAV helps alleviate hunger, disease and poverty by providing technology and training to places all across the globe including Cambodia, Guatemala, Albania and Ethiopia.
Since 1959, MASHAV has been sending Israeli eye-doctors to countries throughout the developing world to help combat preventable blindness and ocular disease. It has also introduced Israeli drip-irrigation systems to sub-Saharan African countries to aid in providing water to more regions, especially during times of drought. MASHAV has also started a project called Indo-Israel Agriculture Project, which teaches farmers throughout India new agricultural methods.
The Pears Program for Global Innovation
Israel has made it a priority to assist developing countries through entrepreneurial efforts. The country has “the largest number of startups per capita in the world, 1 startup for every 1,400 people.” One example is a company called The Pears Program for Global Innovation, which aids people affected by poverty by supporting Israeli innovators and companies that create technology-based, financially sustainable solutions.
The Pears Program is responsible for several innovations that could have a lasting impact on the world. For example, through its support to the Mosteq company, Israel has found a way to sterilize mosquitos, which could significantly lower, and eventually, end the spread of diseases like malaria. The company, Soapy, has invented smart capsules containing soap and water to facilitate hygiene in countries where sanitation is an issue or there is little access to clean water.
Ideas for the Future
According to Technion International, “Israel has more companies listed on the NASDAQ than Europe, Japan, Korea, India, and China combined.” What is the secret that makes Israel so ingenious and resourceful? “At the heart of this combined impulse is an instinctive understanding that the challenge facing every developed country […] is to become an idea factory, which includes both generating ideas at home and taking advantage of ideas generated elsewhere,” says Senor in his book “Start-Up Nation.” Furthermore, Israel values education, which helps to foster innovation.
Idea generation has become the backbone of Israeli society. It has allowed the country to thrive in a desert ecosystem, deliver aid to thousands of countries and defend itself from outside attacks. According to the New York Times, “Years of dealing with terrorist attacks, combined with an advanced medical technology sector, have made Israel one of the nimblest countries in disaster relief.” Other humanitarian programs in Israel are continuing efforts outside and inside the country, like Ziv Hospital, which has treated more than 2,000 Syrian refugees who have crossed the border seeking urgent medical attention.
The Israeli Innovation Authority estimates that, over the next decade, there will be a shortage of 10,000 engineers and programmers in the high-tech sector. Although this gap allows for future economic growth, it is a big concern for policymakers. Who will fill these gaps? Will Israel continue to be the Start-Up Nation of the World? Hopefully, Israel’s commitment to entrepreneurship in developing countries will come in handy and create more jobs within the country for migrant workers.
Photo: Flickr
Sustainable Agriculture in Nigeria
The country of Nigeria is located on the Gulf of Guinea on the western side of Africa. Two major rivers run through the country. The Benue River is located on the east and it flows into the western river, the Niger River. With two large rivers flowing through their sub-Sharan climate, one might presume that agriculture would be a major source of income for the country. However, this is yet not the case.
Agriculture in Nigeria
Agriculture and, more recently, sustainable agriculture in Nigeria is an industry that employs most of the country’s population. The number of people employed in this sector is around 70 percent. However, it only makes up 22 percent of the nation’s GDP. This is indicated mostly through Nigeria’s unemployment rate that sits at 70 percent. Things may change soon. Various initiatives, speeches, articles and organizations in Nigeria all point to a bright future for sustainable agriculture in Nigeria and especially the future for the younger generations working for it.
Ade Adefeko’s Speech
In 2018, Ade Adefeko gave a speech to the Franco-Nigerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, an economic body set-up to aid business relations between ex-French colonies and France. Adefeko, who is currently Head of Corporate and Government Relations at OLAM Nigeria, outlined many important factors that hinder the growth of sustainable agriculture in Nigeria. He pointed especially to a lack of government funding. The funding has lowered down to just 1 percent of the total budget in 2018 from previously recorded 5 percent in 2008.
He also blames the lack of mechanization and techniques. Techniques are especially important for sustainable agriculture. Access to irrigation system is very hard for small farmers in Nigeria. This is rather odd having in mind that there is plenty of water from Nigeria’s rivers. To simplify his solution for the problem in two parts, Ade Adefeko would like to see a streamlined approach of land and water distribution from the government.
