Posht-e-Bagh Research Farm is one of the most important research farms in northern Afghanistan. Nestled in the Dehdadi district of the Balkhl province, the farm produces breeder seeds. These genetically improved seeds flourish under local growing conditions, enabling farm productivity to increase.
Currently, the 16 employees of Posht-e-Bagh monitor 972 different types of wheat in order to assess their suitability for local growing conditions.
Every seed produced at Posht-e-Bagh passes through five initial stages: introduction (where seeds and the resulting crops are assessed for their suitability), selection, hybridization, mutation and genetic engineering. From there, a breeder seed is selected and then sent out for further processing before reaching farmers in the form of ‘improved’ seeds.
According to Abdul Wahid Wahidi, a researcher with the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), the main goal of Posht-e-Bagh is to increase the productivity of farmers in northern Afghanistan. The eventual production and wide-scale distribution of improved seeds will help generate a long-term solution to the eradication of poverty among farmers.
Breeder seeds produced by farms like Posht-e-Bagh Research Farm are sent to one of six Improved Seed Enterprises (ISE) scattered across the country with the goal of multiplying the breeder seeds into foundation seeds. On such a farm is Khasa-Paz farm, where there are six varieties of wheat being grown on the 1.9 million square meter farm this year.
ISE farms eventually sell the seeds to one of 102 Private Seed Enterprises (PSEs) across the country. They then use these seeds to produce the certified seeds, or ‘improved’ seeds, which are distributed to local farmers.
“Improved seed is a vital input for proper crop production,” said Hesamuddin Rahimi, Afghanistan Agriculture Inputs Project (AAIP) Agronomy Manager in Balkh Province. The AAIP, launched in July 2013, is backed with $74.8 million in support from the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF). It is their aim to strengthen institutional capacity for the safety and reliability of agricultural inputs and sustainable production of certified seeds.
“Khasa-Paz farm has managed to help farmers to some extent,” Rahimi said. “As it is one of the farms where tons of registered seeds are being produced and sent to PSEs to produce improved seeds for distribution to the market.”
In fact, last year Khasa-Paz farm produced 87.5 tons of foundation seeds.
“The improved seeds result in good harvest. There is an almost 60 percent increase in yield of improved varieties compared to the local seeds,” Rahimi said. “The good thing about the improved seeds is they are suitable for this climate, a factor that increases both the quality and quantity of the crops.” The crops are also resistant against pests and diseases, adds Abdul Fatah, a farmer at Posht-e-Bagh farm.
Many farmers across Afghanistan still use low-quality seeds that result in poor harvests, a critical factor in perpetuating poverty among farmers. Those who have used the improved seeds now see the difference in output.
“Luckily now, farmers’ conditions are better because of the improved seeds,” Mohammad Ghani, a farmer who has been working on Khasa-Paz for eight years, said.
Farmer Lal Mohammad, a colleague of Ghani’s, echoes that sentiment: “Now that I see and understand the difference between good and poor quality seeds, I try to share the knowledge that I have gained with other farmers I know.”
– Kara Buckley
Sources: ARTF, CIMMYT, World Bank 1, World Bank 2, World Bank 3
Photo: The World Bank, Agchallenge2050
Sanitation as a Human Right: Recognized by UN
While both the rights continue to have a strong relation, Léo Heller, a U.N. Special Reporter focused on the human rights of safe drinking water and sanitation, said the split would help governments and non-governmental organizations to focus more specifically on what needs to be done. Having sanitation as a standalone right demonstrates that sanitation is not solely tied to water.
“It gives people a clearer perception of the right, strengthening their capacity to claim this right when the State fails to provide the services or when they are unsafe, unaffordable, inaccessible or with inadequate privacy,” said Heller.
The U.N. reports that more than 2.5 billion people worldwide, one-third of the total world population, live without access to proper toilets.
The World Health Organization (WHO) states that hygienic sanitation facilities are crucial for public health. With this in mind, the U.N. hopes that the effect of recognizing sanitation as a human right will curb a major source of deadly infections.
A recent U.N. study found that more than 443 million school days are lost every year due to sanitation and water-related issues. Inadequate sanitation facilities are a common barrier for school attendance, particularly for girls.
“It is hoped that this will have a direct impact on those women, children, people with disabilities and marginalized individuals and groups who currently lack access to sanitation . . . an opportunity to highlight their plight,” Mr. Heller said.
Heller continued saying, “The move to making sanitation its own human right means that we can directly address the particular human rights challenges associated with sanitation.”
Progress in sanitation is being made. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2015, 68 percent of the world’s population had access to improved sanitation facilities including flush toilets and covered latrines, compared with 54 percent in 1990.
