Faced with corruption, Zambia turns to mobile phones. Within the next two to three months, the country will launch a system of e-vouchers operating through mobile phone networks that will cut out the middleman and allow farmers to choose which agro-dealers they would like to purchase from directly.
The e-voucher program, just recently approved by the Zambian government, will cover seeds, fertilizers and herbicides, offering subsidized agricultural products to small-scale farmers. Access to farming products and services, it is hoped, will also become more speedy and efficient through use of the new system.
The Zambian government and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) jointly facilitate the e-voucher project. The system will also benefit from US $6.5 million and US $9.7 million in funding from the Norwegian government and European Union respectively.
Functioning on a mobile phone network, the e-voucher initiative is an update on previous paper voucher systems. The digital nature of the e-voucher platform makes the process more secure and expedites trade through automatic payments to suppliers upon successful e-voucher redemption, keeping with the rising trend of mobile phone banking throughout Africa.
Many have high hopes for the e-voucher program, believing that it will empower farmers, whose crops make up 12 percent of Zambia’s exports.
“It gives farmers a choice in where they want to spend their money,” stated Zambia’s FAO representative, Noureddin Mona. “A farmer can use their voucher at any participating agro-dealer.”
Roger Phiri, president of the National Association for Peasant and Small-Scale Farmers, also holds this belief, stating that the use of e-vouchers will serve to prevent monopolies by agro-distributors.
It is important to note, however, that the e-voucher system will only empower farmers so far as their suppliers are in the system as well. In order for farmers to buy from a diverse range of suppliers, said range of agro-dealers must be e-voucher network members.
“The e-voucher system will only be appropriate if the voucher pack provides for diversity of inputs and services for a farmer to choose from,” said Agnes Yawe of Participatory Ecological Land Use Management. Yawe added that, while strong urban networks of major agro-dealers exist, rural networks remain subpar.
After initial tests in twelve districts yielded promising results, Zambia recently decided to expand its e-voucher system through a 28-district follow up test. The program also builds on successes of similar e-voucher initiatives in Rwanda, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
The partners hope to attract participants by offering farmers who register pre-paid e-vouchers worth US$53. Ideally, the e-voucher system will not only expedite agricultural deals, but also empower small-scale farmers.
– Emma-Claire LaSaine
Sources: Sci Dev Net, IT Web Africa, World Trade Organization
Photo: PxHere
Economic Incentives for Empowering Women in Developing Nations
In 2009, Bill Gates visited Saudi Arabia and was asked how Saudi Arabia could attain its goal of becoming one of the top countries in the world. In response, Gates said, “Well, if you’re not fully utilizing half the talent in the country, you’re not going to get too close to the Top 10.” Women deserve equal rights and treatment, but for many men in cultures that have yet to embrace this fact, this reality may not be enough to change minds. Enter money—what are the monetary incentives to help women contribute to the well-being of their own countries?
Women across the world represent about 40% of the world’s workforce. This is a huge figure and exemplifies the need for allowing this 40% to gain proper education to increase human capital potential, besides the obvious rights to education that any young girl or boy should possess. A study found that each year of education of women correlated with a decrease in child mortality by 9.5%. That’s a heavy figure to consider; it should be criminal for a developing country not to invest in women. The International Monetary Fund estimates that if women were able to access the same resources for agriculture, food production could increase by 2.5 to 4%. If that wasn’t enough reason to begin to treat women as equals in developing nations, then consider the fact that women make up a disproportionate figure of 70% of the world’s poor.
Allowing women to have equal rights and treatment in developing countries has a variety of benefits. Less workplace discrimination means more women can work instead of being outsiders to the economy of a country. Increasing the career opportunities and general rights for women could also usher in more investment from developed countries who may find more cultural connection with the developing nation. Studies have also shown that women are better at spending money in ways that benefit children than men, but, currently, women are earning significantly less than men across the world.
By empowering women in developing nations, poverty rates could be slashed, businesses could be started, existing industries could be revitalized and greater human capital resources could be fully realized. Gates said it best, and with elegance. The question really just becomes: why waste half of the talent you have?
