Granting formal property rights to the world’s poor, especially in developing countries, may be the key to reducing global poverty. Peruvian economist, Hernando de Soto, believes property rights reduce poverty by empowering the disadvantaged with valuable assets which could add up to an estimated $9.3 trillion in currently “dead capital.”
Promoting property rights is particularly important throughout Africa where more than 90 percent of the land remains outside the legal system. People living in developing countries would benefit from stable, long-term property rights as they are more likely to invest time and energy into cultivating their land or exchange it with someone who would make better use of it.
Stable land ownership would also increase revenue for local governments through property taxes, but land taxes are currently non-existent in the developing world. With an increased demand for land and public investment in roads and other infrastructure, revenue from property taxes would help decentralize and empower previously impoverished residents in developing regions.
In Uganda, land constitutes 50-60 percent of asset endowment and is a valuable asset that may be the key to household wealth. As a primary vehicle for investing, cultivating and transferring between generations, secure property rights help to generate livelihoods centered on local investment. Lack of property rights disproportionately affects women in developing countries.
Traditionally, women are disadvantaged when it comes to land access, but they also have the most to gain from secure property rights. According to the OECD, increasing property rights has been shown to positively affect spending on girls’ education.
Studies also show that promoting equitable access to education could increase GDP growth by an estimated 0.2 percent each year in developing countries. If executed correctly, providing property rights would also increase the purchasing power of the world’s poor and stimulate economic growth in developing countries.
Slate magazine critiques de Soto’s theory that property rights reduce poverty by pointing out, “titling is more useful to the elite and middle-income groups who can afford to bother with financial leverage, risk, and the real estate market.” Increasing property rights in Turkey, Mexico, South Africa and Columbia have not created a healthy housing market and “wealthy land-grubbers” may be to blame.
De Soto believes that the wealthy, who don’t realize that it’s in their best interest to allow the productive power of the poor brought into the economy, are an obstacle to realizing the full impact that property rights can have on the world’s poor. For those who have doubts, property rights reduce poverty, which bolsters economic development when the poor can contribute to the economy.
Rampant socioeconomic inequality weakens economies by increasing the burden on taxpayers to cover the costs of poverty-related illnesses, which can cost billions per year, perpetuates a cycle of low academic achievement and negatively impacts the demand for a skilled labor force.
Securing property rights in the developing world is one step in the right direction toward reducing global poverty, but educating the public on why uplifting the world’s poor is beneficial for everyone is even more crucial.
– Daniela Sarabia
Photo: Flickr
Ten Facts About Honduran Refugees
Honduras, the small Central American country nestled between Guatemala and Nicaragua, is home to a rich, cultural heritage, stunning wildlife, beaches and forests. Despite the beauty this country has to offer, many of its citizens are seeking a safe haven far from the country they know. Here are 10 things you need to know to better understand Honduran refugees.
Though the situation in Honduras looks grim, the U.S. has the opportunity to make a difference through programs that will alleviate poverty-induced violence and restore the country that is home to so many refugees.
– Jordan Little
Photo: Flickr
A Look at U.S. Foreign Aid in Kenya
On Oct. 19, USAID announced that it would award an additional $5 million to improve health care in Kenya. Where will that money go, and who will it help?
With a population of nearly 47 million, Kenya has the largest economy in Central and Eastern Africa. Its GDP per capita is $3,200 per year — not luxurious by any measure, but a leg above all its immediate neighbors. Its capital, Nairobi, is a regional hub for business, trade and commerce.
Yet only 5.7 percent of its expenditures are devoted to health care, the area where the funds are perhaps needed the most. The country suffers from high infant and mother mortality rates, a life expectancy of only 64 years, and a 1-in-20 percent chance of contracting AIDS. There are only two physicians per 10,000 people, and they are spread dishearteningly thin as they try to address the continuing HIV epidemic and widespread diseases.
Because Kenya has a better record of democracy and transparency than many developing African nations, and because the U.S. considers it, “an important developing country partner in east Africa,” it has become a significant target of U.S. foreign aid.
The State Department says that its objectives in Kenya are to “(1) strengthen democratic institutions; (2) spur economic growth, trade and investment; (3) advance peace and security and (4) promote opportunity and development.” In 2014, Kenya received $2.7 billion from the international community to help build infrastructure and encourage peaceful development.
