One of the most predominant narratives surrounding methods of poverty reduction is the need for industrialization and urbanization for increased economic activity and productivity. However, this often overshadows other sides to the story, which is the need to invest in rural communities as they are, rather than encouraging urban migration. This helps to alleviate poverty in a more sustainable manner, with a grassroots focus that can create attainable changes in everyday lives. This article will focus on the need for rural investment and its impacts and will spotlight examples of projects in rural areas.
Why Is Investment in Rural Areas Necessary?
The issue of poverty is, in general, much more heightened in rural areas than urban ones, predominantly due to issues such as malnutrition, lack of inclusivity, remote locations, poorer market access and lack of opportunities and connectivity.
Issues such as malnutrition can inhibit children from accessing education and constrain their physical and mental health, limiting their ability to become productive adults and generate economic means to alleviate poverty.
The remote location of rural areas and the additional lack of transportation means that rural businesses and producers have a much more difficult time selling goods and conducting business, limiting their economic capacity and commerce potential.
The agricultural sector, which is the dominant industry in most rural spaces, is being heavily impacted by climate change. Droughts, wildfires, flooding and pollution are becoming heavily exacerbated, severely limiting the output of local farmers and subsistence communities.
Economic activities occurring in rural areas largely consist of ‘repetitive tasks’ and ‘low economic diversification,’ accelerated by an ever-growing brain drain of skilled workers abroad and to urban areas. As a result, these communities are facing a risk of their jobs becoming automated, potentially lowering employment opportunities in such areas.
Lack of connectivity across rural communities prevents continual and sustainable growth of businesses, meaning that rural enterprises often find themselves limited and in competition with urban firms that have a much larger collection of resources and access to greater markets.
These vulnerabilities and economic difficulties that rural communities are faced with means that the dwellers often move to more urban areas, seeking a better quality of life, employment and education. However, this increased urbanization is not necessarily a problem-free approach to reducing poverty, as the heightened cost of living, crime, housing crises and job competition can frequently drive individuals into deeper poverty.
However, one of the solutions for this urbanization/rural poverty problem lies in tech investment in rural areas, which is proving to be an effective help in rural development and is engendering positive change in many individuals’ lives.
How Will Tech Investment in Rural Areas Help Alleviate Poverty?
Innovative technologies such as decentralized water treatment devices using membrane filtration, which the International Environmental Research Institute initiated alongside the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology in Indonesia and Cambodia, are helping to heighten sustainable water security levels. This project provided water treatment units to two secondary schools in Indonesia and Cambodia, expanding to provide communities across 13 countries in Asia and the South Pacific with similar technology. Better water security lowers the risk of water-borne diseases and leads to more productive agricultural output, which can alleviate malnutrition and thus engender positive multi-generational patterns, helping children reach their full potential as working adults.
Contemporary tech investment in rural areas consists of projects abiding by the Sustainable Development Goals, meaning that they have a specific focus on being gender inclusive. For example, UN Women and the African Union launched African Girls Can Code in 2018, which recruits girls from predominantly rural areas to train them in computer programming and digital communication skills in order to overcome the gender divide in STEM. The program aims to educate at least 2,000 girls from ages 17 to 25 to kickstart careers in computer programming and other technological fields.
Lastly, tech investments in rural areas can be effective in transforming the way small businesses and producers operate, increasing their reach, productivity and access to markets and customers. For example, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is operating a number of small-scale technological projects to help alleviate rural poverty. One such project was the development of an e-marketing platform in al-Houz, Morocco, to improve the reliability of agricultural sales and thus the living conditions of farmers and their families. The site, named Hawli.Haouz, assists sheep farmers in selling their livestock. The project has been remarkably successful, with an overall output of roughly $65,000 in its first year, which has quintupled in the following years.
Conclusion
Projects like these illustrate that tech investment in rural areas can help alleviate poverty. Struggles such as malnutrition, water insecurity, gender exclusion, lack of connectivity and remoteness often render rural communities unable to lift themselves out of poverty. However, with small-scale yet effective projects involving innovative technology, the accumulation of direct changes in individuals’ lives will help to raise the overall quality of life, and provide better access to employment and growth opportunities for businesses in rural areas, without the downfalls that the trap of urbanization can often create.
– Eleanor Moseley
Photo: Flickr
How Mud Silos Help End Hunger in Ghana
Though the country has a 45% agricultural-based economy, 1.6 million of its citizens are undernourished due to poor food systems and a lack of infrastructure. To combat this, grain silos made out of mud are being constructed using traditional methods to help farmers retain harvested goods and end hunger in Ghana.
