The World Bank has created the Africa Climate Plan to alleviate extreme poverty caused by climate change. Titled “Accelerating Climate-Resilient and Low-Carbon Development”, the plan was presented at COP21, the global climate talks in Paris, on November 30. According to The World Bank, the plan hopes to boost renewable energy options and strengthen early warning systems, so as to better equip countries to deal with the destructive effects of climate change.
According to The World Bank, the Africa Climate Plan hopes to boost renewable energy options and strengthen early warning systems, so as to better equip countries to deal with the destructive effects of climate change.
These effects include higher temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns, rising sea levels and weather-related disasters, all of which pose a threat to agriculture, water sources and more.
“Sub-Saharan Africa is highly vulnerable to climate shocks, and our research shows that could have far-ranging impact — on everything from child stunting and malaria to food price increases and droughts,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim.
In regards to climate change and its effects on developing countries, the World Bank Group and partners have created the Vulnerable Twenty Group (V20), which includes twenty nations whose future development may be stunted by climate change.
In addition to Africa, The World Bank has announced a funding plan for South Asia regarding climate change. The recently released initiative will attempt to raise $3.8 million for the prevention of natural disasters in Bhutan and South Asia through a new weather and disaster improvement project.
As the world turns its focus toward the home stretch of ending the likes of world hunger and preventable diseases, eradicating extreme poverty also lands on the agenda. According to the World Bank, extreme poverty will reach an all-time low of less than 10 percent by the end of this year.
However, as great as this news is, millions are still suffering, and it is important to remember the end goal of completely eradicating extreme poverty, both through what has been proven to work and new innovations.
Jim Yong Kim of the World Bank said that “this is the best story in the world today, these projections show us that we are the first generation in human history that can end extreme poverty.”
Knowing this, it is so important to take these findings and act on the opportunity; now is not the time to relax. According to the World Bank, 702 million people (or 9.6 percent of the world) will still be living below the poverty line. Most of these people currently live in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
But the progress can be clearly seen when compared with past numbers. In 2012, 902 million people (or 13 percent) still lived in poverty, and that number was higher still at 29 percent in 1999. Since the pledge made by the leaders of the world 15 years ago, more than one billion people have been lifted out of poverty.
Kim believes this steady decline has occurred thanks to a combination of economic growth in developing countries as well as more countries investing in their health and education systems. Resiliency among communities has also been increased through societal safety nets, which help to prevent people from falling back into poverty.
As mentioned above, the work is not over as long as one person still lives in poverty. The world and organizations focused on poverty need to continue to be proactive if they want to be able to completely eradicate extreme poverty.
As Kim says, “This new forecast of poverty falling into the single digits should give us new momentum and help us focus even more clearly on the most effective strategies to end extreme poverty.”
As the holidays approach, many people’s thoughts turn to opportunities to donate to those in need. Those who wish to fight global poverty over the holidays can do so by cooking dinner with ingredients certified by Fair Trade USA.
Fair Trade USA is a nonprofit organization that acts as a third party between consumers and international suppliers. It uses “a market-based approach that gives farmers fair prices, workers safe conditions and entire communities resources for fair, healthy and sustainable lives,” according to the group’s website.
Fair Trade USA began in 1998 under the leadership of founder Paul Rice, and now operates in 80 countries across the globe.
When consumers buy Fair Trade USA-certified products, the proceeds aid the organization’s campaign to promote equality, dignity and self-sufficiency among farming communities that are mired in poverty.
According to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the solution to poverty and hunger around the world is not plowing more land and increasing crop production, but farming smarter.
In 2009, Frank Rijsberman, CEO of CGIAR, suggested reducing agriculture-based poverty by developing methods to achieve greater crop output from existing land and delivering this research to farmers in developing countries.
Fair Trade USA exemplifies Rijsberman’s advice, as it helps farmers generate their crops as efficiently as possible. Imports from developing countries are targets of exploitation because the producers lack the resources and knowledge to barter fair trade.
Fair Trade USA monitors the business transactions of farmers and their consumer clients to ensure the farmers aren’t disadvantaged.
When farmers receive fair prices for their crops, they have the means to improve their livelihood, send their children to school and afford medicine.
More than 570 million farms exist in the world, with 90 percent relying on family labor, so relieving agriculture-based poverty helps children get their education and significantly reduces poverty across the globe.
In addition to its poverty-reduction tactics, Fair Trade USA’s website offers a multitude of recipes involving its certified ingredients. Every turkey, cheesecake and bowl of sorbet helps fight global poverty by enabling a family to put food on its table.
https://borgenproject.org/wp-content/uploads/borgen-project-logo.svg00Borgen Projecthttps://borgenproject.org/wp-content/uploads/borgen-project-logo.svgBorgen Project2015-12-08 01:30:052024-05-27 09:28:30This Holiday Season, Fight Global Poverty at the Dinner Table
Six months ago, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) put forth a challenge to develop innovative, affordable solutions to make wearables and sensor technology a life-changer for women and children. They called it Wearables For Good.