Five million dollars may sound like a drop in the bucket compared to that sum, but these directly targeted funds will serve an important purpose. The funds will expand the work of an organization called Living Goods, which focuses on encouraging entrepreneurship in the health industry: it trains women in basic health procedures and recruits them to become small business owners. These women leverage their rich social networks to sell affordable, high-quality, life-saving products — such as simple treatments for common diseases — to families who would otherwise go without care.
When you live in developing countries like Kenya, even health care offered free by the government can come with a price. Sometimes it’s the literal price of commuting to the clinic; other times it’s the price of risk, the chance, in places as high as 50 percent, that the hospital will be out of the medicine your child needs.
Living Goods seeks to extend medical care to every community using a model that is both impactful and sustainable, and by doing so increase access to the most basic health supplies and expertise.
The $5 million from USAID is funded by the Development Innovation Ventures program, and it will help expand Living Goods’ community health care in Kenya. A recent independent study showed that the program had managed to reduce child deaths by 25 percent for less than $2 per person per year. Over the next decade, the organization plans to improve the health and lives of over 50 million people.
– Madeleine Read
Photo: Flickr
10 Facts About Poverty in China
“China is doing well, but you still see children begging on street corners with horrible diseases,” said university student Ariqua Furse, whose mother emigrated from Hong Kong.
By 2020, China will replace the U.S. as the biggest economy, according to Standard Chartered Bank. Much of the world anticipates China becoming the global superpower, with its increasing overseas investments and influence.
However, it has a ways to go if it wants to match these expectations within five years. China is polarized by its advancing technologies and a large number of people that remain impoverished. Tall glass-and-steel skyscrapers loom over gritty, crumbling slums.
Part of the problem is the lack of education in rural areas, which keeps families steeped in poverty.
“Kids in some southern provinces don’t have access to education,” said Ji Da, a native of Chengdu, Sichuan. “We send them clothes.”
Because much of the population is doing well and China functions like a healthy first world country, it’s not easy to determine the full extent of poverty in the country.
10 Facts about Poverty in China:
China has made significant progress in recent years in reducing poverty and is continuing to do so. Beijing hosted the 2015 Social Good Summit to raise awareness for the Sustainable Development Goals, which include eradicating poverty.
During the conference, Tencent, Inc., China’s largest Internet service portal, relayed its efforts to reduce the digital divide between urban and rural areas of China.
Ji reported that the Chinese government is building schools and “government-subsidized housing for the poor.”
If the country can face the facts about poverty in China and stabilize the economy, it will be well on its way to matching, and even surpassing, the U.S. economy in 2020.
– Sarah Prellwitz
Sources: MIC, All Girls Allowed, UNDP, Forbes, IB Times, Index Mundi, RT, Rural Poverty Portal, Personal Interviews
Photo: Flickr
Addressing Hunger in Hong Kong by Reducing Waste
Hong Kong’s growth in the global financial economy has made the country a beacon of rapid development and opulence. Behind the image of luxurious expansion lurks a harsh reality of inequality and growing rates of hunger. A Hong Kong nonprofit aims to help the city’s bounty feed all.
As a major port city and a booming hub of global trade, Hong Kong’s GDP continues to grow. Trading Economics’ data indicates that Hong Kong’s GDP growth in 2016 has nearly doubled since its GDP growth in 2015. This wealth, however, is distributed disproportionately.
The CIA World Factbook designates Hong Kong’s level of income inequality as the tenth worst in the world, and the U.N. Development Program claims Hong Kong has the highest level of income inequality among highly developed nations.
Data on poverty and hunger illuminate these inequities. According to Trading Economics, the poverty line in Hong Kong is HK$ 3,275 per month (about $422) with an hourly minimum wage of HK$ 32 (roughly $4). Twenty percent of Hong Kong’s population currently lives below this threshold, leaving many citizens food insecure.
In light of these concerns, the South China Morning Post reported that the U.N. considered opening a World Food Program (WFP) office in Hong Kong in 2013, citing the region as an appropriate candidate for further attention.
However, the U.N. never established an office, leaving Hong Kong without a concrete inter-governmental organization to deal with the growing issue of food insecurity. Gabrielle Kirstein, co-founder and executive director of Feeding Hong Kong, aimed to address hunger in Hong Kong by creating a nonprofit that would divert food waste to feed those in need.