– Martin Yim
Sources: New York Times, International Monetary Fund, The Guardian, United Nations
Photo: Water Encyclopedia
South Sudanese Refugees Warmly Welcomed by Uganda
Refugees who travel to Uganda for asylum are met with an abundance of economic and social opportunities upon their arrival. Unlike many other nations currently experiencing heightened influxes of refugees due to the persistence of several regional conflicts, Uganda does not place newly arrived migrants into refugee camps operated by the United Nations and other foreign aid organizations.
Instead, refugees who successfully escape their conflict-ravaged homelands for the peace and security of Uganda are presented with the opportunity to move into permanent settlements where they are provided with their own plot of land. Additionally, various U.N. agencies provide access to food, water and home construction resources for newly arrived refugees. Localized primary schools and health clinics are commonly accessible in these areas of Uganda and are responsible for providing valuable resources to newly settled migrant populations.
Titus Jogo, refugee desk officer for the Adjumani District in Northern Uganda, stated in a recent interview regarding the legal statuses of South Sudanese refugees seeking asylum that “They have all the rights that are attributed to any human being, irrespective of their status as refugees.”
The conflict within South Sudan, the newest nation in the world after its founding in 2012, was initially caused by political disputes between President Salva Kiir and his former Deputy Minister, Riek Machar. The conflict has largely consisted of multiple tribal factions, including the Neur Tribe (loyal to Machar), and the Dinka group (loyal to President Kiir); both of these tribal groups have been accused by international monitoring groups of committing war crimes and human rights violations, including ethnically-targeted massacres and sexual assaults.
The most recent report provided by the UNHCR estimates that more than 730,000 people have fled the conflict in South Sudan to neighboring nations such as Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya. This report also estimates that an additional 1.5 million South Sudanese civilians are currently suffering from internal displacement due to the escalation in ethnic violence. Many of these displaced civilians experience frequent relocations to areas known as “protection-of-civilians” sites. These sites are coordinated by the U.N. Mission in South Sudan and provide secure refugee camps for civilians who have fled their homes.
Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon recently explained in a statement regarding conditions within South Sudan, “The violence that has ravaged South Sudan over the past 18 months proves that there can never be a military solution to this conflict. I therefore call on all leaders of South Sudan – particularly President Kiir and former Vice-President Riek Machar–to prove their leadership by investing in a political solution and immediately concluding a comprehensive peace agreement. At the same time, the international community must take decisive steps to help end the fighting.”
The UNHCR recently released an international appeal for increased foreign aid designated for the current mission within South Sudan, noting the mounting number of refugees traveling to neighboring countries has depleted financial resources. While the organization estimates that $99 million is necessary to continue funding this operation, only nine percent of this goal has been raised to date.
The report explained that “Current resources remain insufficient to provide vital life-saving assistance and services, particularly in the areas of health, education and livelihoods and environment. Many South Sudanese refugee children, their country’s hope for the future, face key barriers to education including overcrowding in classrooms, a lack of teachers, and a lack of recreational activities to support constructive social engagement.”
– James Miller Thornton
Sources: The Guardian, Shanghai Daily, UN
Photo: Flickr
Breeding Superbugs
Superbugs are defined as “strains of bacteria that have changed (or mutated) after coming into contact with an antibiotic. Once this happens, these bacteria are ‘resistant’ to the antibiotic to which they have been exposed, which means the antibiotic can’t kill the bacteria or stop them from multiplying.”
Many individuals may suggest going back to a doctor and receiving a new prescription for a different antibiotic. But in the developing world, many individuals cannot afford the co-pays for multiple doctor visits, let alone the cost of multiple antibiotic prescriptions.
With the rising costs of prescriptions, many individuals are turning to informal or black markets for their prescriptions. The pills that they buy from black markets may be lower quality, prescribed inappropriately or dosed incorrectly. All of these factors can lead to the spread of superbugs.