Despite reports like this, the 2015 Millennium Development Goal target to halve the proportion of the population without access to improved sanitation facilities was missed by almost 700 million people.
The worldwide provision of clean water and sanitation is the sixth of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the U.N. in September. These goals are a part of the ambitious 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
– Kara Buckley
Sources: UN, WHO
Photo: Wikipedia
Understanding the Success of Bolsa Familia
Since that time, Bolsa Familia has blossomed into one of the largest programs of its kind, with close to 14 million Brazilian families receiving funds.
In 2001, Brazil’s Gini coefficient, a tool used to measure inequality, hovered at around 0.6, which is particularly high for global standards. On the Gini coefficient scale, the closer the number is to 0 the better, “0” denotes perfect equality whereas “1” represents perfect inequality where one individual owns all the wealth.
However, between 2001 and 2013 the measure declined, thanks in part to Bolsa Familia and other poverty reduction programs.
Bolsa Familia targets families below the poverty line and creates stipulations for receiving funds meant to increase human capital. For instance, children under the age of 17 must regularly attend school and mothers need to ensure their children are vaccinated.
According to a 2010 analysis of polling data and media coverage by the World Bank, the strict conditions for government assistance legitimized Bolsa Família with Brazilian voters and generated widespread support on both ends of the political spectrum.
The program has also been lauded for being highly affordable. “The amount spent on Bolsa Família is nothing,” Yoshiaki Nakano, the director of the São Paulo School of Economics, said in an interview with Foreign Affairs. As one of the world’s largest poverty reduction programs, Bolsa Familia costs Brazilian taxpayers less than 0.5 percent of the country’s $2.3 trillion GDP.
Bolsa Familia was structured to benefit not only those living in extreme poverty, but all Brazilians.
President Lula explained the benefits to Foreign Affairs when he first introduced Bolsa Familia, “When millions can go to the supermarket to buy milk, to buy bread, the economy will work better,” he said. “The miserable will become consumers.”
– Daniel Liddicoet
Sources: World Bank 1, Estadao, World Bank 2, Foreign Affairs
Picture: Google Images
Gates Leads Anti-Poverty Campaign in Gulf
By visiting the region, Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft and a well-known philanthropist, is actively seeking donations toward his foundation’s $2.5 billion ‘Lives and Livelihood Fund.’ The fund is philanthropy which aims to reduce poverty and disease across 30 countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
The Lives and Livelihood Fund is a joint project with the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB). Launched in June, the IDB and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation formally announced the $500 million grant facility.
Through the innovative facility, IDB, the Gates Foundation and potential future donors will support over five years of poverty-focused programs worth $2.5 billion in primary healthcare, disease control, smallholder agriculture and basic rural infrastructure in IDB member countries, with a special focus on low-income countries.
At the launch, Gates appealed to donors saying, “we now have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve the quality of life for each of the nearly 2 billion people living in the bank’s member countries. It is an honor to join you in this historic effort.”
IDB has committed $2 billion in loans financing the Gates Foundation if they are able to raise $500 million in donations (of which the Gates Foundation has pledged $100 million). Donations, for the remaining difference, are expected to be drawn from wealthy Gulf nations.
Speaking in the United Arab Emirates during an interview with Reuters, Gates said, “Certainly the price of oil means that these countries are having to prioritize both domestic and international things they do. It would be easier if oil was $100 a barrel.”
Oil prices have fallen 60 percent since mid-2014, and the benchmark Brent crude was trading around $42.80 in December 2015.
Despite this, “Philanthropy is growing here and every time I come to the region I get a chance to sit and talk with people who are considering giving and I hear a lot of enthusiasm,” Gates said.
According to Gates, the anti-poverty campaign has several key partners in the region. Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is one such partner.
Back in July, the prince said he would gradually donate his entire $32 billion fortune to charities that promote health, disease eradication, disaster relief and women’s rights.
Days later, United Arab Emirates businessman Abdullah Ahmad al-Ghurair gave more than $1 billion, a third of his business empire, to a foundation supporting education in the Arab world.
Large-scale donations like these could mark a new trend among the Gulf’s wealthiest. The changes that could come as a result of their generosity are promising, to say the least.
– Kara Buckley
Sources: Business Insider, ISDB
Photo: Quotes Gram
10 Facts About the Darfur Genocide
The Darfur Genocide is one of the worst human rights abuses of modern time. Over 90 diverse tribes and sub-clans populate the region of Darfur which is located in western Sudan. With a pre-conflict population of 6 million people, tensions within the region leading to the Darfur Genocide were produced by multiple interconnected factors including ethnic conflict, economic instability and political opportunism.
