Floating gardens are rafts of aquatic weeds on which vegetables and other edible products can be grown. Practical Action, a UK-based development organization, is currently heading a program to introduce these floating gardens in the Gaibandha district of northern Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is home to some of the world’s most unstable rivers. Monsoon season has always left fields and land submerged for certain periods throughout the year, but climate change has intensified these seasonal floods. Often fields are submerged for longer than two months and, even when the waters recede, are left too water-logged to yield crops.
Floating gardens are a pragmatic agricultural alternative for the more than a million Bangladeshis affected annually by flooding. Much of the appeal of this method is the relative ease of constructing and cultivating a floating garden.
Steps to Make a Floating Garden:
1. Decide on an appropriate size for the floating garden. Generally, rafts are about 8m long and 2m wide and are 0.6m to 1m deep. The exact size depends on the amount of space and resources available.
2. Collect water hyacinth. This aquatic weed will serve as the base, or raft, for the floating garden. Water hyacinth is fairly abundant in Bangladesh and is free for collection.
3. Lay bamboo poles over the collected plants. The poles should be appropriate to the overall size of the raft.
4. Collect additional water hyacinth and place it on top of the bamboo layer to build the thickness. Weave the water hyacinth into a raft.
5. Once the plants have been woven and the general structure of the raft has been established, remove the bamboo poles.
6. Wait for 7 to 10 days and add more water hyacinth to the existing raft.
7. Add a mulch of soil, compost, and cow dung to cover the raft. This layer should total about 25cm deep. Usually, the compost is composed of azola and other easily accessible organic matter.
8. Pick an appropriate place for the raft. Floating gardens should not be placed in waters with tides or currents as the water movement damages the water hyacinth and risks the total disintegration of the raft.
9. Plant seeds. The most effective technique is to place a couple of seeds into a ball of compost and tema, an organic fertilizer. These balls are placed in a shaded, protected area while the seeds germinate. Once seedlings sprout, plant them on the raft.
10. Tend the floating garden as appropriate to the crops planted. In Bangladesh, the most common crops tend to be leafy vegetables, okra, gourds, eggplant, pumpkin, and onions. Animals like ducks and rodents might be attracted to the rafts. Fencing, even using improvised means like fishing nets, can effectively protect the gardens.
11. Harvest the crops. Rafts can be reused or, if no longer in a useable condition, can be used as compost on a new raft.
– Lauren Brown
Sources: Practical Action, FAO
Photo: Visiting Paradise
What Americans Should Learn from Sk8 to the Finish
In an age of airplanes and automobiles, biking 264 miles would be considered wildly inadequate. Yet Australian activist Michael Traffard will perform this task as a metaphor for Australia’s “inadequate” foreign policy, and Americans should be taking notes.
On July 7th, Traffard will begin his Sk8 to the Finish campaign, in which he will skateboard and BMX riders from the town of Emerald to the city of Gladstone throughout the following 20 days. Along the way, Traffard will be making appearances at churches and schools to raise poverty awareness. This will be taking place two months prior to Australia’s 2013 federal election in September.
Traffard is conducting this campaign to raise awareness of the U.N. Millennium Development Goals established in 2000 by the world’s developed countries. The Millennium Project is an initiative to halve global poverty by 2015, yet few nations are still meeting the requirements to make this possible. A target of 0.70% of each nation’s budget was established to make this goal a reality. Australia currently gives 0.36% of its budget to the cause: about half of what is needed.
Although Australia’s aid is lacking, they are not the only ones falling short. The United States may appear to be leading the pack by giving roughly 30 billion dollars for Official Development Assistance (ODA), but that figure isn’t as pretty when held relative to the nation’s Gross National Income (GNI). The United States currently gives 0.19% of its budget to the cause, which is almost half of Australia’s level of giving.
As of 2012, only five developed countries are meeting or exceeding the 0.70% requirement: Luxembourg, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands. Australia rests in 13th place when ranking countries by their degree of charity. The United States sits in 19th place.