Regarded as one of the world’s most inclusive technology and design challenges, anyone with an idea – students, entrepreneurs, inventors, engineers, designers and technologists responded. With a total of 250 submissions from 65 countries across six continents, two winners have just been announced.
The first is a necklace capable of recording health data, and the second is wearable soap that limits the spread of infectious germs by encouraging handwashing.
The winning teams include students from India and the United States. Both will receive a $15,000 prize and assistance in developing the products from frog design inc. and ARM Holdings, a technology development company.
The wearable necklace, called “Khushi Baby,” works as a data-storing device that provides a two-year personal immunization record for the wearer. The device works with Near Field Communication (NFC) technology which allows the device to send and receive information through a smartphone. Data is then synced to the cloud and displayed on a dashboard accessible to health officials.
Representing the Khushi Baby team, Ruchit Nagar wants “to ensure that all infants have access to informed and timely health care by owning a copy of their medical history. The Khushi Baby system enables access to culturally appropriate wearable digital medical records, even in the most remote and isolated areas. We believe in tracking each child’s immunization to the last mile…At its core, Khushi Baby functions as a key to connect those in need of services to a digitally integrated community.”
SoaPen, the second winning design, is a personal hygiene tool in the form of a soap-crayon. It aims to encourage the habit of handwashing among young school children. With the SoaPen, teachers and parents are able to draw or write on a child’s skin to make the act of hand-washing engaging while reducing the spread of disease.
Shubham Issar, representing SoaPen, said, “We believe that a serious problem can be solved through a simple and fun solution. Our focus is to reduce infant mortality rates and the spread of disease by promoting the habit of hand washing with soap among children. SoaPen taps into the power of the two directional awareness flow between adults and children all over the world, with the aim to reach as many hands as fast as possible!”
Erica Kochi, co-lead and co-founder of UNICEF Innovation, said that “UNICEF scans the near-future horizon focusing on areas undergoing rapid changes that could have a significant impact on children. By showing how wearables and sensors can be re-imagined for low-tech and unconnected environments, our winners were able to demonstrate the potential life-saving benefits these innovations can offer. These results are really promising—if I told you ten years ago that I thought mobile phones could strengthen national health systems, you would have told me I’m crazy. I’m excited to see if wearable and sensor technologies could be the next mobile revolution.”
https://borgenproject.org/wp-content/uploads/borgen-project-logo.svg00Borgen Projecthttps://borgenproject.org/wp-content/uploads/borgen-project-logo.svgBorgen Project2015-12-07 07:05:102024-05-27 09:28:30Wearables for Good Winners Announced
One in eight people go hungry each day, but the world produces enough food to feed the entire population and more. Why haven’t countries eradicated hunger? Can’t governments simply reorganize food distribution to feed everybody? The answer is much more complicated.
Here are six causes of hunger that are not often considered:
Poor infrastructure and vehicles – Many developing countries lack the resources to build sufficient roads, which impedes food transportation. In some countries, motor vehicles are also in short supply, so the majority of transportation is on foot, bicycle or on the backs of livestock. With these methods of transportation, fresh food would spoil quickly. Rural areas must rely on the natural resources around them, and if those resources aren’t enough, the inhabitants may go hungry.
Deforestation – Forests act as a safety net during times of food shortage: communities can rely on nuts, edible plants and forest animals until crops are ready for harvest, or food is imported. Deforestation robs people of these resources. In fact, one out of six people rely directly on forests for food. Furthermore, deforestation can lead to overworked soil, which in turn leads to soil erosion. If soil becomes unfit for crops, farmers and surrounding settlements become at risk for famine.
War – In times of national and international strife, one popular tactic towards achieving victory is destroying the enemy’s food supply. Soldiers will steal animals, demolish food markets and set fields on fire to force the other side into submission. While an effective ploy, it leaves citizens with a major food crisis that may take decades to resolve. Refugees of war often face hunger complications as they struggle to scrape together a living or find a home. The world is seeing this problem right now, as hungry Syrians scatter across the globe in search of shelter and nourishment.
Foreign trade – When a food crisis occurs at a local level, it can also have far-reaching effects. Countries that rely on the export of goods from that area suddenly can’t receive necessary supplies. “Overall, in the last two decades there has been an increase in the number of trade-dependent countries that reach sufficiency through their reliance on trade,” Paolo D’Odorico—who conducted a study on climate change and crop production—told Natural World News.