The level of violence and destruction at the height of the Darfur genocide was staggering. In 2005, the Coalition for International Justice interviewed 1,136 Darfur refugees located in 19 camps in neighboring Chad. A staggering 61 percent of the respondents noted that they had witnessed the killing of one of their family members.
Top 10 Darfur Genocide Facts:
– Lauren Lewis
Sources: BBC, United Human Rights Council, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Darfur Australia Network, UNICEF, The Washington Post, Sudan Research, Analysis, Advocacy
Photo: Haiku Deck
UN: New Efforts to Reduce Climate Change and Poverty
According to the National Centers for Environment Information (NOAA), every state in the U.S. had above-average fall temperatures during September and November of last year. The average global temperature during the month of October was the highest ever recorded.
The second goal of the climate change draft proposes increasing a nation’s ability to adapt to resulting climate change and respond effectively. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) warns that climate change is a threat to economic growth in Africa and other parts of the developing world.
A World Bank report finds that globally, poor people are at high risk for climate-related disasters, so it is important for communities to develop early warning systems. Being prepared for a catastrophe, like flooding or crop damage due to heat, can save resources and help to counter the effects of climate change on the economy.
The third global goal of the UNFCCC climate change draft suggests creating sustainable development strategies in order to create climate-resilient communities with minimized greenhouse gas emissions to reduce poverty rates.
The climate change draft to reduce poverty also includes the following proposal: “Developed countries shall provide developing countries with long-term, scaled-up, predictable, new and additional finance, technology and capability-building.”
According to the World Bank, climate change can put 100 million more people into poverty by the year 2030. John Roome, Senior Director for Climate Change at the World Bank Group, recognizes the importance of creating sustainable development strategies to reduce climate change and poverty.
He states, “We have the ability to end extreme poverty even in the face of climate change, but to succeed, climate considerations will need to be integrated into development work. And we will need to act fast, because as climate impacts increase, so will the difficulty and cost of eradicating poverty.”
– Kelsey Lay
Sources: CNN, National Centers for Environment Information, NPR, United Nations Environment Programme, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Photo: UN
Kyrgyz Republic Forest Management and Poverty
Improving sustainable forest management is an important step for the Kyrgyz Republic in order to combat poverty. Data from the World Bank shows poverty in the Kyrgyz Republic decreased from 37 percent in 2013 to 30 percent in 2014. However, the country remains one of the poorest states in Central Asia.
A study by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) reported the Kyrgyz Republic as an ecologically rich country. The total forested area in the Kyrgyz Republic is more than 1.1 million hectares, approximately five percent of the country.
The forests are highly diverse and include spruce, walnut-fruit, juniper and riverside forests. In addition to timber and fuel, the forests provide nuts, fruits, mushrooms and other edible plants for communities. Forest products also provide food security during tough economic and agricultural times.
Beginning in 2016, The Integrated Forest Ecosystem Management Project (IFEMP) will be implemented in partnership with the Kyrgyz Republic over five years. The World Bank is financing $16 million for the project, which targets forest management at the national and leskhoz level. The leskhozes are state forest farms or agencies managing at the local level.
In a press release, the World Bank said the IFEMP’s main objectives will be accomplished “through investments in management planning, ecosystem restoration and infrastructure.” Improved data collection and distribution is an important aspect of IFEMP. The project will update the National Forest Inventory and increase access to the information at all levels. Ultimately it is estimated IFEMP will improve the management of one-tenth of Kyrgyz forests and introduce sustainable forest management to almost half of all the forests.
According to the FAO study, “forests are potentially valuable to rural people as a means of income generation and, thus, poverty reduction.” Recent efforts focusing on sustainable forest management strategies aim to better serve both the environment and those in poverty.
In the World Bank’s press release, Jean-Michel Happi, World Bank Country Manager in the Kyrgyz Republic, said, “We are pleased to support the project that will contribute to improving the lives of rural people by protecting and improving the natural resource base of forests and pastures on which the livelihoods and communities are dependent.”
– Cara Kuhlman
Sources: FAO, IMF, World Bank 1, World Bank 2
Photo: Kygryzstan
Learning to Read in Tonga
In Tonga, the Pacific Early Age Readiness and Learning (PEARL) project is driven towards preparing children for school. Funded by the Global Partnership for Education, and implemented by the World Bank, PEARL has two main goals. The first goal is to support children in developing key skills that will be useful at school. The second goal is helping more children learn to read and write well in their first years of elementary school.
