Archive for category: Developing Countries

Information and stories about developing countries.

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Fair Trade and its Impacts in Developing Communities

Fair Trade
Fair Trade is a global movement committed to paying fair prices in trade, impacting producers in developing countries. The concept came as a response to global poverty levels and focuses on the marketing of products and development trade. It also raises awareness of trade injustice in trade structures and advocates changes to favor equitable trade. Overall, the movement organizes producers and production and provides services to the producers.

From the 1970s to the 1980s, Fair Trade products were only sold to consumers in specified shops. In 1997, Fairtrade Labelling International was created, which expanded the movement into other countries including North America.

Fairtrade Labelling International set international standards for products in certifying production trade. When a product meets these standards, the company identifies the product with a label. Purchasing products with the Fair Trade label can improve a community. The funds from Fair Trade impact communities with social, economic and environmental development projects.

Fair Trade impacts the building of sustainable businesses by demanding fair wages and treatment. Workers can socialize with buyers while gaining a living wage. Both the employed and farmers may work efficiently with this system. More companies are investing in this movement, while it also ensures safe working conditions and prevents forced child labor.

Investing companies include Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Rishi Tea in China. Ben & Jerry’s was the first ice cream company to join the movement. With its popularity, it set an example for many other businesses to follow. Rishi Tea is based in China and makes organic teas out of some of the oldest gardens in the world. The company supports education, provides scholarship programs and builds hospitals and roads in secluded areas.

Fair Trade uses the money that may have been put toward high-priced goods to build schools instead. Since fair trade helps stabilize incomes, many families can keep their children in school. It provides supplies, scholarship programs and healthy meals. Fair Trade enables education for even the most outlying communities.

Fair Trade impacts workers, farmers and families. Farmers can receive market-based tools to prevent them from falling into poverty and may learn environmentally sustainable practices. Workers and families gain access to doctors, treatments and nutrition. These benefits enable people to help themselves as well as others in their communities.

Fair Trade is a model for alleviating global poverty. Many companies and markets are investing, impacting developing communities. From building sustainable businesses to providing education, the movement is life-changing for those living in poor communities around the world.

– Brandi Gomez

Photo: Flickr

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The Top 3 Barriers to Education

Barriers to Education
Much of the world is completely unaware of the current global education crisis. Although education is an inalienable right according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDH), there are currently 263 million children out of school. There are multiple barriers to education that need to be addressed to end this crisis.

Here are the three top barriers to education:

Affordability

The most apparent barrier to education is affordability, even though the UDH states that free basic education is every child’s right. Many developing nations have abolished formal school fees, but informal fees continue to prevent children from receiving an education. Informal fees include required uniforms, textbooks and additional school materials. In developing countries, “children from the poorest 20 percent of households are four times less likely to attend school than the wealthiest 20%.” The inability to afford formal and informal fees perpetuates a cycle of poverty amongst the poor, as children remain home to support their families.

Lack of Trained Teachers

Lack of trained teachers is a barrier to education that affects even those in developing countries that can afford schooling. Not only are there not enough teachers worldwide to achieve universal education, but their training is either poor or nonexistent. In 2016, the U.N. reported that 69 million trained teachers are necessary to achieve global universal education by 2030. With many teachers in developing nations failing to meet national standards, children lack basic education.

Gender Inequality

The UDH states that every child has the right to education, but unfortunately, being the ‘wrong’ gender is a barrier to education. In developing countries, girls are significantly less likely to receive an education than boys. This is due to entrenched gender norms that maintain that households should not educate their daughters. Many impoverished families must make a choice of which of their children to send to school. In this case, households are much more likely to send their sons to school than their daughters because of social norms. Instead of attending school, many girls are sent to work or kept at home to provide and care for the family.

Addressing barriers to education is critical in obtaining universal education by 2030. Towards this goal, many organizations concentrate on establishing specific barriers. Such organizations include CARE, 60 Million Girls, the Global Partnership for Education and Educate a Child. These organizations and others like them work to educate people about the crisis and propose potential solutions. Possible solutions include additional and proper use of funding for education; strengthening educational systems and recruiting and providing training for teachers.

Knowing the barriers to education is the first step to providing every child with their inalienable right to education. The next step is to work together and tackle each barrier one by one.

– Haley Hurtt

Photo: Flickr

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Google’s Education Expands the World, Shrinks Our Brains

Google's education
Google, one of the world’s most prominent and well-known companies, has massively impacted the world. People can have any piece of information desired at our fingertips, and Google’s education has drastically changed the way children learn.