Disproportionately, northern Ghanaian citizens suffer the greatest from hunger, having the highest level of food insecurity in Ghana at 23-49%, contrasting with 4-10% in southern areas. The greatest cause of hunger in Ghana is insufficient storage facilities that allow crops to go to waste. Post-harvest food losses in Ghana are estimated to be anywhere between 20-50%, resulting in the waste of 3.2 million tons of food. With grain such as rice and maize as staples of Ghanaian cuisine, farmers produce them in significant quantities, and storage is imperative.
Historical Background
Mud silos have helped end hunger and store harvested grain in Ghana for centuries. In northern Ghana, ethnic groups such as the Konkombas have been using mud to build grain silos for storage for hundreds of years. By blocking out oxygen, the mud silo allows the grain to ferment, which preserves the grain crop until it comes into contact with oxygen. The silos preserve crops by keeping them in a dry climate that does not allow them to rot. As a proven method, silos can save crops for up to 50 years, and grain for anywhere from 30 to 35 days a year. Due to this, the mud silos help to end hunger in Ghana.
How Do Mud Silos Help End Hunger?
By protecting crops and grains, mud silos can reduce food wastage to less than 5%. The Opportunities Industrialization Centers International has helped build silos in Ghana for less than $25 a day.
Compared to other structures, mud silos last between 10-15 years, and can be made from materials easily accessible to farmers like clay, straw and water. The OICI has helped build 2600 mud silos in regions across Ghana, helping farmers to preserve and utilize their crops and grain to the maximum capacity.
Mud silos and education about them continue to help farmers across Ghana and sub-Saharan Africa store their crops and reduce hunger sustainably. The greater the yield of a crop a farmer is able to save, the more people the yield can feed. By reducing food losses so greatly, communities across Ghana are helping to be fed.
– Nadia Soifer
Photo: Flickr
Empowering Singapore’s Small-Scale Farmers
Government Initiatives Pave the Way
Singapore’s government acknowledges the importance of local food production in reducing its dependence on imports. To uplift small-scale farming, the government has applied a range of initiatives. According to data from the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, over the past three years, $50 million has been allocated to grants and subsidies for small-scale farmers. These specific funds aid in the development of essential infrastructure, including greenhouses and vertical farming systems, which maximize land use efficiency and crop yield.
Community-Supported Agriculture Creates Synergy
One innovative solution that’s picking up steam is the concept of community-supported agriculture (CSA). This model links residents directly with local farmers, permitting them to subscribe to regular deliveries of fresh produce. This arrangement benefits both parties: consumers obtain access to locally grown, organic produce, while farmers get a firm grasp on a stable market and income. Recently, local CSA programs launched a “30 by 30” initiative where the goal would be to locally produce thirty percent of its nutritional desires by the year 2030, indicating an increasing interest among Singaporeans to support small-scale farming.
Technological Advancements Revolutionize Farming
Welcoming and embracing technology has become a key base for empowering small-scale farmers. Vertical farming, which is a practice that requires cultivating crops in vertically stacked layers, has gained popularity for its ability to maximize space utilization. The vertical farming market in Singapore is predicted to grow rapidly in the next three years, as reported by the Singapore Vertical Farming Association. Furthermore, hydroponic and aquaponic systems are increasingly unified into urban farms, decreasing water usage by up to 90% compared to conventional methods.
Education and Training Foster Innovation
A crucial part of empowering Singapore’s small-scale farmers lies in the benefits they’ve received from a heightened emphasis on education and skill development. Specialized courses, workshops and seminars are equipping farmers with the most recent sustainable practices and business strategies. According to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore, students who are enrolled and have graduated from these programs are taking great strides towards adding talents for farms of the future. Just recently, “20 students from the aquaculture discipline in Temasek Polytechnic and Republic Polytechnic have been placed in internships at 10 local fish farms.” Although this is just the beginning, the knowledge transfer empowers Singapore’s small-scale farmers to optimize their operations and adapt to the evolving landscape of modern agriculture.
Creating a Robust Market Ecosystem
Supporting small-scale farmers demands generating a thriving market ecosystem. Local restaurants, markets and supermarkets are realizing the value of sourcing from nearby producers. Not only does this ensure a steady demand for farmers’ products but also reduces carbon emissions associated with long-distance transportation.
A Holistic Approach for a Sustainable Future
With all that being said, the multifaceted approach to empowering Singapore’s small-scale farmers combines government support, community engagement, technological innovation, education and a robust market ecosystem. By cultivating these elements, Singapore is taking massive steps towards achieving stronger and healthier food security and sustainability. As the city-state continues to prioritize these initiatives, it enters the path to creating a resilient agricultural sector that not only supports local farmers but at the same time, contributes to the well-being of its citizens and the environment.