According to an analysis of data from 47 countries published in the Lancet Infectious Disease Journal, the amount people spend out-of-pocket on healthcare has turned out to be a better predictor of antibiotic resistance than poverty, sanitation or livestock production.
In the first major report last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) has called antibiotic resistance “a growing public health threat.” This report, which tallied the level of antibiotic resistance in each country, warned that “many of the available treatment options for common infections in some settings are becoming ineffective.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control, each year superbugs cause 2 million people in the United States to become sick, killing 23,000. With the advanced healthcare available in the United States, what effects do superbugs have on the developing world?
With the WHO report in mind, researchers from Stanford University in California and Gandhi Medical College & Hospital in India set out to determine whether the levels of resistance in low and middle income countries were linked to the direct healthcare costs that patients pay.
The researchers found that in countries where patients paid a higher share of healthcare costs, there was a higher level of antibiotic resistance. But this was also only evident in countries that charge co-payments for prescriptions.
While this data does not prove that higher prescription costs cause greater antibiotic resistance, it does show that the two are linked.
Co-payments are usually used to discourage people from seeking unnecessary healthcare but are currently having the opposite effect. With higher co-payments, patients that cannot afford the cost must look elsewhere for their prescriptions: the black market.
Not only are patients endangering themselves with unknown prescriptions and doses, but they are also enabling antibiotic resistance. There needs to be a change so that patients are able to receive needed antibiotics at a reasonable price. If not, antibiotic resistance will become a major problem in the future.
– Kerri Szulak
Sources: ABC Health & Wellbeing, Bloomberg Business
Photo: Live Science
Mozambikes: Bringing Transportation to Rural Mozambique
50 percent of people in Mozambique live below the poverty line and mortality rates are highly exacerbated by lack of transportation.
Lauren Thomas and Rui Mesquita set out to solve this issue with Mozambikes, a for-profit social interest company that sells bicycles to locals at highly subsidized prices.
“It began as an idea, though we knew it had the potential to have a tremendous impact on the lives of rural Mozambicans. However, the first step was to import a container of bicycles and test the market. Given the risk implicit at such an early stage, Mozambikes started entirely with shareholder funding,” explains founder Lauren Thomas, a former New York City investment banker, to How We Made it In Africa.
It is a sustainable business model. Advertisers buy ad space on the bicycles, exposing a relatively secluded consumer base to brands or ideas that these rural Mozambicans would not otherwise see. The advertisements highly subsidize the price of the bicycles for the rural residents of Mozambique.
Companies can also purchase the bicycles directly, paint on their advertisements and logos, then sell them to local residents at lower prices as “promotional marketing” or “corporate social responsibility” explains How We Made it In Africa.
“Our most successful marketing has been our 7,000 bicycles on the roads in the country. When a company sees Mozambikes branded with another organisation, they want to know – who made those? Therefore, word of mouth has been very effective in getting sales over the last few years, now that we have a presence in the market. Mozambique is still a traditional market and we have also been successful with aggressive direct marketing – emails and phone calls to arrange meetings with target clients,” says Thomas.
Mozambikes has the potential to stimulate the local economy in a variety of ways. Bikes do not only open the door to health-related treatment options, education and more, but bicycles also enable Mozambicans to reach their jobs, and perhaps even obtain better jobs.
And the bikes are assembled by local Mozambiquians, generating jobs and income for residents. Locals also assemble bike accessories like accompanying trailers and bike ambulances.
“Our first donation event gave bicycles to 20 rural women in southern Mozambique. When we arrived, they began to clap and sing, and when they received the bicycles they were crying and singing. A bicycle may seem like such a small item to many, but it is quite literally life-changing in rural Africa. It means access to clean water. It means mothers can bring their babies to the clinic when they are sick. It means that they can return home from their farming plots in time to make their children dinner at night,” explains Thomas.
– Aaron Andree
Sources: Mozambikes, How We Made It In Africa, Inclusive Business Hub
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
10 Beauty Products That Donate to Charity
Fundraising activities, partnering with nonprofit organizations for projects or giving donations through sales of their products are some examples that these companies use to support and advocate for good causes.