According to the Global Partnership for Education, 40 percent of children in the developing world live in extreme poverty. Around 10.5 million children under the age of five die from preventable diseases each year because of extreme poverty. They also said investments in quality Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) can improve an individual’s well-being and close the education and poverty gap.
Early childhood is defined as the period from birth to eight years of age. Quality ECCE guides children towards fulfilling their potential and promotes social, emotional, physical and cognitive development. Young children who benefit from ECCE services are more likely to be healthy, prepared to learn, stay longer and perform better in school.
Nadia Fifita, Director at Ocean of Light International School in the Tongan capital, Nuku’alofa, said, “We see a big difference in the children who have had some early childhood [education] experience, whether that is formally through a school-based program or informally through parents.”
Tonga is not the only nation benefiting from PEARL. The project is also helping other Pacific Island countries improve policy and programming around school readiness and early grade literacy in Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. In those countries, the World Bank and other partners are supporting each country’s Ministry of Education to make changes strengthening early education.
While early childhood education has increased globally, it is still limited and unequal in developing countries. The Global Partnership reported Sub-Saharan Africa and Arab states have shown the lowest gross enrollment ratios at 18 percent and 21 percent respectively in 2009. In some countries, children from privileged backgrounds are four times more likely to receive pre-primary education than poor children.
Tongan teacher Seini Napa’a said, “My dream is that the students in Tonga have the best future, the best readers and the best writers.”
– Kara Buckley
Sources: Global Partnership 1, Global Partnership 2, World Bank
Photo: World Bank
Income Growth Relieves Poverty in Rural Botswana
According to the Botswana Poverty Assessment released by the World Bank, thousands have risen out of poverty in rural Botswana as a result of government-supported programs that improved people’s livelihoods.
The report said increased agricultural income and improved welfare resulted in 158,000 people being removed from poverty in rural Botswana between 2002 and 2010.
Botswana was one of the 10 poorest countries in the world. However, it is now categorized among high middle-income countries. The World Bank said if this trend continues, less than 15 percent of the population will be living below the poverty line by 2018.
“Tackling poverty is at the heart of our National Development Plan. We are pleased to see that our welfare programs have improved the lives of many and made a dent in poverty levels,” said Olebile Gaborone, coordinator of Poverty Eradication.
The report accredits the 87 percent decrease in rural poverty to a drastic change in the demographic structure of the population and a decrease in household size and dependency rations.
Assistant Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Dikgang Makgalemele, said “the remarkable reduction in poverty was a result of sustained robust economic growth over the past few decades and sound government policies and programs that ensure the benefits of economic growth trickle down to the whole strata of the society.”
The study also predicts that with the help of education, social protection and employment, poverty levels in Botswana could fall below 12 percent by 2018, and below six percent by 2030.
The report advises investing in education so that more Botswanans have the skills to meet the labor demand, as well as creating a private sector that focuses on creating better jobs for the impoverished population.
“We see from our research that agricultural support programs were clearly a big part of the progress achieved during the period under review,” World Bank Senior Economist Victor Sulla said. “Going forward, investments in human capital and efficient safety-net targeting will be critical to accelerating poverty reduction and reducing inequality further.”
– Marie Helene Ngom
Sources: AllAfrica, World Bank
Photo: Google Images
Improving Education in Pakistan’s Sindh Province
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) recently pledged more than $100 million towards improving education in Pakistan‘s Sindh Province. The funds will go towards the Sindh Reading Program (SRP) which will work to improve reading and mathematics in primary school.
The Sindh Reading Program is a five-year initiative that works under the umbrella of the Sindh Basic Education Project (SBEP). The SRP aims to address critical issues that are affecting reading and mathematics scores in primary school. It will do this through continuous teacher development, improving student assessment, providing supplementary materials and promoting family involvement.
A crucial component of the SRP is its focus on improving teacher performance. The program will provide 25,000 teachers with professional development opportunities in order to improve their instructional competencies in reading and mathematics.
New lesson plans will also be provided to the teachers to increase student engagement. The format of the teachers’ lesson plans will become activity-based, which will result in a positive student-teacher relationship.
USAID’s program manager for Sindh Basic Education, Dr. Randy Hatfield, added to this sentiment when he said, “USAID is striving for quality assurance of teaching and learning practices in schools by creating avenues that empower teachers in the classroom.”
So far, the USAID-funded program has distributed more than 120,000 teaching and reading resources in almost 1,500 schools in the Sindh province. This is in an effort to reach the SRP’s goal of reaching 750,000 students through improved teaching, learning and assessment testing in grades K-5.