– Nathaniel Scandore
Photo: Flickr
5 Facts About HIV/AIDS in South Korea
South Korea, renowned for its music, delicious foods, intriguing dramas and colorful culture, has consistently demonstrated resilience and adaptability. It has emerged as a global powerhouse, showcasing remarkable economic growth, technological advancements and captivating entertainment that has captured the hearts of people worldwide through K-waves.
However, like any other nation, South Korea faces its own set of challenges, and one pressing issue that often remains insufficiently discussed is HIV/AIDS. While the Republic of Korea is often romanticized, it is crucial to shed light on this important public health concern and work towards fostering greater awareness and understanding of HIV/AIDS in South Korea. Here are the five facts about HIV/AIDS in South Korea.
1. HIV/AIDS Prevalence
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remains a significant public health concern in every nation. However, accurate statistics regarding the prevalence of the virus, including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), are often unavailable in South Korea. The country lacks a standardized method for estimating the number of HIV-infected individuals, making it challenging to obtain precise data. Unlike cumulative figures, the South Korean government only discloses the number of new HIV infections, further complicating efforts to calculate the number of undiagnosed citizens. This lack of comprehensive data hinders effective public education and awareness campaigns about this crucial health issue.
2. Culture and High-Risk Groups
As the number of new HIV cases in South Korea persistently increases every year, new high-risk groups are emerging. While the traditional high-risk groups, such as men who have intercourse with men and injection drug users, account for the majority of HIV/AIDS cases, heterosexual transmission of HIV has now become a significant and dominant cause of new infections among women. This unique trend in South Korea highlights the potential for widespread contagion within the general population. As a result, it underscores the urgent need for comprehensive and targeted public health interventions to curb the spread of HIV and enhance awareness and prevention efforts.
3. Stigma and Discrimination
In South Korea, the intense stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS proves to be a major barrier for people to receive early diagnosis and treatment, leading to a higher probability that their HIV will progress to become AIDS. Additionally, many health care providers in South Korea have limited knowledge of HIV treatment and prevention techniques. Some health care facilities even refuse to care for patients with HIV/AIDS or subject them to unnecessary precautions, such as isolation. These challenges not only impede access to quality health care for affected individuals but also contribute to the perpetuation of misinformation and discrimination. Addressing these issues is crucial to ensure that all individuals living with HIV/AIDS receive the compassionate and appropriate care they deserve.
4. Government Initiatives
The South Korean government has made efforts to define risk groups and provide HIV testing within those groups, aiming to decrease the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the country. However, a significant shift in government policy occurred after the National Human Rights Commission of South Korea reported an alarming increase in the suicide rate among individuals living with HIV/AIDS. In response, anonymous testing centers were established specifically for homosexual individuals and migrant workers, addressing the reluctance to get tested stemming from social stigma. While this policy change has shown some positive impact, the HIV/AIDS issue in South Korea remains unstable due to the lack of a solid and agreed-upon method for tackling the epidemic effectively.
5. KNP+
The Korean Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (KNP+) is a Seoul-based organization established in 2011, with approximately 2,000 members. Its primary objective is to unite existing organizations and provide a collective voice for the HIV-positive community in South Korea. The organization was founded by a man known as Munsu, who had been living with HIV for 20 years. After years of fear and hiding due to the social stigma surrounding HIV, Munsu decided to share his personal story, inspiring the creation of KNP+. The organization’s mission is twofold: to influence policies that improve psychosocial support programs for people living with HIV/AIDS in South Korea and to combat stigma, encouraging individuals to seek the help they need without fear of discrimination. Through their advocacy and support, KNP+ aims to empower HIV-positive individuals, raise awareness and foster a more inclusive and understanding society.
Conclusion
The romanticized vision of South Korea held by many around the world overlooks the very real, pressing issue of HIV/AIDS in the country. Insufficient data and stigma surrounding the disease present significant barriers to tackling the epidemic effectively. The emergence of new high-risk groups and the impact of discrimination further complicate the situation. Nevertheless, the efforts of organizations like KNP+ and government initiatives aimed at testing and supporting vulnerable populations offer hope for progress. By fostering greater awareness, understanding and compassion, South Korea can strive towards a more inclusive and healthier society for all its citizens.
– Sandy Kang
Photo: Flickr
The Elimination of the Gender Wage Gap in Luxembourg
Luxembourg has become the first and only country to date to eliminate the gender wage gap. As of 2021, the gender wage gap in Luxembourg between women and men stands at about -0.2%, meaning, on average, women earned 0.2% more than men hourly in 2021. Luxembourg is the only country already taking this big step in the direction of total workplace gender equality, with the country with the second smallest wage gap, Romania, still exhibiting a gap of about 3.6% in 2021.