OLAM’s Role in Sustainable Agriculture in Nigeria
He would also like to see his employer OLAM, an international agricultural organization that supports sustainable agriculture in Nigeria and all around the globe, take even more active role in aiding Nigeria’s government and people. He would like to see OLAM continue to help the government store any excess crop yield. The other part of his suggestion is educating farmers so that they are more productive and can sell their crops more efficiently. Ade Adefeko and OLAM are not the only ones who see education of the population as the best way to understand the importance of sustainable agriculture in Nigeria and to provide solutions for this issue.
YISA and its Mission
The Youth Initiative for Sustainable Agriculture (YISA) Nigeria is taking a very active role in helping men, women, children and senior citizens to become better acquainted with sustainable agriculture. YISA’s mission is to take sustainable agriculture to the next step and to make it profitable. The organization’s goal is to make students of agriculture in Nigeria business savvy. They also want to rebrand agriculture and make it a popular and productive vocation. YISA runs five major programs that push this agenda in Nigeria. These programmes are designed to educate, corrects, encourage, inspire and motivate young people.
The push for sustainable Agriculture in Nigeria may eventually find itself at the precipice of an important decision. Should the people use the new found power for the country, keeping it home and small, or do they give it completely to large agriculture firms? Both of these choices have positives and negatives. The important thing is that sustainable agriculture in Nigeria can become so successful that it can make that choice for itself one day.
– Nicholas Anthony DeMarco
Photo: Flickr
Top 10 Facts About Poverty in Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated and financially significant regions on Earth, but it also has a massive issue with income inequality. Roughly one-fifth of Hong Kong’s residents are living in poverty as of November 2018, with monthly income for those people falling below the poverty line equaling $700 a month. The average cost of living for a 900 square foot apartment plus utilities in a normal area for two equals $3,885 a month. In the text below, the top 10 facts about poverty in Hong Kong are presented.
Top 10 Facts About Poverty in Hong Kong
While poverty is a massive issue in Hong Kong, individuals and governing bodies can no longer turn a blind eye. For the sake of those in need, the country and its politicians must take notice of the damaged parts of their society, as it is shown in these top 10 facts about poverty in Hong Kong.
– Zach Margolis
Photo: Flickr
Top 10 Facts About Living Conditions in Cyprus
Cyprus, a Mediterranean island with a population of 1.2 million, has endured several different occupations by major powers since the birth of the civilization. Beginning with the Assyrian, Egyptian, Persian and Roman Empires, Cyprus was then taken by the French Venetians and then the Ottoman Empire (from 1571 to 1878). The United Kingdom was the last imperial body to control Cyprus, from which Cyprus gained independence in 1960. In the article below, the top 10 facts about living conditions will be presented and will try to show how the people in this country live and what impacts their lives.
Top 10 Facts About Living Conditions in Cyprus
While living conditions in Cyprus are already good, life in the nation could be improved by the reunification of the North and South. By some estimates, reunification could improve Cyprus’ GDP by as much as $5.7 billion in only five years, as Southern Cyprus would be less vulnerable to the economic problems of Greece and also gain access to Turkish markets. If the two territories gain free access to each other, the economy will benefit as a whole, improving further the Cypriotic economy and living conditions in Cyprus as a whole.
Importance of Microfinance & Social Entrepreneurship in Guyana
Guyana is a small South American nation with a population just over 700,000. The country is sparsely populated, with the majority of the population identifying as East-Indian or Afro-Guyanese. According to the World Bank, Guyana is an upper/middle-income country, with a GDP of around $3.6 billion. Guyana’s economy is primarily agricultural, with over 60 percent being comprised of six main exports: sugar, shrimp, gold, bauxite, rice and timber. One way to improve the economy, though, could be through increased levels of entrepreneurship in Guyana.
Guyanese Economic Growth Status
Recently, the fractured Guyanese government fell in a no-confidence vote, endangering already fragile race relations. Economic growth has slowed in the past five years, one-third of the population lives below the poverty line and youth unemployment stands at a staggering 21.6 percent. Many Guyanese agricultural enterprises lack credit history and find it difficult to use livestock as collateral on secured loans, making for higher credit risk.