One of the Millennium Project’s greatest enemies is a lack of awareness. Numerous citizens worldwide are not educated about the existence of the Millennium Development Goals, and political leaders are not informed of the issues as a result. Traffard hopes to give his audiences a clear understanding of the facts to take with them to the polls when election day arrives.
Traffard’s campaign does not mean to undercut the progress Australia has made in the past 13 years. Victories in global poverty have been numerous, including the eradication of smallpox and a 33% increase in life expectancy in the developing world. Traffard hopes his campaign will lead to an increase in aid that will be focused directly on life-saving programs.
Upon the conclusion of his trip, Traffard hopes to amass 3000 signatures for the Australian Movement to End Poverty Petition. The Petition currently has 57,968 signatures, and the Sk8 To The Finish campaign has already yielded 200 signatures.
Sk8 to the Finish is a perfect example of how an individual’s talents and passions can be utilized to combat global poverty. The Millennium Project’s goal to halve global poverty is well within reach if citizens of every applicable country demand it, and seemingly outrageous feats are effective in gathering attention. The United States needs to play catch up in order to reach the 2015 Millennium Development Goals, so Traffard’s message should be heeded by American citizens as well. Even from thousands of miles away, the same principles can still be applicable.
– Timothy Monbleau
Sources: OECD, The Gladstone Observer, UN Millennium Project
Photo: Men’s Fitness
London Hunger Summit Funds $4 Billion
The London Hunger Summit this year encouraged global leaders to take a stand on global hunger and poverty and make a difference. As a result, by the end of the day, $4 billion of funding had been secured to go towards ending hunger and malnutrition across the world. The Summit was a global accomplishment, with donations coming from businesses, governments, charities, and foundations in many countries.
The money will be distributed to several different causes, and some countries specified where they would like their donations to be spent. For example, Australia asked that their $40 million donations go towards improving nutrition in the Pacific Ocean area, and the British company Del Agua’s $670 million donations will be spent throughout the following years on providing clean drinking water in Rwanda.
However, even though raising $4 billion is a huge accomplishment, the U.K. can still improve to do even more for the world’s poor by more closely monitoring donations to determine where they are most needed. Some donors are not as transparent as they should be when they give back, so the U.K. doesn’t have the best data to learn where those donations are going and how much is actually making it to the people who need help. By monitoring how much money is given and which areas are receiving the help, the U.K. can decide which areas still need assistance, therefore maximizing efficiency and helping the most people possible.
– Katie Brockman
Source Huffington Post, The Guardian
What is “No Regret” Climate Adaptation?
The world poor is primarily made up of small scale subsistence farmers who often struggle to produce enough to feed their families. When they do produce a surplus, they sell it for profit. These small scale farmers are often living in hot climates in Central American and African countries. As such, global climate change is affecting them, often making their environment hotter and arider, which affects their production levels. Recent record levels of drought in places such as the Horn of Africa exemplify the impact that climate change can have on agriculture in the developing world.
There seems to be a simple solution to this problem: If people know that climate change is happening, then methods of production in agriculture simply need to be adjusted to reflect what the climate will change into. Sound easy? It would be, but the problem lies in a lack of accurate climate prediction models. Regional climates are incredibly complex, and no reliable model has been created to predict the path that climate change is going to take, especially in the short term. Farmers can’t afford to adjust their growing practices to changes in climate that don’t actually occur, and then lose out on production as a result.
No regret climate adaption is a way around such an issue. No regret climate adaptation strategies are practices that are beneficial even in the absence of climate change, and where the costs of adaptation are relatively low when compared to the results of the adaptations. Actions such as controlling water pipe leakages and scaling back groundwater use to sustainable levels qualify as no regret adaptations. Regardless of climate change, such practices yield results in the communities and have little to no negative impact. In Central America, for instance, increasing temperatures can make coffee production not feasible for low altitude farmers. These farmers instead can switch to growing cocoa, which will be similarly productive but lacks as much risk associated with these higher temperatures.
However, these adaptations only present a short term solution to climate change. In the long term, farmers will need to know what new climates they are dealing with in order to produce significant crop yields. Experts recommend a marrying of both approaches: no regret adaptations are very useful when facing a lack of reliable information, but it does not replace adaptations fitted to more specific and certain climate changes.