The possibility of the elimination of the wage gap is also due to the higher education that many women receive. Many women in Luxembourg have higher levels of education than men, allowing women as a whole to work higher-paying jobs and earn more than men overall, greatly contributing to Luxembourg’s elimination of the wage gap. While women still receive less pay in certain sectors of employment like real estate and tech, where employers favor men by more than 20%, other areas like arts and entertainment favor women by more than 15%, making women on average earn about 7% higher than men as a whole.
How Did Luxembourg Eliminate the Wage Gap?
The elimination of the gender wage gap in Luxembourg was a long journey that began to pick up speed in 2016 when the country passed a law based on economic equality between genders. The law was a part of the country’s Labor Code and stated that any inequality between genders in the workplace would result in serious fines to the employer. This resulted in any difference in pay without genuine justification could cause an employer to have to pay between 251 and 25,000 euros, depending on the severity of the difference. This, obviously, discouraged many employers in their attempt to enforce gender-based pay cuts in their workplaces.
The “Actions Positive” Program
The country also has a program called “Actions Positive” which the Ministry of Equality between Women and Men enforces, the section of the Luxembourg government focused on gender-based issues and equality. This program defends both men and women in cases dealing with gender-based discrimination in the workplace. As of 2019, the program held 120 public representatives who defended anyone in need of legal assistance in cases concerning gender discrimination. The program also consistently organized a multitude of different campaigns that focused on different gender-based issues, like gender stereotypes and roles.
The Gender Wage Gap in Part-time Employment
Unfortunately, the elimination of the wage gap in Luxembourg has only occurred in the case of full-time employment. When one takes part-time jobs into consideration, women earn an estimated 13% less than men in part-time jobs. This is because women are still much less likely to get consistent hours than men. One can attribute this to the stigma that women will often have to tend to obligations outside of work, like parenthood and home life. With almost a third of all employed women being part-time employees, this ideology places a huge dampener on the progress that Luxembourg has made thus far.
Looking Ahead
With its great strides in gender equality advancement, the country’s policies concerning workplace gender bias are a paragon for other countries. Other countries that are struggling with extreme gender discrimination should study Luxembourg’s high focus on education for women and its methods surrounding closing the wage gap, considering it is one of the first countries to implement secure laws prohibiting gender wage differences and the first country to officially close the wage gap.
– Allison Groves
Photo: Flickr
How Guyana’s Economic Growth Alleviates Poverty
Guyana is a country located in South America, sharing borders with Venezuela, Brazil, Suriname and the Atlantic Ocean. In 2015, ExxonMobil, a natural gas company, discovered offshore oil fields and transformed Guyana’s struggling economy into “one of the biggest success stories of the decade.” Guyana’s economic growth as a petrostate alleviates poverty and is key to improving public services, economic development and living standards through the sudden influx of wealth an oil-based economy can provide. Guyana’s rapid economic growth has made it “one of the most improved countries on the Fragile States Index in 2023.”
ExxonMobil has reached an “output of 340,000 barrels per day this year” in 2022 with oil production expected to exceed “1mn b/d in three years.” The oil being dug up should greatly help the economy by increasing government revenue from $4 billion in 2022 to “$10 billion a year from 2025.” The country experienced 57.8% growth in 2022 largely due to the oil boom. The effect of the oil boom has trickled down to all aspects of the economy and society and caused a sharp decline in poverty between 2006 and 2019 from 60.9% to 48.4%.
While Guyana’s economic growth as a petrostate alleviates poverty, it is also important to realize the dangers of rapid economic growth especially in a country with political instability divided by deep ethnic rivalries.
How Does Oil Wealth Alleviate Poverty?
With the country’s $2.4 billion generated in oil revenue, Guyana has constructed two highways and a deep-water port. This money comes from the deal Guyana signed in 2016 with the ExxonMobil consortium which dictated that Guyana would receive “50% of the profits.” Since 85% of Guyana is forest, there is a huge issue of mobility. Investment in roads will help Guyana connect with surrounding countries and help improve transport efficiency and regional trade with countries like Brazil. Furthermore, the deep-water port will help trade with Suriname “promising the potential of a new regional trade hub.” Along with this investment, a 1.9 billion gas-to-energy project has been set up to “double Guyana’s energy output and slash high power bills by half” according to Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo.
Furthermore, “12 hospitals, seven hotels and scores of schools” are being built to improve health care, education and the tourism economy in Guyana. Along with the financing from oil, a $97 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank aimed to “strengthen Guyana’s health care network.” This includes “improvements in logistics, management and processes,” which should “benefit 406,000 people, over half the country’s population.”