In addition, over 80 percent of Guyanese citizens with tertiary education reside abroad. The emigration of highly educated citizens may pose another threat, as economic growth is often predicated on national education levels. These underlying issues have contributed to distressingly high youth poverty levels. How can the English-speaking South American country alleviate poverty and unemployment? The answer may lie in microfinance and social entrepreneurship.
Microfinance and Social Entrepreneurship in Guyana
In Guyana, there are several privatized financial institutions focused on micro-loans and credit access for the nation’s underbanked. These institutions are characterized as microfinance institutions, and help to provide banking and financial literacy instruction to people and small businesses who would otherwise not receive such support. The main source of income for these institutions comes from interest payments on loans. This financial support is critical for diminishing poverty and improving social mobility.
Microfinance can be significantly expanded among the young people of Guyana. The Institute of Private Enterprise Development (IPED) and the Small Business Development Finance Trust (SBDFT) are two main microfinance organizations and the primary contributors to Guyana’s microfinance sector. As of 2016, the IPED dispersed micro-loans to over 4,500 small businesses — of which only 12 percent of these borrowers were young adults.
This low proportion of youth borrowing could be significantly expanded, as roughly 46 percent of the population in Guyana is under 24 years old. Microfinance efforts have been largely successful in other parts of the world. India’s Range De has successfully reached over 18 Indian states with a 93 percent repayment rate, collateral-free.
Potential for Social Entrepreneurship
Another key element to alleviating poverty in Guyana is expanding social entrepreneurship. According to a Duke University newsletter, social entrepreneurs are defined as business innovators that “play the role of change agents in the social sector.” Focusing loan and microfinance efforts on young entrepreneurs with a social focus will help to decrease youth unemployment rates while simultaneously lowering overall poverty.
Not only would educated citizens choose to remain in Guyana, but lucrative business prospects may attract non-natives to the country. Incubators and credit advisory services are two financial inclusion tactics that have taken root in Africa and South Asia. Tiwale, a Malawi-based startup focused on empowering female education, serves as an excellent role-model for similar enterprises in Guyana. These market-based solutions would help to alleviate poverty and simultaneously stimulate the economy.
Spurring Progress
Credit access and social enterprise efforts have already begun to transpire within the nation. IPED’s recent expansion will help to spur financial access for Guyana’s underbanked. Technological growth and introduction in Guyana will also augment social enterprises and allow for increased scalability. If the microfinance and social entrepreneurship sectors are able to flourish in Guyana, there is a bright future for the nation’s youth.
– Alexander Aguilera
Photo: Flickr
Credit Access in Mauritius
Mauritius, the island nation in the Indian Ocean, has undergone a financial transformation since the early 2000s, promoted by the government in order to catalyze the economy of the country. This has impacted credit access in Mauritius in a big way. Since 2000, the country has experienced losses connected to its truncated access to EU sugar and textile markets and is facing steeper competition from China and other East Asian exports.
Mauritius Economy Compared to Other Countries
This loss of preferential treatment and high budget deficit spells a slight struggle for Mauritius to retain its middle-income standing. Currently, the country ranks 65th in the world on the Human Development Index, and in 2014, it was the second highest country in Africa on the development list. Mauritius’ Gross National Income (GNI) per capita is at $9,770 and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reports that the country performs better than the average compared with other sub-Saharan African and middle-income countries as far as information ability, involvement of the trade community, advance rulings, appeal procedures and internal border agency cooperation.
By continuing to focus on the area of governance and impartiality, Mauritius can increase its trade volumes and lower trade costs. A strengthened customs system and transparent ethics policy could be the final stretch to reach the Prime Minister’s dream of a high-income country.
Government Initiatives
The Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Jugnauth, has predicted a revamping of the economy and expresses hope for Mauritius moving into the future. Key reforms introduced in the 2018/2019 budget helped bring Mauritius its present position. The Minister also touched on the government’s dedication to raising the country to high-income level country, thereby funneling benefits to every citizen. Already this commitment can be seen in the growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and financial services, estimated to continue at 4.1 percent in 2019.