– Martin Drake
Source: IRIN News, European Climate Adaptation Platform
Photo: Ecologist
Miseducation: A Short Film for the Why Poverty? Initiative
Source: Why Poverty, New York Times, The Borgen Project
How to Make a Floating Garden
Floating gardens are rafts of aquatic weeds on which vegetables and other edible products can be grown. Practical Action, a UK-based development organization, is currently heading a program to introduce these floating gardens in the Gaibandha district of northern Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is home to some of the world’s most unstable rivers. Monsoon season has always left fields and land submerged for certain periods throughout the year, but climate change has intensified these seasonal floods. Often fields are submerged for longer than two months and, even when the waters recede, are left too water-logged to yield crops.
Floating gardens are a pragmatic agricultural alternative for the more than a million Bangladeshis affected annually by flooding. Much of the appeal of this method is the relative ease of constructing and cultivating a floating garden.
Steps to Make a Floating Garden:
1. Decide on an appropriate size for the floating garden. Generally, rafts are about 8m long and 2m wide and are 0.6m to 1m deep. The exact size depends on the amount of space and resources available.
2. Collect water hyacinth. This aquatic weed will serve as the base, or raft, for the floating garden. Water hyacinth is fairly abundant in Bangladesh and is free for collection.
3. Lay bamboo poles over the collected plants. The poles should be appropriate to the overall size of the raft.
4. Collect additional water hyacinth and place it on top of the bamboo layer to build the thickness. Weave the water hyacinth into a raft.
5. Once the plants have been woven and the general structure of the raft has been established, remove the bamboo poles.
6. Wait for 7 to 10 days and add more water hyacinth to the existing raft.
7. Add a mulch of soil, compost, and cow dung to cover the raft. This layer should total about 25cm deep. Usually, the compost is composed of azola and other easily accessible organic matter.
8. Pick an appropriate place for the raft. Floating gardens should not be placed in waters with tides or currents as the water movement damages the water hyacinth and risks the total disintegration of the raft.
9. Plant seeds. The most effective technique is to place a couple of seeds into a ball of compost and tema, an organic fertilizer. These balls are placed in a shaded, protected area while the seeds germinate. Once seedlings sprout, plant them on the raft.
10. Tend the floating garden as appropriate to the crops planted. In Bangladesh, the most common crops tend to be leafy vegetables, okra, gourds, eggplant, pumpkin, and onions. Animals like ducks and rodents might be attracted to the rafts. Fencing, even using improvised means like fishing nets, can effectively protect the gardens.
11. Harvest the crops. Rafts can be reused or, if no longer in a useable condition, can be used as compost on a new raft.
– Lauren Brown
Sources: Practical Action, FAO
Photo: Visiting Paradise
Ethiopia No Longer Crippled in Poverty
Ethiopia has proven to be a country to model economic growth for other African nations. The World Economic Forum on Africa will be meeting soon to discuss, among other issues, how Ethiopia was able to bring itself out of high poverty levels and into a relatively flourishing state. As a country that has a history of civil, Ethiopia’s progress is an inspiration to all of Africa.
Ethiopia has made huge strides in its economic sector as well as healthcare and government accountability. In the past two decades, Ethiopia has decreased the child mortality rate by 60 percent and built more than 15,000 primary healthcare facilities in rural areas. The country is also well on its way to meet the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
The government of Ethiopia has been adamant about implementing policies that will better the economy and all aspects of the country. Haddis Tadesse, a representative of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Addis Ababa, has described Ethiopia’s policymakers as shifting from the mentality of “we can’t” to “we can.” This philosophy has done wondrous things to inspire hope for everyone living in Ethiopia.
Politicians and government authorities are now developing strategies to end hunger and create food stability for all citizens, build a new, impressively large hydro electronic power plant, an electrified railway system and a light manufacturing industry. Once these projects are complete, Ethiopia’s economy will continue to boom.