As of 2018, the ExxonMobil Foundation had invested $10 million for sustainable employment and conservation. This is to help Guyana diversify its economy and achieve its economic growth in a sustainable manner while conserving the country’s ecosystem, which many people still rely on for their livelihoods and sustenance. This has occurred through the support and improvement of community-based fishing along the coastline. This has been a sector highlighted by both the government and ExxonMobil as “critically important to the wellbeing of the Guyanese people.” Furthermore, ExxonMobil has spent around “$39 million with local suppliers” creating business and employment opportunities with “approximately 68% of ExxonMobil’s current in-country employees” being Guyanese as of 2018.
Dangers of Rapid Economic Growth
Due to nominal Gross National Income (GNI) jumping 86.2%, Guyana was classified as a high-income country by the World Bank, previously being a middle-income economy as a result of its thriving oil sector. As a result of this, the nonprofit organization Food for the Poor (FFTP) sees great challenges with access to aid within the country. According to the FFTP, the fact that Guyana is now being seen as a high-income country might affect donations as potential donors may choose to divert their funds to other countries in need. This is a problem affecting the poor, as, despite the oil boom and increase in the country’s GDP, salaries have flatlined with the cost of living rising, with goods such as “sugar, oranges, cooking oil, peppers and plantains more than doubling in price.”
The FFTP is hopeful in the next five years’ time that living conditions will improve however the CEO Kent Vincent stated: “I can’t confirm whether there is any major change.” Vincent stated that “Guyana will now, more than ever, need the support of its corporate society to assist those in need,” until Guyana’s living standards catch up with economic growth from its oil boom.
Looking Ahead
Developing nations have often fallen into a resource curse, growing too quickly and fostering reliance on a single industry. Guyana is aware of the pitfalls, showing keen interest in implementing reform and investing across all sectors to ensure sustainable growth. With good leadership and the right policies, the country will be able to benefit from its oil boom and reduce poverty benefiting the entire population. While Guyana’s economic growth as a petrostate alleviates poverty it is just the beginning, and even though they are moving in the right direction they still have a long way to go.
– Kishan Patel
Photo: Flickr
4 Ways Bangladesh is Combating Poverty
Bangladesh is a lush South Asian country that some presume to be developing slowly along with other areas of South and Southeast Asia. In fact, the opposite is true: Bangladesh is a beautiful blueprint for how to build a country and lift citizens out of poverty. Its GDP has grown the most out of any country in the last 10 years, and it has cut the number of people living below the national poverty line in half from 2000 to 2016. While it is an amazing success story, 35 million people are still living below the poverty line and the country must continue to use an arsenal of poverty-fighting initiatives to eliminate poverty in Bangladesh. Here are four ways Bangladesh is combating poverty.
Fighting for Breath
In the 1970s, with help from The Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), Bangladesh slashed child mortality. By identifying diarrhea as the leading cause of child deaths and then widely administering Oral Rehydration therapy, it helped reduce the death rate from 180 in 1,000 to 53 in 1,000 by 2011.
However, child mortality has continued in Bangladesh, and Pneumonia is a major killer, involved in one in five child deaths. Fighting for Breath is a global initiative that UNICEF spearheaded to eliminate pneumonia deaths in Bangladesh. By working to get Bangladesh up to global health standards (in terms of government spending and quality of care) as well as targeting underlying causes such as poor drinking water and sanitation, Fighting for Breath saves lives and stops child mortality and poverty.
BRAC
As mentioned above, the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee is a global NGO now operating as simply BRAC. Since its masterful health initiative in the 70s, it pioneered the Graduation Program in Bangladesh, which has four goals: meeting basic needs, income generation, social empowerment and financial support and savings. As of 2022, it has used this model to help 2.1 million households out of extreme poverty in Bangladesh alone.
BRAC operates under the philosophy that “people should be the subject, not the object of development programs.” Those ideals have helped them combat poverty in Bangladesh and across the globe.
Fostering Education
A key pillar in reducing global poverty is widespread education, and Bangladesh is no stranger to this facet. Within a decade, Bangladesh has made incredible strides in education. An astounding 98% of elementary-aged children are receiving formal education. Also, according to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), “The country has achieved…gender parity in equal access to education.”
Although Bangladesh still struggles with equitable education for minority populations, there are USAID programs in place to tackle this issue. A chief aim is to promote awareness for minorities and people with disabilities. USAID further fought poverty with education by creating 100 classroom-based libraries in 2022.