Feeding Hong Kong (FHK) is a self-proclaimed “Hong Kong food bank with a difference.” By accepting usable food donations from corporate partners, restaurants, grocery stores and delis, FHK creates a supply chain that directs surplus food into the hands of over 25 charities and community organizations that address poverty and hunger. It is the only nonprofit of its kind in Hong Kong.
To ensure the continued effectiveness of the program, FHK thoughtfully distributes the food it collects to its constituent organizations. For example, FHK deliberately addresses the needs of children’s welfare programs differently than those of adults. FHK aims to address hunger in Hong Kong by supporting these already established organizations in their endeavors to provide essential services.
FHK functions in a dense urban environment by harnessing the resources around it. For FHK’s annual event, “Chefs in the Community,” culinary professionals volunteer with local charities to improve their food services. The Feeding Hong Kong Cookbook Collection is sold to generate funds for the nonprofit, while spreading awareness of how to reduce food waste, even in a personal kitchen setting.
Despite growing rates of hunger in Hong Kong, FHK has established a network to solve several issues associated with rapid urban development. By creating an organization that supports those around it, FHK aims to spread the wealth of the nation by eradicating hunger, one meal at a time.
– Laurel Klafehn
Photo: Flickr
This Land is My Land: How Property Rights Reduce Poverty
Promoting property rights is particularly important throughout Africa where more than 90 percent of the land remains outside the legal system. People living in developing countries would benefit from stable, long-term property rights as they are more likely to invest time and energy into cultivating their land or exchange it with someone who would make better use of it.
Stable land ownership would also increase revenue for local governments through property taxes, but land taxes are currently non-existent in the developing world. With an increased demand for land and public investment in roads and other infrastructure, revenue from property taxes would help decentralize and empower previously impoverished residents in developing regions.
In Uganda, land constitutes 50-60 percent of asset endowment and is a valuable asset that may be the key to household wealth. As a primary vehicle for investing, cultivating and transferring between generations, secure property rights help to generate livelihoods centered on local investment. Lack of property rights disproportionately affects women in developing countries.
Traditionally, women are disadvantaged when it comes to land access, but they also have the most to gain from secure property rights. According to the OECD, increasing property rights has been shown to positively affect spending on girls’ education.
Studies also show that promoting equitable access to education could increase GDP growth by an estimated 0.2 percent each year in developing countries. If executed correctly, providing property rights would also increase the purchasing power of the world’s poor and stimulate economic growth in developing countries.
Slate magazine critiques de Soto’s theory that property rights reduce poverty by pointing out, “titling is more useful to the elite and middle-income groups who can afford to bother with financial leverage, risk, and the real estate market.” Increasing property rights in Turkey, Mexico, South Africa and Columbia have not created a healthy housing market and “wealthy land-grubbers” may be to blame.
De Soto believes that the wealthy, who don’t realize that it’s in their best interest to allow the productive power of the poor brought into the economy, are an obstacle to realizing the full impact that property rights can have on the world’s poor. For those who have doubts, property rights reduce poverty, which bolsters economic development when the poor can contribute to the economy.
Rampant socioeconomic inequality weakens economies by increasing the burden on taxpayers to cover the costs of poverty-related illnesses, which can cost billions per year, perpetuates a cycle of low academic achievement and negatively impacts the demand for a skilled labor force.
Securing property rights in the developing world is one step in the right direction toward reducing global poverty, but educating the public on why uplifting the world’s poor is beneficial for everyone is even more crucial.
– Daniela Sarabia
Photo: Flickr
The King Scholar Program at Dartmouth College
The King Scholar Program is a full scholarship gifted to Dartmouth College students who are dedicated to alleviating poverty in their home countries. The program was funded by Dorothy and Robert King, who wanted to, “help address the problem of global poverty by funding exceptional students from developing nations in Latin America, Africa, and Asia at Dartmouth.”
Students who receive the King Scholarship have ongoing academic mentorship throughout their career at Dartmouth College and course development that encourages them to focus on leadership and international development.
The King Scholar Program encourages its participants to actively participate in ending global poverty. For example, during the students’ participation in the program, they must return to their homes for one summer to research and report how they would end poverty in their countries. After graduating, the students are encouraged to return to continue their work.