Google’s education has become so pertinent that the corporation has launched its own app to help teachers in the classroom make assignments, known as Google Classroom. More than 30 million children use Google educational apps such as Google Classroom or Google Docs. The corporation has become so important in schools that Chromebooks (Google-powered laptops) are used by thousands of students and teachers in the classroom. A child in the state of Nebraska has the same access to information as a child in New York, Florida or California. Google’s education has made the world smaller, but it comes at the price of shrinking our brains.

The connectivity of the internet is useful, but some see the internet as a drawback to education as well. Google’s education has made the world smaller, but it comes at the price of shrinking our brains. Having constant access to almost limitless information is not only bad for human discourse; it’s reportedly making us worse at remembering things. And even if we aren’t conscious of it, our brains are primed to think about the Internet as soon as we start trying to recall the answer to a tough trivia question.

Google’s education has transformed education from learning over time into a faster process, one that can easily become a mental-crutch. “Google established itself as a fact in schools,” said Hal Friedlander, former chief information officer for the New York City Department of Education, the U.S.’s largest school district. Before Google established itself in school systems, children would have to research information in textbooks and have to talk to specific adults or mentors about certain topics. Now, the first place students conduct research is on Google.

While students are capable of having research at the touch of a button, teachers are concerned about the newfound capabilities of students’ almost unlimited information resources. Teachers feel that students may be overconfident with their research methods and capabilities. Some teachers believe that students are missing out on the true and somewhat old-fashioned research experience of looking through textbooks and talking to librarians. There’s also the risk of credibility with internet sources. Not every piece of information found on Google is a reliable source of information, and without accurately researching, students are blind to false information versus the truth.

Google’s education has helped expand informational resources to every person with internet access, but there is also the possibility that this access is making our minds less powerful. There has not been much extensive research on this topic yet, and more will need to be done in the future to better understand how Google’s education affects developing minds.

– Mary Waller

Photo: Flickr

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Why Is Azerbaijan Poor?

Why Is Azerbaijan Poor
Though it is a higher middle-income country with a booming oil industry, Azerbaijan is overcome by poverty and corruption. Its emerging energy sector could change the economic landscape by answering the question: why is Azerbaijan poor?

Despite economic growth in recent years, 80 to 85 percent of Azerbaijan’s population makes low wages and lives in poor conditions. However, the upper class makes up only two to four percent of its population.

Agriculture is a major source of employment, as 48 percent of the population lives in rural areas. Unfortunately, agriculture only makes up 6.7 percent of the GDP. In Azerbaijan’s rural areas, people suffer from poor infrastructure and limited agricultural production. This is due to inadequate access to services and equipment and rising food prices. Farmers struggle to compete in domestic markets and develop beyond subsistence levels of production. The rising competition in products from increased foreign exchange in oil revenue and liberalization policies also limit agricultural output.

Azerbaijan hopes to promote social equity by creating a sustainable and thriving economy. According to a report submitted by Azerbaijan’s National Coordination Council for Sustainable Development July 3, poverty has already decreased from 49 percent in 2001 to 4.9 percent in 2015.

The International Institute for Sustainable Development and the United Nations Environment Program are discerning why is Azerbaijan poor by studying Azerbaijan’s challenges. The organizations conclude that for Azerbaijan to sustain a thriving economy, it should shift to a green economy. This will improve human wellbeing and reduce environmental risks and ecological scarcities.

Azerbaijan foresees introducing green economic strategies in agriculture in 2018 to continue economic development and reduce poverty. To grow its agricultural production, Azerbaijan must promote stronger supply chains; enhance public-private partnerships with agri-business; promote education and capacity building and enforce stronger regulation on agricultural inputs and outputs. Prioritizing the energy sector to protect soil and water quality is also crucial. Finally, increasing microfinance to benefit the poor in terms of jobs and livelihoods will help grow the economy.

Since agriculture is the main source of employment in Azerbaijan, developing the agriculture sector alongside the energy sector will help alleviate the country’s poverty. Creating progress in the most unfortunate areas improves not only the country’s economy but the individual lives within it.