Discrimination – In every country, groups of people are poorer than their neighbors due to religious, racial or gender-based discrimination. If groups are not well-received by their community, it becomes very difficult for them to ward off hunger. They may be banned from restaurants and food markets, unable to find employment, unlawfully incarcerated and overlooked by government welfare programs.
Cheap food – Sometimes, the hunger problem is a matter of quality, not quantity. If people purchase and consume cheap, unhealthy food, they will reach their proper calorie intake, but still suffer severe nutrient deficiencies. This situation is known as “hidden hunger.” Unborn babies and toddlers are especially vulnerable because they need specific nutrients to develop and become resilient to disease.
An alliance of international and domestic health organizations has created the Zero TB Cities project in an effort to drastically reduce tuberculosis (TB) infections around the world. Chennai, India is one of the coalition’s first targets.
According to the World Health Organization, 2.6 million people in India are infected with TB, accounting for 23 percent of global TB cases.
Pamela Das, Executive Editor of The Lancet said in an Editorial, “The goal is to help communities move to zero deaths from tuberculosis in their own way, and create ‘islands of elimination,’ which will hopefully reverse the overall tuberculosis epidemic.”
The project will be using a comprehensive method at a community level to tackle the disease. The “island of elimination” strategy is a simple strategy that pushes for better use of current tools and methods for attacking TB.
Zero TB Cities relies on the collaboration between local governments, institutions and grassroots associations to provide life-changing treatment. The partnership of the Municipal Corporation of Chennai, Chennai-based REACH and the National Institute of Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT) will conduct the project.
Although TB is an airborne disease, Tom Nicholson, head of the project, said that it can be controlled and has been in the past.
According to Dr. Suvanand Sahu, Deputy Executive Director of the Stop TB Partnership in Geneva, the transmission of TB is much higher in cities because people live in close proximity to each another and infection spreads quickly.
In Chennai, the project will actively search for people infected with TB and treat them to interrupt transmission cycles and reduce mortality. The project will also provide preventative TB treatments for people in high-risk areas and routine monitoring for early and accurate diagnosis.
Nicholson, an associate in research at the Duke Center for International Development (DCID) in Durham, said he believes that any city can reach “pre-elimination phase”. This phase refers to a relatively TB free environment found in wealthy countries as a result of Zero TB Cities.
https://borgenproject.org/wp-content/uploads/borgen-project-logo.svg00Borgen Projecthttps://borgenproject.org/wp-content/uploads/borgen-project-logo.svgBorgen Project2015-12-06 01:30:342020-06-24 20:27:39New Zero TB Cities Project Launched in India
Thermoelectric generators that use heat from clay stoves to produce electricity are becoming a popular tool in Malawi where efforts are being made to protect the environment.
Developed with the help of Irish Aid, the thermoelectric generator also provides an affordable option for Malawians to access electricity from a clean energy source.
The device is bolted to a clay cooking stove and uses the heat from everyday cooking to charge devices such as phones, LED lights and radios. The electrical current is created by the differential in temperature between two metal parts.
Malawi is one of the least developed countries in the world. Fewer than one out of every 100 rural people have access to grid electricity and more than 85 percent of people live in rural areas.
Aidan Fitzpatrick, Head of Development at Irish Aid, said, “At the very best by 2025, only 20 percent of the population will have grid electricity, so there will still be a huge need to find energy solutions for the majority of Malawians.”
The Irish aid group worked to create a device that would be easy to use for people and could use while cooking to create electricity. The group focused on a generator that would create and sustain community jobs.
A thermal engineering research group joined with Concern Universal and Irish Aid in Malawi to design an electricity generator that could fit on a clay stove, which are already in use as part of the government’s plan to produce two million clean stoves by 2020.
The group decided to use a trial-and-error design process because there are already many innovative solutions to produce electricity.
According to lead engineer, Professor Tony Robinson, “We needed to design something to withstand an extreme environment, requiring no training or maintenance so people can plug in their phone or light while they’re cooking and get on with their lives without having to go search for firewood every day. On top of that, it had to be cheaply produced in Malawi with locally available materials.”
The generators will eventually be made locally for around 20 euros. Many families in Malawi will be able to purchase the generators through microfinance options.
Concern Universal Project Manager, Blessings Kambombo, said; “Once it is rolled out, it will make a huge difference to rural communities not only by improving their quality of life but providing business opportunities and therefore choices.”
https://borgenproject.org/wp-content/uploads/borgen-project-logo.svg00Borgen Projecthttps://borgenproject.org/wp-content/uploads/borgen-project-logo.svgBorgen Project2015-12-06 01:30:212020-06-24 20:28:08Cooking to Produce Electricity in Malawi
Extreme poverty makes access to clean water and nutritional food difficult for millions of people. Sanitation and hygiene also suffer as survival becomes the focus.