Additionally, during their freshman and sophomore years, King Scholars participate in King Leadership Week, which takes place in Washington, D.C. and New York. During this event, they have the opportunity to meet leaders in international development, gain context for work being done in the field and network for future employment.
There is no special application for the King Scholar Program, but the Dartmouth Admissions Office, “elects students for this special honor who embody the vision of the program, including a commitment to alleviating poverty, a record of academic excellence, and a passion for global issues.” The program’s current members hail from Jamaica, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Rwanda and Burkina Faso and all share a similar passion to making a difference in their countries.
By encouraging young students from developing countries to make a difference in alleviating global poverty, the King Scholar Program is creating influential leaders who are ready to make palpable changes in their home countries. This causes students to have a stronger connection to the work they are doing, and be inspired to make a change. This type of education is one that makes a lasting difference in terms of fighting global poverty.
– Julia Arredondo
KOICA CTS: Challenges to Fund Global Development Research
The Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) is a Korean organization that promotes global development. In 2015, they launched an initiative known as Creative Technology Solutions (CTS). CTS awards grants to a select number of research projects that could potentially provide innovative breakthroughs in global development.
A rigorous application process is required to select recipients of the grant. First, written proposals are accepted. Among the initial candidates, few are chosen to give presentations on their proposals. Those who pass the presentation stage are then given interviews and tested on their problem-solving ability. Candidates who make it through all stages are promised a grant to fund their research.
In 2015, 10 teams were selected from the 99 that applied. One research project involved designing a portable autorefractor, which provides detailed imaging of the eye, allowing a quick diagnosis of vision problems. According to KOICA, 80 percent of cases of blindness could have been prevented with a routine checkup, so providing a method of quick and efficient diagnosis should be beneficial to combating visual impairment, especially in underdeveloped nations.
Another team has developed a solar energy system that can be cost-effectively installed in houses that do not otherwise have access to energy. This solar home system is being tested in Cambodia. With the help of this device, Cambodia hopes to increase the percentage of rural households with access to electricity from 57 percent to at least 70 percent.
In addition to creating effective technological solutions, KOICA CTS also aims for a widespread outreach. They are planning to be active in various countries throughout Africa, Asia, the Middle East, the Commonwealth of Independent States and Latin America. Second round searches for grant recipients have already launched on July 18 of this year.
The practice of awarding grants in this fashion is reminiscent of the Grand Challenges initiative, which the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation began in an effort to fund research going towards global development.
In fact, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation considered the launch of the second round of KOICA CTS as the beginning of Grand Challenges South Korea. This means that CTS will be working more closely with other groups involved in Grand Challenges. The likelihood of strengthening these efforts through the addition of CTS, and increasing research is starting to look very hopeful.
– Edmond Kim
Photo: Flickr
Is xRapid a Breakthrough in Malaria Detection?
As technology continues to become more accessible in poverty-stricken countries, one app hopes to improve the cost and accuracy of malaria detection. Recently developed by the London-based startup xRapid, the application is the world’s first commercially available mobile health solution that provides an automatic diagnosis of malaria. However, identifying malaria requires more than just an iPhone and the app.
In addition to the iPhone and free app, a special iPhone case with an attachable eyepiece and a microscope are also required to begin detecting malaria in blood samples. The user simply attaches the eyepiece onto the iPhone case and inserts it into the microscope’s eye tube, where it runs the test. A clinical laboratory report is then produced detailing the data collected during the examination.
Currently, there are three different methods used to diagnose malaria, each attempting to be the fastest, most accurate and cost-effective technique available. However, each process pales in comparison to xRapid in one aspect or another.
Rapid diagnostic testing (RDT), which detects specific malaria antigens in human blood, is significantly less accurate than xRapid, while polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is considerably slower and more technical and expensive to utilize.
Microscopy testing often referred to as the “gold standard” for laboratory malaria detection, is just as accurate as xRapid, but is much slower at conducting tests. This method requires an average of 30 minutes per assessment while xRapid can conduct an examination in under two minutes.
The availability and potential of this new, convenient technique and advanced technology for diagnosing malaria is vastly important as 3.2 billion people — 43 percent of the world’s population — continue to live in areas at risk of malaria transmission.
XRapid has already begun dispersing its product to impoverished countries such as Benin, where malaria is the cause of nine percent of total deaths. Additionally, in the near future, xRapid, with the assistance of Digicape, will expand the product to countries in Southern Africa that crucially need it, and presently rely on microscopy and RDT for malaria detection.