By following the examples of India, Malaysia, China, Brazil and Turkey, Ethiopia has been able to mold itself into a prospering economy and society. As Haddis Tadesse says, “Ethiopia is well-positioned to escape the poverty trap. But it won’t be easy.” With further improvements in infrastructure, human rights and creating a stable market, the country is likely to become dependent on foreign assistance and begin to provide aid to other African countries.
– Mary Penn
Source: World Economic Forum
Photo: Celebrate Children
6 Steps To Organizing a Successful Fundraiser
Do you ever wonder what it would feel like to organize your own fundraiser to raise money for the most important causes? Fundraising is actually much simpler than it may seem, and with the right knowledge and some effort, you can start raising donations in no time.
1. Set a goal for how much you want to raise. This is the most important step because the following steps depend on it. You don’t need to decide to the penny how much you would like to raise, but try to come up with a ballpark number. This way, you can decide what type of event is best for your goal, how long to take donations, and how many volunteers you should recruit.
2. Pick your event. This will likely depend on a few factors, one of which is how much you are looking to raise. If you are looking to raise thousands of dollars, a neighborhood bake sale may not get you what you’re looking for. On the other hand, if you’re aiming for a couple of hundred dollars or less, you don’t need to rent the Town Hall and buy TV ads for your fundraiser. Another important aspect is your community. Catering to their interests will likely get you better results because people want to donate to something they support and have fun at the same time. It’s also important to choose an event or program that interests you. Sponsoring a car wash for charity won’t be enjoyable if you don’t enjoy the sun, water, and physical labor.
3. Decide on a deadline, and make it clear. If people know upfront your fundraiser will only be accepting donations for an afternoon, a day, or a week, they will be less likely to miss the deadline. It’s also easier to get people to put the dates on their calendar, which will likely result in more donations. Your deadline will also depend on where you’re giving the money. If the organization needs it by a certain date, your fundraiser should end before that date to make sure all the people who wanted to give had the chance to donate.
4. Recruit volunteers. If your fundraiser is small enough to run alone, your volunteers will be the people who help spread the word. Word of mouth is some of the best advertising, and can dramatically increase your results. If your project is larger, you may need people to help you run and organize the fundraiser. Their duties can include calling/emailing potential sponsors to help host the event, tracking donations, creating publicity, and managing other volunteers.
5. Ask for sponsors to help pay for hosting the event or program. Although it’s possible to create a fundraising event with money from your own pocket, many times local businesses or individuals are willing to help for the publicity and free advertising. Sometimes businesses or other organizations will even let you use their building or supplies for your fundraiser, and in that case, it’s a win-win situation for everyone involved.
6. A few days before your event is set to begin, double-check to make sure everything is in order. Follow up with sponsors and volunteers to ensure you all are on the same page, make sure you have all the supplies you will need, check to make sure you have the necessary permits for your city, if you need them, and make any other last-minute confirmations to make sure your fundraiser goes exactly as planned.
– Katie Brockman
Sources: Helium, Fundraising.com
Photo: Entertainment
Bread For The World Institute
Finding up-to-date information on research concerning hunger, poverty, and agriculture can be a difficult task. To make this easier, the Bread for the World Institute compiles all their research into easy-to-understand formats. Bread for the World Institute is the research arm of Bread for the World. The institute focuses on research in several key areas including U.S. hunger and poverty, trade and agriculture, the Millennium Development Goals, maternal and child nutrition, immigration, global hunger and poverty, foreign assistance to reduce poverty, and climate change and hunger. The staff work on policy analysis focused on hunger and strategies to end it. They use their research to educate world leaders, policymakers, and the public about hunger in the United States and abroad.
Within each research area, working papers can be found highlighting current research and findings happening. In addition, the institute is committed to the idea that development assistance does indeed work. They have a section of seven short essays telling stories and providing facts relating to the results of effective development aid. The essays are available for use by anyone from activists to politicians to Sunday school teachers. The essays serve to help individuals get a better picture of the fight against global hunger and extreme poverty.
The Bread for the World Institute also has a blog that provides current updates on what is going on within the fight to end world hunger and extreme poverty. The blog breaks down some of the information into a more comprehensible format. The goal of the institute and the research is to help people become informed and take action in the fight.