However, poor sanitation and hygiene often lead to diseases which cause diarrhea and fluid loss. These conditions can also result in malnutrition as more food is being expelled rather than processed and used. With a little help and knowledge, sanitation, hygiene and clean water can reverse the tide of disease and improve nutrition.
Take for example the situation in the Yarou Plateau village in Mali from the USAID blog:
“People used to use any open space for bathroom needs. Flies could easily find fecal matter lying around, and from there land on food, spreading diseases like diarrhea and intestinal worms. Fecal matter in open areas also contaminated the groundwater, which villagers use for drinking and preparing food. Diarrhea can worsen malnutrition, and the undernourished already have weakened immune systems — making them more susceptible to intestinal infections and more severe episodes of diarrhea.”
To combat the malnutrition these diseases cause, the World Health Organization has set some global targets for 2025:
40 percent reduction in the number of children under the age of five who have had their growth stunted
50 percent reduction in the number of women of a reproductive age who experience anemia
30 percent reduction in babies born with a low birth weight
A halt in the increase of childhood obesity
50 percent increase in breastfeeding exclusivity during the first six months of a baby’s life
USAID says malnutrition “is an underlying factor in almost half of all child deaths” and also increases a child’s chance of dying from preventable illnesses such as pneumonia and diarrheal disease. These diseases cause anemia, loss of appetite and a decrease in the body’s ability to properly absorb nutrients.
Two years ago, conditions in the Yarou Plateau village changed for the better. The village has improved its sanitation by building more than 60 latrines and fixing ones they already had.
In addition to Yarou Plateau, more than 179 other villages have been able to improve sanitation and hygiene through support from USAID’s project WASHplus.
The program works not only to improve water, sanitation and hygiene but also to reduce “diarrheal diseases and malnutrition.” WASHplus introduces and promotes proper hand washing, water treatment and food preparation and storage.
Where proper sanitation and hygiene practices are initiated and properly implemented, the poor and those living in underdeveloped countries can avoid illness and get the nutrition they need to grow, thrive and break the cycle of poverty.
https://borgenproject.org/wp-content/uploads/borgen-project-logo.svg00Borgen Projecthttps://borgenproject.org/wp-content/uploads/borgen-project-logo.svgBorgen Project2015-12-05 01:30:502024-05-27 09:28:26Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: Better Nutrition for The Poor
Ethiopia is currently facing its worst drought in 30 years leaving 7.5 million hungry each year. Researchers are attempting to popularize the Enset plant amongst farmers in order to address hunger in the region.
The Enset plant is known as the ‘false banana’ as it resembles the banana tree but is taller and fatter. The crop is a staple in the highland areas of southern Ethiopia. However, in the midlands, non-indigenous and soil-depleting crops like maize are farmed.
While other crops like coffee and grains wither, the Enset plants withstand both droughts and heavy rains. In fact, it can survive up to seven years without rain by storing water in its leaves.
“One of the unique qualities of the Enset is that it will always be around as a backup plan,” said Gebre Ynitso, an associate professor who studies the plant in the Department of Social Anthropology at Addis Ababa University. “It’s like money in the bank.”
All parts of the Enset plant are edible. The root of the Enset is boiled and served with meat, while the trunk and stalks are fermented and eaten with bread or porridge. The root of the plant can even be made to last a number of years by placing it in a 2-meter deep pit, with yeast and starch to ferment it.
The Enset plant can also feed livestock, allowing families a form of protein during famines and droughts. The leaves that fall from the Enset plant also improve soil fertility.
The Enset plant is only a staple to 20 percent of the Ethiopian population, as most see the plant as inferior and harder to cultivate than grains.
However, researchers have created outreach programs to foster increased awareness of the importance of the Enset plant. The Arba Minch Univeristy in southern Ethiopia built an “Enset Park” to provide local farmers with seeds and other materials needed to plant Ensets.
The Dilla University hosted “Enset on Wheels” food carts, and prompted other food festivals to take place. For example, a festival in Gadeo showed local farmers the versatility of Enset by presenting 32 different meals using the plant.
Wolde Tadesse, a visiting researcher at the African Studies Department at Oxford University in the UK said: “What’s important about the Enset is that it keeps the family alive. It’s the backbone of the family and community.”
East Africa’s first solar power plant in Rwanda has created 350 local jobs and powers more than 15,000 homes. This use of renewable energy means that Rwanda is on track to achieve its goal of providing half of its population with electricity by 2017.
The $23.7 million project took only a year to complete. The Rwandan government partnered with Gigawatt Global, Norfund and Scatec Solar; all of whom were aided by the president’s Power Africa initiative.
The 17-hectare solar plant is compromised of 28,360 solar panels which are arranged to mimic the shape of the African continent. The panels are computer controlled and tilt to track the sun throughout the day which improves its efficiency by 20 percent, compared to stationary solar panels.