– Sarah Dunlap

Photo: Flickr

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Poverty Rate in Aruba

Poverty Rate in Aruba
Aruba, a small country in the South Caribbean Sea, has been regarded as a popular vacation spot where tourism continues to thrive. Accounting for 30% of the island’s income, the tourism industry has been on the rise since 1985. This industry has brought an increase in business to the hotel industry as well as construction and the food industry. Tourism has helped create a flourishing economy and contributed to the low poverty rate in Aruba.

These increases of industry have paved the way for an increase in jobs. This contributes to the low unemployment rate, 6.9% as of 2005. Aruba’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been estimated at about $23,500 per capita in 2011, which is among the highest in Central and South America as well as the Caribbean.

The unemployment rate continues to be low due to an abundance of jobs and a stable economy, yet jobs still go unfulfilled. With a focus on tourism, the majority of jobs are concentrated in the tourism industry, whether it be in the hotel industry or otherwise.

Although public debt was recorded as 67% of the GDP in 2013, the inflation rate in 2016 was negative at about minus 0.8%. Like any island nation, Aruba exports only a fraction of what it imports. Partially due to tourism, the island maintains a steady economy, where 1.79 Aruban Florin has consistently been equivalent to $1 since 2012. With more than one million visitors to the island per year, the majority of businesses in tourist areas operate on the U.S. dollar.

Aruba’s tourism industry has continued to thrive in recent years. Increases in the tourism industry have created low unemployment and have contributed to the low poverty rate in Aruba. The tourism industry is expected to continue to prosper in Aruba due to the stable economy and exchange rate. Continued low rates of poverty can also be expected for the near future of Aruba.

– Stefanie Podosek

Photo: Flickr

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How Many Africans Live in Poverty?


Understanding how many Africans live in poverty means delving into the economic and social status of every country on the continent. As Africa’s population continues to grow at record rates, making it the second-most populous region in the world, so does the need to reduce poverty and truly understand how many Africans live in poverty.

Despite assumptions that poverty in Africa is worsening or stagnant, according to the United Nations, current estimates of poverty in Africa are actually lower than expected. The number of Africans considered impoverished fell from 56% in 1990 to 43% in 2012. Even with improved statistics, the proportions must also count the rapidly increasing population which averages about 2.6% growth each year. With this growth in mind, the percentages translate to roughly 330 million poor in 2012 compared to 280 million in 1990.

Africa has also improved in other areas, helping to alleviate how many Africans live in poverty. Intergenerational mobility in education and occupation has bettered across the continent but remains low. South African publication Daily Maverick reports that access to electricity and sanitized water in the region has dramatically increased.

Even with the various societal improvements toward becoming more developed, Africa still suffers from widening inequality. The Brookings Institute has found divergent trends in simultaneously expanding economies and growing numbers of people living on less than $1.25 a day. Seven of the 10 most unequal countries in the world are in Africa and most of them in southern Africa. However, excluding these select countries, inequality is not higher in Africa than elsewhere in the world. Some Africans are becoming wealthier, and others are becoming poorer. Differences between urban and rural areas across regions are large. Reducing how many Africans live in poverty is not an isolated solution, but one that must keep in mind economic inequality.

Those vulnerable to widespread inequality suffer the consequences. Twenty-eight of the poorest countries are in Africa. Without stable governments to ensure basic rights, 589 million sub-Saharan Africans live without electricity, and almost 40% of people in the world without access to safe drinking water live in Africa. Diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS result in premature deaths and orphaned young people without the resources available to escape the depths of poverty. However, there is a disconnect between the realities of poverty and the policymakers able to assist further with inequality in Africa.

How do people learn more about accurately defining how many Africans live in poverty and inequality? Through more frequent and widespread household surveys, the information gap between censuses must be shortened; the latest for some countries is at least three years old according to the United Nations. As quickly as the African landscape changes, accurate information about poverty in Africa is the catalyst necessary for advocacy and progress.

Africa is a mural dyed with many shades not fully encompassed in a single statistic. A piece of data cannot amplify the voices of those impoverished. But for those capable of communicating the reality of how many Africans live in poverty, a statistic can translate into action.

– Allie Knofczynski

Photo: Flickr

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Powerful Women in Poor Countries


Women in developing countries are one of the most vulnerable and oppressed groups in the world. But even in the face of challenges such as disproportionate violence, child marriages, teenage pregnancy and minimal education, many women are fighting back. The Borgen Project highlights five powerful women in poor countries who are asserting their power against fierce adversity.