The government introduced changes to the legislative system in order to prevent money laundering and corrupt business. In his speech, the Prime Minister assured that the country is conducting a national risk assessment of terrorism financing.
Credit Access in Mauritius
A report from the Global Findex as of 2017 records 68.5 percent of Mauritians making or receiving digital payments, as well as 48.3 percent using credit or debit cards. The percentage of adults above the age of 15 who borrowed from a financial institution in Mauritius was at 22.9 percent, much higher than the sub-Saharan average of 8.4 percent, in comparison. Outstanding housing loans are increasing in availability as well, and almost 90 percent of adults were able to obtain access to financial institution accounts, banks or otherwise.
Enjoying past growth of upwards of 6 percent in the 1990s and continued economic performance, Mauritius is still dealing with the changes in the EU Sugar Protocol and falling sugar prices. As of 2006, the government incentivized seafood production in order to shift toward exporting fish instead of sugar, as well as a list of Integrated Resort Schemes offering luxury villas to foreigners. Diversifying the market and leveling the competition will surely launch Mauritius ahead in the economic playing field. The GDP by sector reveals the sugar sector operates at a modest 4.3 percent in 2007, led by government services at 15 percent, wholesale at 11, finance and real estate at 14.2 and many other diverse trade sectors.
Unfortunately, drastic adjustments meant one-third of employees for the sugar sector were redundant. The lost sugar income has still not been completely replaced, but the government is focused on diversification and increasing exports in the coming years.
In addition to experiencing an incredible 195 percent wealth growth from 2007 to 2017, credit access in Mauritius continues to increase due to strong ownership rights, a resilient economy, and ease of investment. Hopefully, the country’s example spearheads a movement throughout Asia for easier credit access and stable banks and economy.
– Hannah Peterson
Photo: Flickr
John Coonrod Empowers Poor People to Lift Themselves Out of Poverty
John Coonrod is the Executive Vice President of The Hunger Project — a non-profit organization that helps give poor people the means to lift themselves out of poverty. As part of this organization’s leadership, John Coonrod empowers poor people to lift themselves out of poverty by placing special emphasis on female farmers, who are among the poorest people in the world.
Origins
Coonrod has been advocating for social justice for a very long time. While he was training as a physicist at Stanford and the University of California-Berkeley, he was an active member of local civil rights and anti-war movements. When The Hunger Project was first founded in March of 1977, John Coonrod was its first volunteer and he continued to volunteer while he worked at Princeton University from 1978 to 1984.
In 1985, he became an official member of The Hunger Project’s staff. In addition to meeting his future wife while working at The Hunger Project, Coonrod used — and still uses — his expertise to help poor people in developing countries. To this day, John Coonrod empowers poor people to lift themselves out of poverty.
The Hunger Project
The Hunger Project is a non-profit organization that seeks to end poverty and world hunger by pioneering grassroots movements. While it believes that everyone should be free of poverty and hunger, they place a special focus on women and gender equality. The reason for this is that women are typically in charge of meeting a family’s needs, but are often denied the means and resources to do so by their society.
The Hunger Project currently works with organizations in 11 countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Senegal, Uganda, Bangladesh, India and Mexico. Between these countries, they have helped more than 85 organizations start 2,900 projects. In addition, they have chapters and investors in Australia, the U.S., Canada, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Peru, Switzerland and the U.K.
In all of the countries where they work, The Hunger Project seeks to empower women, mobilize communities and engage local governments. In India, for example, their main focus is on helping women get elected into local governments. The organization has done this in nearly 2,000 panchayants (clusters of villages) across 6 states, and the women they have helped now lead 9 million people.
In Africa, The Hunger Project helps turn clusters of villages into epicenters where up to 15,000 people can band together to help their communities thrive. These epicenters, in turn, create their own development programs, which reach more than 1.6 million people across the continent. In Bangladesh, local volunteers, especially women and children, are mobilized to reach 185 sustainable development goals in their communities, reaching 5 million people. Finally, in Mexico, community development focuses on indigenous women and children, helping to improve childhood and maternal nutrition; this admirable work reaches 21,000 people.