“The speed with which this project was completed is a tribute to the strength of the Rwandan government’s institutions and their laser-focus on increasing Rwanda’s generation capacity as well as to the nimbleness of our team and partners which spanned eight countries,” Chaim Motzen, managing director and co-founder of Gigawatt Global, said.
The plant is 60 kilometers east of the capital Kigali, on land owned by the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV). The village is home to children who were orphaned before and after Rwanda’s genocide in 1994. The lease provided the village with significant income which was invested in schooling and extracurricular activities.
Gigawatt Global will also be implementing solar energy technology training to students at the Liquidnet High School in ASYV.
Rwanda relies on diesel fuel for electrical power which is expensive and highly polluting. It cripples the country’s economic growth and leaves more than 15 percent of the population without electricity.
The installation of the solar power plant has provided a better renewable energy source that has also increased Rwanda’s electrical capacity by 6 percent. Consequently, economic output, social welfare, employment conditions and standards of living have improved.
“We have plenty of sun. Some living in remote areas where there is no energy. Solar will be the way forward for African countries,” Twaha Twagirimana, the plant supervisor, said.
https://borgenproject.org/wp-content/uploads/borgen-project-logo.svg00Borgen Projecthttps://borgenproject.org/wp-content/uploads/borgen-project-logo.svgBorgen Project2015-12-05 01:30:322020-06-24 20:30:02All About Renewable Energy in Rwanda
Africa Climate Plan: Addressing Extreme Poverty
The World Bank has created the Africa Climate Plan to alleviate extreme poverty caused by climate change. Titled “Accelerating Climate-Resilient and Low-Carbon Development”, the plan was presented at COP21, the global climate talks in Paris, on November 30. According to The World Bank, the plan hopes to boost renewable energy options and strengthen early warning systems, so as to better equip countries to deal with the destructive effects of climate change.
According to The World Bank, the Africa Climate Plan hopes to boost renewable energy options and strengthen early warning systems, so as to better equip countries to deal with the destructive effects of climate change.
These effects include higher temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns, rising sea levels and weather-related disasters, all of which pose a threat to agriculture, water sources and more.
“Sub-Saharan Africa is highly vulnerable to climate shocks, and our research shows that could have far-ranging impact — on everything from child stunting and malaria to food price increases and droughts,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim.
In regards to climate change and its effects on developing countries, the World Bank Group and partners have created the Vulnerable Twenty Group (V20), which includes twenty nations whose future development may be stunted by climate change.
The list of V20 members: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bhutan, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Kiribati, Madagascar, Maldives, Nepal, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Vietnam.
In addition to Africa, The World Bank has announced a funding plan for South Asia regarding climate change. The recently released initiative will attempt to raise $3.8 million for the prevention of natural disasters in Bhutan and South Asia through a new weather and disaster improvement project.
– Ashley Tressel
Sources: World Bank 1, World Bank 2, V-20, World Bank 3
Photo: Flickr
Eradicating Extreme Poverty: The 10 Percent Mark
As the world turns its focus toward the home stretch of ending the likes of world hunger and preventable diseases, eradicating extreme poverty also lands on the agenda. According to the World Bank, extreme poverty will reach an all-time low of less than 10 percent by the end of this year.
However, as great as this news is, millions are still suffering, and it is important to remember the end goal of completely eradicating extreme poverty, both through what has been proven to work and new innovations.
Jim Yong Kim of the World Bank said that “this is the best story in the world today, these projections show us that we are the first generation in human history that can end extreme poverty.”
Knowing this, it is so important to take these findings and act on the opportunity; now is not the time to relax. According to the World Bank, 702 million people (or 9.6 percent of the world) will still be living below the poverty line. Most of these people currently live in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
But the progress can be clearly seen when compared with past numbers. In 2012, 902 million people (or 13 percent) still lived in poverty, and that number was higher still at 29 percent in 1999. Since the pledge made by the leaders of the world 15 years ago, more than one billion people have been lifted out of poverty.
Kim believes this steady decline has occurred thanks to a combination of economic growth in developing countries as well as more countries investing in their health and education systems. Resiliency among communities has also been increased through societal safety nets, which help to prevent people from falling back into poverty.
As mentioned above, the work is not over as long as one person still lives in poverty. The world and organizations focused on poverty need to continue to be proactive if they want to be able to completely eradicate extreme poverty.
As Kim says, “This new forecast of poverty falling into the single digits should give us new momentum and help us focus even more clearly on the most effective strategies to end extreme poverty.”
– Drusilla Gibbs
Sources: Al Jazeera 1, Al Jazeera 2, World Bank
Photo: Christianity Today
This Holiday Season, Fight Global Poverty at the Dinner Table
As the holidays approach, many people’s thoughts turn to opportunities to donate to those in need. Those who wish to fight global poverty over the holidays can do so by cooking dinner with ingredients certified by Fair Trade USA.