Brands like The Body Shop, Kiehl’s, LUSH, Philosophy, Mama Sopa, Balanced Guru, UNE Natural Beauty, Murad, MAC Cosmetics, GIVESCENT and Ten Thousand Villages use some, if not many, of their products to collect donations through their purchases.
Each brand supports different humanitarian causes such as AIDS reduction, poverty, hunger, water conservation and animal and environment protection, among other things.
Here are 10 beauty products that contribute to charity when purchased:
According to an article published by The Dieline, every Mama Sopa product sold gives hygienic trainings by The Dutch Simavi Foundation to vulnerable mothers in East India.
– Diana Fernanda Leon
Sources: Philosophy, The Body Shop Foundation, Ten Thousand Villages, LUSH 1, LUSH 2, Mac Cosmetics, Give Scent, UNE Make up, Murad, The Dieline
Photo: The Dieline
The Silver Standard for Eradicating Malaria
Malaria has long been established as a poverty-related disease. Poverty is both a cause and effect of this potentially lethal disease: poorer people can often not afford preventive measures, and the contraction of disease leads to further economic loss. Consequentially, a substantial investment of time and resources into finding a solution is necessary to interrupt this vicious cycle.
The most successful method to combat the problem has been vector control- that is, to eradicate the mosquito transfer agent. Traditionally, the efforts have been to implement better preventative measures, primarily through insecticides, which are both expensive as well as environmentally harmful.
A more modern approach to the problem is to employ biotechnology to eliminate the mosquito vector more economically and effectively. This encompasses targeting the mosquito at a subcellular level by using a cytotoxic agent- that is a chemical that disrupts the mosquito’s cellular machinery.
Of these methods, the use of silver nanoparticles is becoming increasingly popular as nanotechnology advances. Silver nanoparticles are miniscule, nanoscale pieces of silver, which is highly toxic at cellular levels. This toxicity is being explored in its usages as antimicrobial and pesticidal agent.
Silver nanoparticles are traditionally synthesized using laboratory-grade reagents, which tend to be expensive and not readily available. Many researchers are now looking to phytosynthesis as an answer. The process of phyto-synthesis manipulates the ability of plants to carry out reactions to use in chemical synthesis. For instance, the phytosynthesis reaction of plants can be alternatively used to reduce silver ions to silver atoms.
Recent endeavors to utilize the phytosynthesis capabilities of plants have centered on the use of plant waste products to maximize productivity and minimize cost. In a recent study, researchers used the husk of coconut plant- abundant in the tropical regions plagued by malaria. They used the husk of coconut, which is a waste product from the fruit, to synthesize silver nanoparticles from silver nitrate. The synthesis eliminated the use of a synthetic reagent, and achieved successful results.
The nanoparticles produced were then used by the researchers to treat larval Culex quinquefasciatus, a species of mosquitos found in sub-tropical regions which is similar to the malaria mosquito in its transmission mechanism. The nanoparticles were observed to have significant larvicidal effect on the mosquito.
The study indicates the great potential of phytosynthetic methods to produce cheap and effective insecticides. By using plants indigenous to the tropical areas where malaria is most prevalent, the insecticidal measures of prevention can be made more accessible to the people. The use of waste products of coconut in the process is considerably cost-effective and eco-friendly.
Although the implementation of these innovative techniques may be some way in the future, ingenuity in research offers promising new horizons for a better, healthier world. To borrow Einstein’s words, it is time our technology caught up with our humanity.
– Atifah Safi
Sources: WHO 1, WHO 2, Science Direct
Photo: Flickr
How Ethiopia Reduced Poverty
Ethiopia’s economy has been thriving in the recent past. Between 2004 and 2011, the economy grew at a rate of 10.6 percent per year. Ethiopia increased exports in order to help it account for this economic growth, and that has led to more prosperity throughout the country.