How Bangladesh is Combating Poverty With a Booming Economy
A major facet that has Bangladesh on pace to exit the U.N.’s Least Developed Countries List by 2026 is its expanding economy. A strong garment and textile industry and a growing energy sector have uplifted people from poverty. Textiles comprise 80% of the country’s exports and employ 4 million people. Additionally, 100% of Bangladesh’s population has access to electricity. Agriculture has also been a backbone to alleviating poverty, reducing the poverty rate by almost 70% within five years. Support from the World Bank to modernize 1.8 million agricultural houses also displays how a growing Bangladesh has mitigated poverty. The economy did take substantial hits from the COVID-19 pandemic, but its strong economy and fast-growing sectors have been pillars of making a difference.
Looking forward, there are still many steps to eliminate poverty besides the other efforts Bangladesh is combating poverty with, but the country paints a resilient success story in how to present a continued effort to reduce poverty.
– Aditya Arora
Photo: Flickr
Cabo Verde’s Economic Growth is Promising: Here’s Why
A Lack of Natural Resources
Cabo Verde cannot rely on its natural resources as it is lacking compared to the countries closest to it. Only 11% of all of its land mass is suitable for agriculture, fresh water has very few sources, and frequent draughts prove to be major issues in the conservation of resources. The main natural valuables of the nation only include salt, limestone and pozzolana — used in making cement.
Due to these limitations, Cabo Verde has had to use clever strategies to ensure resources do not become scarce. 90% of all food is imported, so the only food source that they have an abundance of — fish — is protected. 21% of all foreign investment from 1994 – 2000 was used on fishing infrastructure, including developing large processing plants for the freezing and storage of fresh fish.
Energy demands are almost entirely met by imported petroleum fuel. The ECOWAS Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, established in 2009, was created to improve the renewable energy capability of Cabo Verde. Strong wind has enabled the use of wind turbines on the national grid, solar-powered systems have been introduced into villages, and a 20-70kW/m wave strength allows for untapped potential into a new avenue.
The natural problems of Cabo Verde should serve as an indication for other countries on how to effectively preserve resources to boost the economy. Despite having very little, Cabo Verde’s economic growth has been contributed to by the smart planning of the postcolonial government.
The Focus on Tourism
Tourism is the single most important sector of Cabo Verde’s economy. Nearly 5% of the economic growth in 2022 was due to the service of accommodation and restaurants — the highest of any category.
Over 700,000 tourists visited Cabo Verde in 2022, 90% of the record-breaking 819,000 figure from 2019. An impressive vaccination program allowed Cabo Verde to speed up its reopening to visitors in 2021. The Cabo Verde government is expecting these numbers to surpass 1.2 million in 2026 as the funding for tourism sites and resorts grows each year.
An increase in tourism only brings positivity to the nation as, in 2019, 39% of total employment was in the travel and tourism sector. (From January to September 2022, around $105 million was generated in foreign investment, compared to only $60 million in the same period for 2021. With a majority of this investment directly impacting tourism, the number of jobs will increase, and thousands more will be employed, impacting the lives of those living along the poverty line.
Cabo Verde still has a way to go if it wants to be as successful as another African island nation in terms of tourism — the Seychelles. Seychelles has a much lower poverty rate than Cabo Verde so the success story has already been created, and with more time the government is hoping to further boost the economy and lower the poverty rate again.
Consistent Fall of Poverty
In 2001, the poverty rate was just under 60%. Only 14 years later the number was 35%. Almost a decrease of half in less than two decades is incredibly impressive and highlights how the work of strategic implementations can allow an economy to thrive and people to succeed.
Cabo Verde’s location makes the country very vulnerable to key natural hazards so the economy is still volatile. The World Bank introduced a Catastrophic Deferred Drawdown Option (Cat DDO) to provide Cabo Verde with the funding necessary to deal with a natural disaster. Since 2018, the Cat DDO has been utilized to introduce policy reforms and update the data systems used to identify risks.
Even with the highly susceptible environmental conditions, Cabo Verde has had a consistent fall in poverty since gaining independence. In 1989, the number of people living in extreme poverty was around 14%. In 2015, the figure was just over 2%.
There is no sign of stopping the reduction in poverty from the government. Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva made a statement in February highlighting the need to eradicate extreme poverty from Cabo Verde by 2026.
He stated, “We must eliminate extreme poverty in Cabo Verde, reduce absolute poverty, in the name of human dignity, but also of the positive impacts at the level of people’s quality of life, public security, increased productivity of families and happiness of people.”
Cabo Verde’s economic growth is a testament to the dedication of the government, foreign aid workers and investors that envision a more prosperous future for the nation. Other countries in the region can certainly benefit from the knowledge and experience of plans carried out by Cabo Verde, especially regarding conservation and creating tourism spots that will get their economies thriving.
– Oliver Rayner
Photo: Flickr
The Importance of Tech Investment in Rural Areas
Why Is Investment in Rural Areas Necessary?