  1. Malala Yousafzai
    This international icon has been an inspiration to girls everywhere since she survived a Taliban attack in 2012. The Pakistani teenager was targeted by the extremist group for her advocacy in support of girls’ education rights. Since her miraculous recovery, Yousafzai has continued her fight against gender inequality by founding the Malala Fund. This organization advocates for and invests in girls’ education in the poorest and most unequal countries in the world. At age 17, she became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Her story of resistance has made her one of the most powerful women in poor countries.
  2. Eqbal Dauqan
    This Yemeni scientist is breaking cultural barriers and scientific boundaries despite hardship and discrimination. Like Malala, she has been physically attacked for defiance of her culture’s strict gender roles. She was forced to flee to Malaysia from the civil war in her native Yemen. In the face of these extreme obstacles, Dauqan has managed to become an awarded chemist. In a country where many women need a man’s permission to leave the house, Dauqan earned a college degree and a Ph.D. in biochemistry. She has gone on to publish a popular book, earn international awards for her scientific contributions and be named assistant professor and head of her department at Al Saeed University. It is no wonder that NPR calls her “unstoppable.”
  3. Majd Al-Asharawy
    This Palestinian inventor created Green Cake, a revolutionary new building block made from ashes. In her war-torn home of Gaza, resources are limited and many buildings are in ruins. Al-Asharawy researched for six months to develop her special brick out of the resources available in Gaza. Green Cake is environmentally friendly and fire-resistant, weighs half what a concrete block does and costs half the price. This inspiring young inventor is yet another woman utilizing her limited resources to revolutionize the world around her.
  4. Ishita Sharma
    India is one of the most rapidly improving countries in the developing world, but gender equality in the country is not up to pace. Ninety-two women are raped in India every day. After being harassed by men on the street, Sharma teamed up with a kung fu coach to offer free self-defense classes to underprivileged girls. By working with parents and teachers in the girls’ communities, she has built up a small army of girls with the skills and confidence to defend themselves. Sharma is helping to equip more powerful women in poor countries to stand up to violence and sexual harassment.
  5. Drukpa Order “Kung Fu” Nuns
    In Southeast Asia, the human trafficking of young girls is rampant. Five hundred Buddhist nuns from India, Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet are fighting this practice through a 4,000-kilometer bike trip. For the fourth time, the nuns biked from Kathmandu to Leh, India to raise awareness of human trafficking and promote messages of gender equality. Along the way, they met with local officials, provided food to poor communities and helped marginalized people access medical care. They are even trained in martial arts to defend themselves against male harassment. These powerful women in poor countries are blazing a new trail for girls in Southeast Asia.

There is still a lot of work to be done by the international community and local governments to support gender equality in the developing world. But these powerful women in poor countries are proving that they are far from powerless.

– Bret Anne Serbin

Photo: Flickr

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Why is Jamaica Poor?


Jamaica is known to be an upper-middle-income country. Yet, it is one of the slowest-developing economies in the world. Its poverty rate has improved, decreasing from 19.9% in 2012 to 18.7% today. Although there is a significant improvement, there are still present causes that answer the question, “why is Jamaica poor?” Crime, unemployment rates, reliability on imported goods and other social conflicts contribute to poverty in Jamaica.

Jamaica constantly faces crime and violence. It has an above-average crime rate as well as high poverty levels. People commit crimes usually when they are in need. Because of poor conditions, there is a need to steal food out of hunger or other circumstances. These criminal acts are a direct effect of Jamaica’s impoverished state.

Unemployment is a great challenge many Jamaican families go through. The unemployment rate is around 12.9% as of the end of last year. This creates difficulty for children trying to go to school. With no education, there is no social growth within the community. This is another answer to the question “why is Jamaica poor?”

Jamaica’s education system requires most schools to have fees. This creates a barrier for many households because they cannot afford these fees. Limiting children’s education limits their opportunities to reduce poverty in the country, and the cycle continues.

With an 8.29% inflation rate and high reliance on imported goods for daily necessities, most of Jamaica is scraping its way through survival. And so, why is Jamaica poor? Jamaica’s public debt, unemployment and crime rates have weakened the economy over the years. While Jamaica has many in poverty now, it does not mean it is its fate. With organizations working to reduce poverty around the world and Jamaica’s significant improvement, the country has a developing future.