This decrease in poverty can also be attributed to strides in agriculture. In 2005, Ethiopia introduced new agricultural practices which resulted in increased production. As The World Bank states, this agricultural growth has allowed for a 4 percent reduction in poverty each year. The use of fertilizer, along with high food prices and good weather, has given poor farmers with access to markets a higher income.
Ethiopia also instituted the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP). The World Food Program writes that there are 7.4 million people participating in the PSNP. The program works to end chronic food insecurity through transfers of food or cash (or a combination of both).The PNSP asks that those who are able-bodied in the households who receive their help participate in activities which will help them have more resilient livelihoods and less chance of food insecurity. These activities include building community infrastructure, such as building schools, roads, and hospitals, and rehabilitating land and water resources. The PSNP has helped 1.5 million people who were in poverty to be lifted out of poverty.
Economic growth, an increase in agricultural production, and programs such as the Productive Safety Net Program have paid off. From 2000 to 2011, poverty in Ethiopia declined from 44 percent to 30 percent. As the World Bank says, this “translates to a 33 percent reduction in the share of people living in poverty”.
This decrease in poverty has helped the health of Ethiopians as well. From 2010 to 2015, the level of child mortality has been lowered by two-thirds. The average lifespan has also increased by about an year annually from 2005 to 2011, making an Ethiopian’s lifespan 63. Malnutrition rates have come down as well. 75 percent of the population was malnourished in Ethiopia in 1990, while today it has fallen to 35 percent.
Since 2004, four million Ethiopians have been able to rise above the poverty line. However, there is still work to be done. 25 million people in Ethiopia are still suffering from poverty. The World Bank suggests that in order for the trend of a decrease in poverty to remain, ongoing efforts to promote self-employment have to continue. Firms have to enter Ethiopia, and urban migration has to be encouraged.
– Ashrita Rau
Sources: The WFP, World Bank 1, World Bank 2, The Sudan Tribune, Voice of America, BBC
Photo: Needpix.com
E-Voucher Program in Zambia to Bolster Agriculture
The e-voucher program, just recently approved by the Zambian government, will cover seeds, fertilizers and herbicides, offering subsidized agricultural products to small-scale farmers. Access to farming products and services, it is hoped, will also become more speedy and efficient through use of the new system.
The Zambian government and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) jointly facilitate the e-voucher project. The system will also benefit from US $6.5 million and US $9.7 million in funding from the Norwegian government and European Union respectively.
Functioning on a mobile phone network, the e-voucher initiative is an update on previous paper voucher systems. The digital nature of the e-voucher platform makes the process more secure and expedites trade through automatic payments to suppliers upon successful e-voucher redemption, keeping with the rising trend of mobile phone banking throughout Africa.
Many have high hopes for the e-voucher program, believing that it will empower farmers, whose crops make up 12 percent of Zambia’s exports.
“It gives farmers a choice in where they want to spend their money,” stated Zambia’s FAO representative, Noureddin Mona. “A farmer can use their voucher at any participating agro-dealer.”
Roger Phiri, president of the National Association for Peasant and Small-Scale Farmers, also holds this belief, stating that the use of e-vouchers will serve to prevent monopolies by agro-distributors.
It is important to note, however, that the e-voucher system will only empower farmers so far as their suppliers are in the system as well. In order for farmers to buy from a diverse range of suppliers, said range of agro-dealers must be e-voucher network members.
“The e-voucher system will only be appropriate if the voucher pack provides for diversity of inputs and services for a farmer to choose from,” said Agnes Yawe of Participatory Ecological Land Use Management. Yawe added that, while strong urban networks of major agro-dealers exist, rural networks remain subpar.
After initial tests in twelve districts yielded promising results, Zambia recently decided to expand its e-voucher system through a 28-district follow up test. The program also builds on successes of similar e-voucher initiatives in Rwanda, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
The partners hope to attract participants by offering farmers who register pre-paid e-vouchers worth US$53. Ideally, the e-voucher system will not only expedite agricultural deals, but also empower small-scale farmers.