The issue of poverty is, in general, much more heightened in rural areas than urban ones, predominantly due to issues such as malnutrition, lack of inclusivity, remote locations, poorer market access and lack of opportunities and connectivity.
Issues such as malnutrition can inhibit children from accessing education and constrain their physical and mental health, limiting their ability to become productive adults and generate economic means to alleviate poverty.
The remote location of rural areas and the additional lack of transportation means that rural businesses and producers have a much more difficult time selling goods and conducting business, limiting their economic capacity and commerce potential.
The agricultural sector, which is the dominant industry in most rural spaces, is being heavily impacted by climate change. Droughts, wildfires, flooding and pollution are becoming heavily exacerbated, severely limiting the output of local farmers and subsistence communities.
Economic activities occurring in rural areas largely consist of ‘repetitive tasks’ and ‘low economic diversification,’ accelerated by an ever-growing brain drain of skilled workers abroad and to urban areas. As a result, these communities are facing a risk of their jobs becoming automated, potentially lowering employment opportunities in such areas.
Lack of connectivity across rural communities prevents continual and sustainable growth of businesses, meaning that rural enterprises often find themselves limited and in competition with urban firms that have a much larger collection of resources and access to greater markets.
These vulnerabilities and economic difficulties that rural communities are faced with means that the dwellers often move to more urban areas, seeking a better quality of life, employment and education. However, this increased urbanization is not necessarily a problem-free approach to reducing poverty, as the heightened cost of living, crime, housing crises and job competition can frequently drive individuals into deeper poverty.
However, one of the solutions for this urbanization/rural poverty problem lies in tech investment in rural areas, which is proving to be an effective help in rural development and is engendering positive change in many individuals’ lives.
How Will Tech Investment in Rural Areas Help Alleviate Poverty?
Innovative technologies such as decentralized water treatment devices using membrane filtration, which the International Environmental Research Institute initiated alongside the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology in Indonesia and Cambodia, are helping to heighten sustainable water security levels. This project provided water treatment units to two secondary schools in Indonesia and Cambodia, expanding to provide communities across 13 countries in Asia and the South Pacific with similar technology. Better water security lowers the risk of water-borne diseases and leads to more productive agricultural output, which can alleviate malnutrition and thus engender positive multi-generational patterns, helping children reach their full potential as working adults.
Contemporary tech investment in rural areas consists of projects abiding by the Sustainable Development Goals, meaning that they have a specific focus on being gender inclusive. For example, UN Women and the African Union launched African Girls Can Code in 2018, which recruits girls from predominantly rural areas to train them in computer programming and digital communication skills in order to overcome the gender divide in STEM. The program aims to educate at least 2,000 girls from ages 17 to 25 to kickstart careers in computer programming and other technological fields.
Lastly, tech investments in rural areas can be effective in transforming the way small businesses and producers operate, increasing their reach, productivity and access to markets and customers. For example, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is operating a number of small-scale technological projects to help alleviate rural poverty. One such project was the development of an e-marketing platform in al-Houz, Morocco, to improve the reliability of agricultural sales and thus the living conditions of farmers and their families. The site, named Hawli.Haouz, assists sheep farmers in selling their livestock. The project has been remarkably successful, with an overall output of roughly $65,000 in its first year, which has quintupled in the following years.
Conclusion
Projects like these illustrate that tech investment in rural areas can help alleviate poverty. Struggles such as malnutrition, water insecurity, gender exclusion, lack of connectivity and remoteness often render rural communities unable to lift themselves out of poverty. However, with small-scale yet effective projects involving innovative technology, the accumulation of direct changes in individuals’ lives will help to raise the overall quality of life, and provide better access to employment and growth opportunities for businesses in rural areas, without the downfalls that the trap of urbanization can often create.
– Eleanor Moseley
Photo: Flickr
Multilingual Cyberspace for Indigenous Languages
Challenges
Numerous organizations are dedicated to preserving indigenous languages by devising action plans to promote their use on modern technology platforms. This includes allowing people to communicate in their native languages on cyberspace platforms and social media applications like Facebook.
However, there are several challenges to integrating these languages into these platforms:
Partnerships To Promote Indigenous Languages Through Cyberspace Digitalization
In 2022, a partnership established between Meta and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated to preserve Indigenous languages through digitalization is a significant step towards achieving this goal. With the inclusion of the Inuktitut language in Facebook’s language settings, native speakers can now use their language with ease on a global platform.
This development has been received with great satisfaction by the Inuit community, who view it as a crucial move towards revitalizing their language. The Inuktitut language, which has more complex and longer words compared to English, is an integral part of the Inuit culture. By promoting its daily use, this feature on Facebook is a powerful tool for preserving and promoting the Inuit cultural heritage.