The program also hopes to enroll 100,000 out-of-school children, of which there are more than four million in Sindh province. The goal is for these children to reenter school, and have a greater likelihood of escaping poverty. The program also aims to enroll the parents of these children in literacy programs.
The SRP works under USAID’s Sindh Basic Education Project. The SBEP is similar to the SRP in its goals but differs in scope. Instead of focusing only on improving reading and mathematics, SBEP aims to improve Sindh’s education as a whole.
SBEP’s main objective is to increase student enrollment. It achieves this by creating school environments that are conducive to learning and renovating or constructing schools that were harmed by the 2010 floods.
USAID’s SBEP also has a goal of increasing girls’ enrollment and improving the nutrition of the students.
To date, the USAID-funded SBEP has achieved the construction of 26 new schools, the financing of seven schools, 1000 new girls enrolled in primary classes and a survey of student nutrition. Dr. Hatfield praised the program’s success when he said “We welcome and appreciate these strategic interventions by US Government, which are facilitating fulfillment…for children between the ages of five and 16 in Pakistan.”
Through its Sindh Reading Program, the Sindh Basic Education Project hopes to lower the 10 percent illiteracy rate in its province. Considering the statistically proven relationship between poverty and illiteracy, SBEP hopes to increase literacy to lower poverty.
– Andrew Wildes
Sources: Chemonics, Daily Times, Language and Literacy for All, Sbep, USAID
Picture: Google Images
Improved Seeds, Improved Lives
Posht-e-Bagh Research Farm is one of the most important research farms in northern Afghanistan. Nestled in the Dehdadi district of the Balkhl province, the farm produces breeder seeds. These genetically improved seeds flourish under local growing conditions, enabling farm productivity to increase.
Currently, the 16 employees of Posht-e-Bagh monitor 972 different types of wheat in order to assess their suitability for local growing conditions.
Every seed produced at Posht-e-Bagh passes through five initial stages: introduction (where seeds and the resulting crops are assessed for their suitability), selection, hybridization, mutation and genetic engineering. From there, a breeder seed is selected and then sent out for further processing before reaching farmers in the form of ‘improved’ seeds.
According to Abdul Wahid Wahidi, a researcher with the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), the main goal of Posht-e-Bagh is to increase the productivity of farmers in northern Afghanistan. The eventual production and wide-scale distribution of improved seeds will help generate a long-term solution to the eradication of poverty among farmers.
Breeder seeds produced by farms like Posht-e-Bagh Research Farm are sent to one of six Improved Seed Enterprises (ISE) scattered across the country with the goal of multiplying the breeder seeds into foundation seeds. On such a farm is Khasa-Paz farm, where there are six varieties of wheat being grown on the 1.9 million square meter farm this year.
ISE farms eventually sell the seeds to one of 102 Private Seed Enterprises (PSEs) across the country. They then use these seeds to produce the certified seeds, or ‘improved’ seeds, which are distributed to local farmers.
“Improved seed is a vital input for proper crop production,” said Hesamuddin Rahimi, Afghanistan Agriculture Inputs Project (AAIP) Agronomy Manager in Balkh Province. The AAIP, launched in July 2013, is backed with $74.8 million in support from the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF). It is their aim to strengthen institutional capacity for the safety and reliability of agricultural inputs and sustainable production of certified seeds.
“Khasa-Paz farm has managed to help farmers to some extent,” Rahimi said. “As it is one of the farms where tons of registered seeds are being produced and sent to PSEs to produce improved seeds for distribution to the market.”
In fact, last year Khasa-Paz farm produced 87.5 tons of foundation seeds.
“The improved seeds result in good harvest. There is an almost 60 percent increase in yield of improved varieties compared to the local seeds,” Rahimi said. “The good thing about the improved seeds is they are suitable for this climate, a factor that increases both the quality and quantity of the crops.” The crops are also resistant against pests and diseases, adds Abdul Fatah, a farmer at Posht-e-Bagh farm.
Many farmers across Afghanistan still use low-quality seeds that result in poor harvests, a critical factor in perpetuating poverty among farmers. Those who have used the improved seeds now see the difference in output.
“Luckily now, farmers’ conditions are better because of the improved seeds,” Mohammad Ghani, a farmer who has been working on Khasa-Paz for eight years, said.
Farmer Lal Mohammad, a colleague of Ghani’s, echoes that sentiment: “Now that I see and understand the difference between good and poor quality seeds, I try to share the knowledge that I have gained with other farmers I know.”
– Kara Buckley
Sources: ARTF, CIMMYT, World Bank 1, World Bank 2, World Bank 3
Photo: The World Bank, Agchallenge2050