– Emma-Claire LaSaine
Sources: Sci Dev Net, IT Web Africa, World Trade Organization
Photo: PxHere
Safeway Becomes First US Supermarket to Offer Fair Trade Fish
Earlier this year, Safeway, in a partnership with the nonprofit organization Fair Trade USA, became the first U.S. supermarket to offer Fair Trade seafood. The initiative is part of a program aimed at expanding the social and environmental considerations of the Fair Trade movement into the world seafood market, which currently employs over 120 million people across the world.
The supermarket chain began its Fair Trade seafood program in March with the distribution of wild-capture tuna from small-scale fishing operations in Indonesia. Those products are being supplied by four Fair Trade associations representing 120 fishermen in Indonesia’s Maluku province.
In order for seafood to become Fair Trade certified, suppliers must source and trade in compliance with standards established by Fair Trade USA’s Capture Fisheries Program. Those criteria include standards for empowerment and community development, which prioritize the well-being of communities in trade activities; fundamental human rights, which protect workers from forced labor and ensure their right to organize; and wages, working conditions and access to services, which aim to improve wages and benefits as well as working hours.
The Capture Fisheries Program is especially significant given an Associated Press investigation conducted in March, which found that hundreds of men in the Indonesian island village of Benjina were being forced to catch seafood against their will. Most of those interviewed were found to have been Burmese immigrants who were taken to Indonesia and forced to fish. A number of workers were deemed by employers to be “flight risks,” and were consequently forced into cages to prevent their running away.
“All I did was tell my captain I couldn’t take it anymore, that I wanted to go home,” said Kyaw Naing to an Associated Press (AP) video camera snuck into the work site by a fellow worker. “The next time we docked, I was locked up.”
These labor conditions are not limited to the Indonesian market. Although the waters encompassing the Maluku province are Indonesian territory, it sees a large amount of illegal fishing activity, including from Thailand, one of the United States’ foremost seafood providers. While the United States purchases 20% of the country’s $7 billion in seafood exports, the State Department blacklisted Thailand for failing to address human trafficking and labor abuses.
The Indonesian supply-chain is such that tainted and ethically caught fish are generally processed side-by-side. AP found that the two products were mixed and very well could end up being sold in American supermarkets including Walmart, Safeway and Albertsons.
Though American and Indonesian officials have decried the labor conditions that define much of the region’s seafood industry, the most immediately effective method of combating this race to the bottom is to popularize Fair Trade initiatives like the Capture Fisheries Program. However, until supermarkets prioritize Fair Trade products and eliminate ethically tainted ones from the market, these human rights abuses will continue to have moral implications for both suppliers and consumers.
– Zach VeShancey
Sources: SFChronicle, Fair Trade USA, New York Times, Food Tank
Photo: Fair Trade USA
France Could Make it Illegal to Discriminate Against the Poor
Legislation has been proposed in France that would make it illegal to discriminate or “insult the poor” by refusing to offer those living in poverty housing, employment and healthcare.
The legislation proposes that those who discriminate against the poor, or those experiencing “vulnerability resulting from an apparent or known economic situation” could face up to three years in prison along with a fine of €45,000, or roughly $50,000.
With laws already in place across the globe not allowing people to discriminate against race, sex, and disability, this legislation could be another step in the fight for global equality. According to a report published in the Times, 32 percent of dentists, 33 percent of opticians and nine percent of GPs in Paris refused to treat clients without medical insurance.
Europe’s attitude toward its poor has been diminishing over the years, with authorities in Britain monitoring alcohol and cigarette purchases before offering emergency housing payments and landlords refusing apartments for those receiving benefits.
The Times has reported that the legislation has been approved by the French parliament’s upper house and is forecasted to also be passed by the lower house.
“People think that because we are poor, we must be stupid,” Oréane Chapelle, 31, an unemployed French woman, told the Guardian.
This legislation could potentially help curb prevailing negative attitudes toward Europe’s poor, and the threat of jail time and massive fines could offer plenty of new opportunities for those desperately searching for any available.
– Alexander Jones
Sources: The Guardian 1, The Guardian 2, The Times
Photo: The Times