The 2013 Hunger Report is also produced by the Bread for the World Institute. The Hunger Report looks at issues surrounding global hunger such as malnutrition and food insecurity. The 2013 edition calls for a final push towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals. Overall, the Bread for the World Institute is an excellent resource for information and facts on global hunger and on the fight to end it.
– Amanda Kloeppel
Source:Bread for the World Institute,Hunger Report
Cannon House Building 101
The Cannon House Office building is the oldest congressional office building. It is named after Joseph Gurney Cannon who was Speaker of the House of Representatives during the authorization and completion of the building.
Completed in 1908, the Cannon House building provided fresh new space for members of the House of Representatives. Previously, overcrowding was a severe problem in the capital as committees fought over meeting space. Finally, in 1901, the Sundry Civil Appropriation Act authorized plans for a new building near the Capitol to be used as office and storage space.
After the Cannon House Office building’s opening, all US House of Representative members had their own office space for the first time in history. Each representative was given a room 15 feet wide, 23 feet long that contained a desk, chairs, wardrobe and filing cabinets. These modest offices were also supplied with telephones, lavatories, heat and ventilation. The building also contained a barbershop, restaurant and telegraph office.
Architecturally, the Cannon building is characteristic of the Beaux Arts style of architecture. Covered in limestone and marble, the exterior of the building is similar to the Colonnade du Louvre in Paris. 34 Doric columns line the side of the building facing Independence Avenue while pilasters face the New Jersey Avenue side. The building is built in the shape of a hollow trapezoid. It was designed this way to allow light to reach the inner rooms. Upon completion, there were 397 and 14 committee rooms offices constructed within to hold each member of the 61st Congress.
The building was immediately used by the 60th congress after it opened in 1908. However, by 1913, the House once again had maxed out on allotted space and more offices were required. Thus, 51 more rooms were added to the structure of the building with the construction of a fifth floor. By 1924, the building was renovated again and an additional building constructed to house the growing number of representatives.
Today the Cannon Building is still being used as office space for current representatives. Since 1908, the Cannon building has been joined by the Longworth and Rayburn buildings on the Representative side of the Capitol.
– Grace Zhao
Sources: House of Representatives Archives, Architect of the Capitol
Photo: Visiting D.C.
PATH: Transforming Global Health
PATH attempts to address a wide breadth of health problems ranging from vaccines for bird flu, to cheap ways to heal broken bones, to developing practical ways to purify water. The organization focuses to a large extent on collaboration. They develop health solutions with the communities that will use them, keeping them in contact with the specific needs of the people they serve. According to their website, PATH “infuses innovation and collaboration into those solutions to ensure they work in poor as well as rich countries.”
PATH began in Seattle, Washington in 1977 with the goal of implementing new contraceptives into poor countries that needed them but could not afford them. Now PATH has expanded to include all health issues in developing countries.
Today, the innovators at PATH now spend their time trying to figure out how to meet basic health needs. In the face of this daunting task, the secret to operations at PATH is their specific and autonomous projects.
PATH is organized project by project with small teams gearing solutions towards very specific health issues in specific communities. A large portion of PATH staffers also come from the for-profit community, making it easier for PATH to forge partnerships and deals with commercial companies which, according to PATH’s website, “…are a critical and unique element of our approach.”
One significant health technology developed by PATH is their Ultra Rice. Ultra Rice is made from combining rice flour with essential micronutrients and then molding the product into a rice shape. These new fortified rice grains are typically blended with normal white rice to fight malnutrition in poor communities. By addressing things like iron deficiency, vitamin A deficiency, folic acid deficiency and zinc deficiency, Ultra Rice gives children in developing countries the opportunity to grow into health adults and become productive members of their communities.
Ultra Rice is just one example of how PATH is using innovative technologies to transform the developing world. The organization’s work is important given that, in many communities, solvable health issues like malnutrition are the biggest obstacles to development. Innovations like Ultra Rice give these communities the ability to overcome obstacles and rise out of poverty.
– Martin Drake
Source: PATH, XConomy