Fair Trade USA is a nonprofit organization that acts as a third party between consumers and international suppliers. It uses “a market-based approach that gives farmers fair prices, workers safe conditions and entire communities resources for fair, healthy and sustainable lives,” according to the group’s website.
Fair Trade USA began in 1998 under the leadership of founder Paul Rice, and now operates in 80 countries across the globe.
When consumers buy Fair Trade USA-certified products, the proceeds aid the organization’s campaign to promote equality, dignity and self-sufficiency among farming communities that are mired in poverty.
According to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the solution to poverty and hunger around the world is not plowing more land and increasing crop production, but farming smarter.
In 2009, Frank Rijsberman, CEO of CGIAR, suggested reducing agriculture-based poverty by developing methods to achieve greater crop output from existing land and delivering this research to farmers in developing countries.
Fair Trade USA exemplifies Rijsberman’s advice, as it helps farmers generate their crops as efficiently as possible. Imports from developing countries are targets of exploitation because the producers lack the resources and knowledge to barter fair trade.
Fair Trade USA monitors the business transactions of farmers and their consumer clients to ensure the farmers aren’t disadvantaged.
When farmers receive fair prices for their crops, they have the means to improve their livelihood, send their children to school and afford medicine.
More than 570 million farms exist in the world, with 90 percent relying on family labor, so relieving agriculture-based poverty helps children get their education and significantly reduces poverty across the globe.
In addition to its poverty-reduction tactics, Fair Trade USA’s website offers a multitude of recipes involving its certified ingredients. Every turkey, cheesecake and bowl of sorbet helps fight global poverty by enabling a family to put food on its table.
– Sarah Prellwitz
Sources: Fair Trade USA, Global Agriculture, VOA News, WDRB, WSJ
Photo: Wheatsville Co-op
Wearables for Good Winners Announced
Six months ago, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) put forth a challenge to develop innovative, affordable solutions to make wearables and sensor technology a life-changer for women and children. They called it Wearables For Good.
Regarded as one of the world’s most inclusive technology and design challenges, anyone with an idea – students, entrepreneurs, inventors, engineers, designers and technologists responded. With a total of 250 submissions from 65 countries across six continents, two winners have just been announced.
The first is a necklace capable of recording health data, and the second is wearable soap that limits the spread of infectious germs by encouraging handwashing.
The winning teams include students from India and the United States. Both will receive a $15,000 prize and assistance in developing the products from frog design inc. and ARM Holdings, a technology development company.
The wearable necklace, called “Khushi Baby,” works as a data-storing device that provides a two-year personal immunization record for the wearer. The device works with Near Field Communication (NFC) technology which allows the device to send and receive information through a smartphone. Data is then synced to the cloud and displayed on a dashboard accessible to health officials.
Representing the Khushi Baby team, Ruchit Nagar wants “to ensure that all infants have access to informed and timely health care by owning a copy of their medical history. The Khushi Baby system enables access to culturally appropriate wearable digital medical records, even in the most remote and isolated areas. We believe in tracking each child’s immunization to the last mile…At its core, Khushi Baby functions as a key to connect those in need of services to a digitally integrated community.”
SoaPen, the second winning design, is a personal hygiene tool in the form of a soap-crayon. It aims to encourage the habit of handwashing among young school children. With the SoaPen, teachers and parents are able to draw or write on a child’s skin to make the act of hand-washing engaging while reducing the spread of disease.
Shubham Issar, representing SoaPen, said, “We believe that a serious problem can be solved through a simple and fun solution. Our focus is to reduce infant mortality rates and the spread of disease by promoting the habit of hand washing with soap among children. SoaPen taps into the power of the two directional awareness flow between adults and children all over the world, with the aim to reach as many hands as fast as possible!”
Erica Kochi, co-lead and co-founder of UNICEF Innovation, said that “UNICEF scans the near-future horizon focusing on areas undergoing rapid changes that could have a significant impact on children. By showing how wearables and sensors can be re-imagined for low-tech and unconnected environments, our winners were able to demonstrate the potential life-saving benefits these innovations can offer. These results are really promising—if I told you ten years ago that I thought mobile phones could strengthen national health systems, you would have told me I’m crazy. I’m excited to see if wearable and sensor technologies could be the next mobile revolution.”
– Kara Buckley
Sources: Reuters, NPR, UNICEF, Wearables For Good
Photo: Flickr
Six Surprising Causes of Hunger
Here are six causes of hunger that are not often considered:
– Sarah Prellwitz
Sources: Bread.org, Global Issues, Nature World News, WFP
Photo: Lifted Hands Foundation
New Zero TB Cities Project Launched in India
An alliance of international and domestic health organizations has created the Zero TB Cities project in an effort to drastically reduce tuberculosis (TB) infections around the world. Chennai, India is one of the coalition’s first targets.