With over 25,000 people from Inuit homelands and other communities across Nunavut, Canada, this feature on Facebook has the potential to benefit a vast number of individuals. It is a remarkable achievement in the effort to preserve Indigenous languages in cyberspace and a testament to the power of technology in promoting cultural diversity.
To promote linguistic diversity and inclusivity, Motorola launched the Language Revitalization Initiative in 2021. This initiative aims to provide access to various indigenous languages, such as Kaingang from Brazil, Nheengatu from the Amazon and Cherokee from the United States, via smartphones. With smartphones offering up to 80 languages, including these native languages, users can easily access and communicate in their preferred language.
This is a significant development for indigenous communities, enabling them to connect with cyberspace and use social media platforms in their native language. By doing so, they can share their culture and traditions with others and preserve their language for future generations. The Language Revitalization Initiative is a commendable step toward promoting linguistic diversity and inclusivity, and it is heartening to see corporations take an active interest in preserving and promoting indigenous languages.
UNESCO is facilitating partnerships between tech companies and native language speakers to preserve endangered languages for future generations. This initiative is based on UNESCO’s commitment to providing equal rights and access to information to all individuals. By empowering native speakers to use their own language in cyberspace, UNESCO is working towards preserving linguistic diversity.
– Gurjot Kaur
Photo: Flickr
Burger King’s Fight Against Poverty
The Burger King Foundation’s Mission — Education
The Burger King Foundation’s first mission is expanding access to education to traditionally uneducated groups who cannot afford it. The Burger King Scholars program, funded by Burger King franchises, awards scholarships to students across North America in order to increase education among low socioeconomic groups and level the playing field of access to higher education. Since 2000, more than $55 million worth of scholarships have been awarded to nearly 50,000 students.
In an interview with Impacting Our Future, Amanda Israel, the executive director of the Burger King Foundation, explained that student loan debt is one of the biggest barriers to higher education. Therefore, grants and scholarships like those of the Burger King Scholars program are immensely helpful in equalizing educational opportunities and offering underprivileged students the chance to build a successful future. Because of Burger King Scholars grants, nearly 50,000 students have earned the chance to attend a post-secondary institution and break the cycle of educational underprivilege. In the interview, Israel emphasizes the importance of higher education in reducing poverty by claiming that higher education has the power to reduce inequality and bolster a nation’s economic growth.
In addition to scholarships given to students in North America, the Burger King Foundation supports literacy projects around the world. Over 200 projects, including building libraries and schools in rural communities, have been completed by the foundation. In Asia and Africa alone, the Burger King Foundation has supported the growth of Room to Read programs that teach more than 1,000 students to read. According to the U.N., literacy is crucial to ensure the stability and growth of a poor nation, so increasing literacy rates among children is an excellent tool in the fight against poverty.
The Burger King Foundation’s Mission — Emergency Relief
The second mission of the Burger King Foundation is to support Burger King employees through immediate emergencies. The foundation does this by offering grants to Burger King employees and their families after some sort of emergency has occurred. An emergency could be anything like the death of a close friend or relative, a natural disaster, a medical emergency or another unforeseen circumstance that causes monetary distress. These grants are as high as $4,500 and help to support people through what can be an expensive and difficult time.
Since its creation, the emergency fund has granted $2.6 million to Burger King employees in need across 30 countries on six continents. This widespread emergency relief helps to soften poverty’s hold on damaged communities, like those in the wake of brutal natural disasters and guarantees a smoother recovery for struggling families.
The Burger King Foundation’s Impact on Global Poverty
Because of its education and relief-focused missions, the Burger King Foundation indirectly relieves poverty around the world.
Between scholarships and emergency grants alone, Burger King has donated nearly $65 million to thousands of individuals across dozens of countries. However, its effects are broadened by its partnerships with other non-profits and support of educational projects like Room to Read.
Burger King Foundation’s poverty-fighting belief that “through education you can explore your full potential and live life your way” demonstrates the fundamental goal of all of the foundation’s actions: Education and relief help a person achieve more than they could have otherwise, thereby building stability and growth around him and eventually lifting him out of poverty.
How You Can Support Burger King’s Fight Against Poverty
Anyone can support Burger King’s fight against poverty by making a monetary donation online or attending a Burger King Foundation event. Events include annual conventions, golf outings and more.
Burger King’s two-faceted approach to poverty relief is helping thousands of people around the world. It is helping to equalize education and support its employees amidst times of financial need, all of which have a positive impact on fighting global poverty.
– Suzanne Ackley
Photo: Fickr