Partners A-Plenty
The Hunger Project has numerous partners in the countries where they work. One of these partners is Rotary International, a global organization in which 1.2 million people work in sustainable projects to improve life in general across the globe. This includes fighting diseases, providing water, supporting educations, saving mothers and children, growing local economies and promoting peace. The Hunger Project mainly works with Rotary International in Ethiopia, where Rotary International uses vocational training to teach doctors how to resuscitate newborns.
In India, SKL International is a major partner of The Hunger Project. SKL International is a Swedish organization that uses the model of Sweden’s extensive local governments as a baseline to help developing countries achieve democracy. Like The Hunger Project, SKL International’s main goal in India is getting local women elected.
In Mexico, The Hunger Project works with Water For Humans — a non-profit organization that uses sustainable technology to bring clean water to those who need it, especially in Mexico. The organization is currently working on helping indigenous people build eco-cookstoves which require less wood than traditional stoves, need only one fire to work in multiple burners at once, and keeps coffee warm every day — as is culturally preferred.
Local Empowerment
All in all, John Coonrod empowers poor people to lift themselves out of poverty by helping to create and promote local movements, especially women-centric movements, that promote community welfare and engage with local governments. By working with several partners in various countries around the world, John Coonrod and The Hunger Project make lives better for women and other people across the globe.
– Cassie Parvaz
Photo: Flickr
Sustainable Agriculture in Senegal
The story of sustainable agriculture in Senegal is one of success that should be used as a guide for other countries. Between 1960 and the early 1980s, Senegal used monocropping, a dangerous practice where only one crop is grown year after year, leaching more and more nutrients from the ground. This eventually left the soil void of essential nutrients. When the area was hit by drought in the early 1980s, the land was unable to cope, and the country suffered from food shortages. However, over the last 20 years, Senegal has been using sustainable agriculture to bring back fertility to the soil.
In 1989, the United States government began working with Rodale International to come up with a plan to restore the soil. The plan was to use crop rotation. Every three years, one of four different plants would be sown in the soil. Each plant would only take certain nutrients from the ground and replace others. One of these plants was peanuts, the plant that caused the problem in the first place, and the second was millet. Both are now the main agricultural exports of Senegal. The other two crops in rotation are cowpeas and cassava.
The International Production and Pest Management Program
The United States and international companies are not the only organizations helping improve sustainable agriculture in Senegal. Senegal has been part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) IPPM program since 2001. The IPPM (Integrated Production and Pest Management Program) is dedicated to responsible pest control practices. The program touches on many points to control pests; however, its most important lesson is the responsible use of pesticides.
Pesticides remain a continuous problem in Senegal and most of the world due to their overuse. Pesticides stay in the water table, contaminating drinking water. They also hurt the soil since the chemicals build up over time and stay on the crops. When consumed pesticides are harmful to humans and animals. This is not to say that they are not sometimes necessary, but the IPPM suggests a less-is-more approach.
Syngenta
Private foundations are also doing their part. Syngenta, a Swiss-based based agricultural firm, has a foundation called the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture. The foundation works with public and private sector partners in order to finance innovations in sustainable agriculture. They also work with the World Bank, USAID and both the Swiss and Australian governments.
Since 2014, Syngenta has been promoting sustainable agriculture in Senegal’s rice production. In 2015, the organization began helping farmers gain access to better-mechanized equipment to facilitate rice cultivation in the Senegal River Valley. The overall approach of the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture is to work with the entire system. The work with NGO’s and governments to help small farmers become more productive has helped to increase the economic benefit of sustainable farming practices. It also helps the farmers better feed themselves and their families.
Improving the Economy Through Sustainable Agriculture
The soil is becoming productive again, and farmers are gaining access to better techniques and equipment. However, the fight is not over. Senegal suffers from an unemployment rate of 47 percent. In 2017, the agricultural industry employed 77 percent of the population in Senegal, an estimated 6.9 million people. However, the agriculture industry only makes up only about 17 percent of the of the country’s GDP. The next step to better economic stability will be to tackle these issues. Hopefully, like its soil, the Senegalese economy will now rejuvenate and grow for all.
– Nicholas Anthony DeMarco
Photo: Flickr