According to the World Health Organization, 2.6 million people in India are infected with TB, accounting for 23 percent of global TB cases.
Pamela Das, Executive Editor of The Lancet said in an Editorial, “The goal is to help communities move to zero deaths from tuberculosis in their own way, and create ‘islands of elimination,’ which will hopefully reverse the overall tuberculosis epidemic.”
The project will be using a comprehensive method at a community level to tackle the disease. The “island of elimination” strategy is a simple strategy that pushes for better use of current tools and methods for attacking TB.
Zero TB Cities relies on the collaboration between local governments, institutions and grassroots associations to provide life-changing treatment. The partnership of the Municipal Corporation of Chennai, Chennai-based REACH and the National Institute of Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT) will conduct the project.
Although TB is an airborne disease, Tom Nicholson, head of the project, said that it can be controlled and has been in the past.
According to Dr. Suvanand Sahu, Deputy Executive Director of the Stop TB Partnership in Geneva, the transmission of TB is much higher in cities because people live in close proximity to each another and infection spreads quickly.
In Chennai, the project will actively search for people infected with TB and treat them to interrupt transmission cycles and reduce mortality. The project will also provide preventative TB treatments for people in high-risk areas and routine monitoring for early and accurate diagnosis.
Nicholson, an associate in research at the Duke Center for International Development (DCID) in Durham, said he believes that any city can reach “pre-elimination phase”. This phase refers to a relatively TB free environment found in wealthy countries as a result of Zero TB Cities.
– Marie Helene Ngom
Sources: TheHindu, Indread, TBfacts
Photo: Flickr
Cooking to Produce Electricity in Malawi
Thermoelectric generators that use heat from clay stoves to produce electricity are becoming a popular tool in Malawi where efforts are being made to protect the environment.
Developed with the help of Irish Aid, the thermoelectric generator also provides an affordable option for Malawians to access electricity from a clean energy source.
The device is bolted to a clay cooking stove and uses the heat from everyday cooking to charge devices such as phones, LED lights and radios. The electrical current is created by the differential in temperature between two metal parts.
Malawi is one of the least developed countries in the world. Fewer than one out of every 100 rural people have access to grid electricity and more than 85 percent of people live in rural areas.
Aidan Fitzpatrick, Head of Development at Irish Aid, said, “At the very best by 2025, only 20 percent of the population will have grid electricity, so there will still be a huge need to find energy solutions for the majority of Malawians.”
The Irish aid group worked to create a device that would be easy to use for people and could use while cooking to create electricity. The group focused on a generator that would create and sustain community jobs.
A thermal engineering research group joined with Concern Universal and Irish Aid in Malawi to design an electricity generator that could fit on a clay stove, which are already in use as part of the government’s plan to produce two million clean stoves by 2020.
The group decided to use a trial-and-error design process because there are already many innovative solutions to produce electricity.
According to lead engineer, Professor Tony Robinson, “We needed to design something to withstand an extreme environment, requiring no training or maintenance so people can plug in their phone or light while they’re cooking and get on with their lives without having to go search for firewood every day. On top of that, it had to be cheaply produced in Malawi with locally available materials.”
The generators will eventually be made locally for around 20 euros. Many families in Malawi will be able to purchase the generators through microfinance options.
Concern Universal Project Manager, Blessings Kambombo, said; “Once it is rolled out, it will make a huge difference to rural communities not only by improving their quality of life but providing business opportunities and therefore choices.”
– Jordan Connell
Sources: BBC News, The Irish Times
Photo: Flickr
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: Better Nutrition for The Poor
However, poor sanitation and hygiene often lead to diseases which cause diarrhea and fluid loss. These conditions can also result in malnutrition as more food is being expelled rather than processed and used. With a little help and knowledge, sanitation, hygiene and clean water can reverse the tide of disease and improve nutrition.
Take for example the situation in the Yarou Plateau village in Mali from the USAID blog:
“People used to use any open space for bathroom needs. Flies could easily find fecal matter lying around, and from there land on food, spreading diseases like diarrhea and intestinal worms. Fecal matter in open areas also contaminated the groundwater, which villagers use for drinking and preparing food. Diarrhea can worsen malnutrition, and the undernourished already have weakened immune systems — making them more susceptible to intestinal infections and more severe episodes of diarrhea.”
To combat the malnutrition these diseases cause, the World Health Organization has set some global targets for 2025:
USAID says malnutrition “is an underlying factor in almost half of all child deaths” and also increases a child’s chance of dying from preventable illnesses such as pneumonia and diarrheal disease. These diseases cause anemia, loss of appetite and a decrease in the body’s ability to properly absorb nutrients.