Recently, xRapid announced it is working on adapting the product to detect and diagnose tuberculosis, an equally life-threatening disease commonly found in poverty-stricken countries.
The malaria mortality rate has dropped 60 percent since 2000, and with the assistance of this mobile health solution, the numbers could continue to drop. Although the complexity and harshness of these lethal diseases cannot truly be grasped, the solution to them may be in the palm of our hands.
– Jordan J. Phelan
Photo: Flickr
SCORE’s Electricity-Producing Cookstove: Improving Lives
Around the world, close to three billion people cook on energy-inefficient open fires. These fires produce smoke that puts one’s respiratory health at risk. Four million people globally die each year due to air pollution. SCORE’s electricity-producing cookstove aims to address this issue.
A project created in 2007 known as SCORE has worked to create a stove that is both clean and can provide electricity to an entire home. This was done by conducting research in social understanding and technological development.
SCORE’s main goal is to reduce wood consumption and smoke inhalation in order to improve health, education, and wealth. Health-wise, by reducing the amount of smoke emitted into the air, the prevalence of respiratory illness like pneumonia and lung cancer decreases.
SCORE hopes the new cook stove’s production of electricity will improve education. Electricity will create light at night and improve access to lessons and knowledge by enabling access to cell phones, computers, radios and televisions.
The stove is able to produce electricity by converting excess heat into sound waves which generate electricity. Three hours of cooking should produce enough electricity to light a home for a night. Light at night allows children to continue to read and learn once the sun goes down.
The electricity produced will also provide better access to improved farming equipment and methods that will help improve the wealth of communities. Families within communities will also gain business opportunities such as selling the new stoves or electricity. Money and resources will also be saved, as the stove uses three times less fuel, like wood or dung, compared to other cook stoves.
SCORE looks to impact countries like Nepal where many people, especially women, suffer while they use wood-fire stoves inside their homes. Hopefully, a fair cost for the stove can be negotiated to make the stove more affordable for developing countries to buy.
– Casey Marx
Photo: Flickr
The Challenges and Benefits of Foreign Aid Policy
In less than a decade, Europe suffered severe destruction and was quickly torn apart due to World War II. Soon after that, a huge foreign aid policy package known as the Marshall Plan helped European nations recover, seek a path of democracy and sustained peace.
Today, The U.S. continues to invest in foreign aid to advance its security and global leadership. This has played an indispensable role in strengthening U.S. strategy as well as economic and moral obligations.
Foreign aid policy can strengthen national security by cutting the roots of terrorism. It also helps in stabilizing weaker regimes, promoting regional security and long-term stability. Foreign aid helped nations such as South Korea and Colombia recover from instability.
Nations who receive aid could serve as potential markets and attract investors. Presidents like George W. Bush and Barack Obama emphasized such points. Also, President Reagan was a strong advocate of aid. He also argued strongly against those who claimed that national income was being wasted.
However, the success of the past decades is facing an uncertain, and perhaps unpromising future. The foreign aid budget planned for next year is only $34 billion. This number is expected to decrease further in the coming years.
Furthermore, there have been more conflicts in the twenty-first century that gripped the attention of the U.S. War in Afghanistan and Iraq coupled with a rising global trend of terrorism are some of the factors that challenge foreign aid programs. Hence, there comes a greater target zone for aid programs and more communities to address.
Such challenges make the process of development and the execution of programs a lot harder. Agencies are put under pressure as they have to provide support for a lot of people in a short time. Political dilemmas and conflicts complicate the tasks of agencies to access data and effectively manage aid programs.
With all the modern challenges of the twenty-first century, the U.S. aims to make the process of foreign development programs more transparent, accountable and effective.
Over the last decade, the U.S. has succeeded in creating new standards and metrics as part of foreign aid reform. Such transparency and accountability reforms can be expanded into developmental programs such as delivering aid packages and managing educational programs.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) understands the modern challenges standing in face of foreign aid policy. It aims to address such challenges by aligning resources with goals to achieve transforming development.
USAID also tailors programs according to needs and opportunities. The agency has also adopted the policy of increased selectivity in allocating resources. Despite the disappointing voice, aid programs are improving in their capability of dealing with all the modern challenges.
– Noman Ahmed
Photo: Flickr