– Brandi Gomez

Photo: Flickr

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Project C.U.R.E. Provides Aid with Donated Medical Supplies


Listed in Forbes 200 Largest and 20 Most Effective U.S. Charities, Project C.U.R.E. started from humble beginnings, when a doctor from Evergreen, Colorado visited a hospital in Rio De Janeiro and saw the tragic consequences patients were facing due to a lack of medical supplies. Just thirty days after returning to the U.S., Dr. James Jackson had collected $250,000 worth of medical supplies in his garage to send back to that hospital. Now, thirty years after its founding, Project C.U.R.E. contributes $43 million annually to charitable services, providing donated medical supplies to ensure that health centers in 130 countries have the means to provide care to patients who are often among the most vulnerable in the world.

A Venezuelan gynecologist explained to the Human Rights Watch that 90% of medical and surgical supplies were lacking at her general hospital. In countries like Venezuela, where sexual education and women’s health are already often overlooked and inaccessible, the black market often controls the distribution of medical supplies and prices are three to four times the U.S. standard.

With $51 million in private support, Project C.U.R.E. has been able to expand across the U.S. and now has distribution warehouses in Colorado, Arizona, Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. With their contributions reaching as much as $38 million in supplies to Nigeria alone, Project C.U.R.E. has gained support not only from individual volunteers and donors across the country but from medical supply companies and other non-profit organizations.

In 2014, the Ebola outbreak led to an outpour of generosity to countries facing the health emergency. In Colorado, Project C.U.R.E. was able to send 240,000 pounds of donated medical supplies to Sierra Leone, with enough examination gloves to weigh a ton on their own. The gloves were donated by Medline, the largest privately held medical supply company in the U.S., which recognized how even the most commonplace supplies in U.S. health facilities were critical and coveted abroad. That year, 30 percent of hospitals in Sierra Leone lacked sterile gloves.

With their recent expansion into the northeast region of the U.S., AmerisourceBergen, a Pennsylvania-based non-profit pharmaceutical sourcing and distributing organization, gave Project C.U.R.E. a $50,000 grant in 2016. AmerisourceBergen (ranking 12th on the Fortune 500 list) was inspired by the 60 regional U.S. health centers and multiple seaports that Project C.U.R.E.’s new Pennsylvania distribution center offered.

Every week, two or three cargo containers full of donated medical supplies leave Project C.U.R.E.’s warehouses. Those medical supplies provide the tools for life-saving surgeries, vaccines, treatments, and childbirths. And with those material means, this organization also provides the intangible but imperative gift of empowerment and hope to countries who need it the most.

– Brooke Clayton

Photo: Flickr

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Hunger in Samoa is Still A Crisis


Following destructive cyclones in 1990 and 1991, much of Samoa’s agriculture was destroyed. This has caused major setbacks for food production. To alleviate the huge deficit in food resources, the country sought out help from donor nations as well as the World Food Programme. Despite the help from donor nations and relief programs, problems still remain with hunger in Samoa today.

In an address in 1996 by the country’s Deputy Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, it was stated that the 1993 food production recovery program was making headway until a fungal disease wreaked havoc on the crops. With natural disasters and failed production recovery programs not making any progress, Malielegaoi and the government of Samoa committed to the World Food Summit Plan of Action in hopes of combatting hunger in Samoa and rebuilding the food recovery program.

Years later, hunger in Samoa is still a crisis. In 2006, the depth of hunger index–which measures the number of people who fall short of minimum food needs–was reported at 210, and, by 2008, the depth of hunger had decreased to 150, a significant reduction. In addition, the depth of the food deficit was at 22 kilocalories per person per day, while the percent of malnutrition prevalence in children under 5 was at 1.7%. The number of undernourished people in Samoa was reported at 100,000 in 2008, an estimated 5% of the population.

Despite the lack of progress, in 2013, the Samoan government and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) announced that Samoa was among 40 countries to have cut hunger in half. This success was one of the targets of the Millennium Development Goals set by the U.N. in 2000 to be achieved by 2015.

In response to Samoa’s hard work, the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries of Samoa Hon. LeMamea Ropati Mualia stated that “Samoa has put into place decisive policies and actions to accelerate hunger reduction,” and this is “a good signal for our beloved country’s economic growth and sustainability.”

Although there is no current data on unemployment rates and the population living below the poverty line, and with the GDP increase of $.031 billion from 2015 to 2016, which ranked Samoa 203rd in the world, it can be inferred that there has been a slow but steady decrease in hunger in Samoa.

– Amira Wynn

Photo: Flickr