Two years ago, conditions in the Yarou Plateau village changed for the better. The village has improved its sanitation by building more than 60 latrines and fixing ones they already had.
In addition to Yarou Plateau, more than 179 other villages have been able to improve sanitation and hygiene through support from USAID’s project WASHplus.
The program works not only to improve water, sanitation and hygiene but also to reduce “diarrheal diseases and malnutrition.” WASHplus introduces and promotes proper hand washing, water treatment and food preparation and storage.
Where proper sanitation and hygiene practices are initiated and properly implemented, the poor and those living in underdeveloped countries can avoid illness and get the nutrition they need to grow, thrive and break the cycle of poverty.
– Drusilla Gibbs
Sources: USAID, WHO
Photo: Flickr
The Enset Plant Provides Food Security in Ethiopia
Ethiopia is currently facing its worst drought in 30 years leaving 7.5 million hungry each year. Researchers are attempting to popularize the Enset plant amongst farmers in order to address hunger in the region.
The Enset plant is known as the ‘false banana’ as it resembles the banana tree but is taller and fatter. The crop is a staple in the highland areas of southern Ethiopia. However, in the midlands, non-indigenous and soil-depleting crops like maize are farmed.
While other crops like coffee and grains wither, the Enset plants withstand both droughts and heavy rains. In fact, it can survive up to seven years without rain by storing water in its leaves.
“One of the unique qualities of the Enset is that it will always be around as a backup plan,” said Gebre Ynitso, an associate professor who studies the plant in the Department of Social Anthropology at Addis Ababa University. “It’s like money in the bank.”
All parts of the Enset plant are edible. The root of the Enset is boiled and served with meat, while the trunk and stalks are fermented and eaten with bread or porridge. The root of the plant can even be made to last a number of years by placing it in a 2-meter deep pit, with yeast and starch to ferment it.
The Enset plant can also feed livestock, allowing families a form of protein during famines and droughts. The leaves that fall from the Enset plant also improve soil fertility.
The Enset plant is only a staple to 20 percent of the Ethiopian population, as most see the plant as inferior and harder to cultivate than grains.
However, researchers have created outreach programs to foster increased awareness of the importance of the Enset plant. The Arba Minch Univeristy in southern Ethiopia built an “Enset Park” to provide local farmers with seeds and other materials needed to plant Ensets.
The Dilla University hosted “Enset on Wheels” food carts, and prompted other food festivals to take place. For example, a festival in Gadeo showed local farmers the versatility of Enset by presenting 32 different meals using the plant.
Wolde Tadesse, a visiting researcher at the African Studies Department at Oxford University in the UK said: “What’s important about the Enset is that it keeps the family alive. It’s the backbone of the family and community.”
– Marie Helene Ngom
Sources: Permaculture, DW
Photo: Flickr
All About Renewable Energy in Rwanda
East Africa’s first solar power plant in Rwanda has created 350 local jobs and powers more than 15,000 homes. This use of renewable energy means that Rwanda is on track to achieve its goal of providing half of its population with electricity by 2017.
The $23.7 million project took only a year to complete. The Rwandan government partnered with Gigawatt Global, Norfund and Scatec Solar; all of whom were aided by the president’s Power Africa initiative.
The 17-hectare solar plant is compromised of 28,360 solar panels which are arranged to mimic the shape of the African continent. The panels are computer controlled and tilt to track the sun throughout the day which improves its efficiency by 20 percent, compared to stationary solar panels.
“The speed with which this project was completed is a tribute to the strength of the Rwandan government’s institutions and their laser-focus on increasing Rwanda’s generation capacity as well as to the nimbleness of our team and partners which spanned eight countries,” Chaim Motzen, managing director and co-founder of Gigawatt Global, said.
The plant is 60 kilometers east of the capital Kigali, on land owned by the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV). The village is home to children who were orphaned before and after Rwanda’s genocide in 1994. The lease provided the village with significant income which was invested in schooling and extracurricular activities.
Gigawatt Global will also be implementing solar energy technology training to students at the Liquidnet High School in ASYV.
Rwanda relies on diesel fuel for electrical power which is expensive and highly polluting. It cripples the country’s economic growth and leaves more than 15 percent of the population without electricity.
The installation of the solar power plant has provided a better renewable energy source that has also increased Rwanda’s electrical capacity by 6 percent. Consequently, economic output, social welfare, employment conditions and standards of living have improved.
“We have plenty of sun. Some living in remote areas where there is no energy. Solar will be the way forward for African countries,” Twaha Twagirimana, the plant supervisor, said.
– Marie Helene Ngom
Sources: The Guardian, Cleantechnica, Gigawatt Global
Photo: Flickr