Archive for category: Development

Information and stories on development news.

The Importance of Clean Cookstoves

On March 10, Senator Susan Collins of Maine introduced the Clean Cookstoves Support Act. The bill has received support since being introduced. It is co-sponsored by Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois. In order for the bill to receive more support, though, people must understand why clean cookstoves are so essential to the well-being of people in developing countries.

According to the World Health Organization, 4.3 million deaths were caused by cookstove smoke emissions in the year 2012 alone. This number is shockingly high, but maybe not as surprising with the knowledge that over half of the world’s population currently cooks over unclean and dangerous surfaces.

By cooking over open-air fires or dirty cookstoves, families are putting themselves at risk. The smoke from the fire releases harmful toxins into the air that can get trapped in a kitchen space and cause diseases. When the same smoke is released through unsanitary cookstoves, the risk of illness is even higher.

The smoke is also bad for a person’s lungs. Damage done to the respiratory system is detrimental to long-term health and can make accomplishing simple, every-day tasks more difficult.

Because of familial roles in many developing countries, unsanitary cooking conditions have affected women and children more than men. As a result, the average age of death will become lower. Women with smoke-related illnesses experience a great deal of difficulty in child birth, and high child mortality rates are never good for a country’s statistics.

Aside from health related issues, a family would benefit from replacing old cookstoves and open-air fires because the new methods are so much more efficient. The Justa wood conserving stove, for example, is 70 percent more efficient than a regular stove. Families can save a lot of money by switching to safer methods of cooking and heating.

U.S. citizens should also realize that the Clean Cookstoves Act would have a positive global impact as well. Cleaner cookstoves and more efficient methods release fewer chemicals into the air. Therefore, the strain on the environment is reduced. In order to stop or slow climate change on a global scale, the world needs to take action in areas of the developing world that are emitting harmful chemicals without knowing.

If passed, the bill would initiate the replacement of dangerous cookstoves with more efficient ones in 100 million homes by 2020.

Supporting the bill and funding its causes will help families learn how to burn wood more efficiently and provide the money necessary to refurnish kitchen areas in more environmentally conscious ways.

Senator Collins calls the Clean Cookstoves Support Act the “low-hanging fruit” of sustainable development goals. Unsafe and unsanitary cookstoves are a quick and easy fix that just require a little bit of planning and additional funding. With these resources, the bill could change the lives of millions of people combatting harmful diseases and other negative effects of inefficient open-air fires and dirty cookstoves.

– Emily Walthouse

Sources: American Society of Civil Engineers, The Borgen Project, Govtrack, Susan Collins
Photo: Clean Cookstoves

, ,

Malnutrition in Bangladesh

Malnutrition in Bangladesh remains a severe problem, especially for women and children.

According to the United Nations, 33 percent of Bangladeshi adolescent girls are anemic and micronutrient deficient and 25 percent of women ages 15-44 are unhealthily thin for their height. About 48 percent of Bangladeshi children are malnourished and 1.5 million of them die each year from diarrhea that both worsens and is worsened by malnutrition.

A variety of factors cause malnutrition in Bangladesh, the two most prominent being poverty and food insecurity. These two problems limit one’s ability to live on a diet that provides all the nutrients necessary for healthy living, leading to malnutrition.

The country has high levels of absolute poverty, with nearly 50 million of its people unable to obtain food, clothing or shelter. Thus, even while Bangladesh has managed to reduce poverty by 50 percent since 1971, almost one-third of the population is still impoverished. Poverty is in turn exacerbated by a major distress to Bangladesh: natural disasters.

Consider the food crisis of 1974-75. A deluge destroyed two rice crops in a row, robbing heavily impoverished rural populations of their main source of income. In addition, the lack of rice contributed to malnutrition on an extreme scale. One in four children became “third-degree malnourished,” meaning they were less than 60 percent of a median weight-for-age measure.

Even more problematic, natural disasters in Bangladesh have been described as “frequent,” though not all have been as devastating as the ’74 flood.

In addition to and as a result of poverty, the people of Bangladesh suffer from high levels of food insecurity. The recently released Global Food Security Index (GFSI) ranked Bangladesh 88th out of 109 countries and reported that Bangladesh’s decline in food security was the ninth fastest in the world.

The Bangladeshi diet has the lowest share of non-starchy foods of all the countries studied in the GFSI. This indicates very poor nutrition and diet diversification, which of course induce micronutrient deficiencies.

Other causes of malnutrition in Bangladesh include the fact that many Bangladeshi mothers were never taught proper child-rearing behaviors; in addition, mothers often lack access to health services that are necessary to secure the health of their children.

Despite all of these problems, there is hope. Rates of childhood malnutrition have fallen recently, albeit gradually. In the past 15 years, vitamin A deficiencies among Bangladeshi children have been significantly reduced.

Also, income levels in Bangladesh are on the rise. Typically, this correlates with a decline in malnutrition, and while some South Asian countries mysteriously lack this correlation, Bangladesh is not one of them.

As International Food Policy Research Institute researcher Derek Headey noted in his 2013 study: “From 1997 to 2007, Bangladesh recorded one of the fastest prolonged reductions in child underweight and stunting prevalence in recorded history, 1.1. and 1.3 percentage points per year, respectively.”

Thus, while malnutrition in Bangladesh continues to be a major problem, some signs suggest the country is heading in the right direction for attacking that problem. Moreover, if the country’s overall food security increases somehow, a major reduction in malnutrition may follow.

– Ryan Yanke

Sources: The Hunger Project, JSTOR, FAO, World Food Programme, International Food Policy Research Institute, Global Food Security Index, NHS, Bread for the World, The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Photo: Axis of Logic

,

Poverty in Italy Today

Rome, Italy has a population of nearly 2.9 million people and is considered to be one of Europe’s most significant cities. Notwithstanding its status as a city rich with culture and history, Rome is also a victim of poverty.

Although the country has seem some economic stability during the past several years, Rome, as well as the rest of Italy, are not foreign to financial turmoil.

Several years ago, poverty in Italy reached its highest level in over 16 years. It resulted in high levels of unemployment and lower wages. Today, more than 16 percent of the country’s population lives in poverty.

In Italy, poverty is defined by a family of two living on a monthly income of 991 euros or less.

Similar to much of the industrialized world, Italy experienced an economic recession following the global stock market downturn of the late 2000s. Between 2011 and 2012, the nation saw its poverty levels increase.

Like the rest of the country, Rome’s economy is decidedly mixed. Even though Italy has seen some economic improvement in recent years, there continues to be some worrisome signs.

As a metropolitan city and popular tourist destination, Rome, like many of Europe’s cities, regularly sees its economy boosted by tourism. This is in conjunction with an increasingly significant number of African refugees who occupy isolated camps and villages around the city.

Unlike other countries, Italy does not provide refugees with adequate skill sets and chances to seek new economic opportunities. Many of these refugees, who are from the impoverished nations of the Horn of Africa, often find similar poverty conditions along the outskirts of Rome.

Such poverty is not limited to African refugees, however. Thousands of children in the city live in a state of poverty. Austerity measures, generated by the recession of recent years, have not had much of an effect.

Perhaps only time can help alleviate some of Rome’s economic suffering. With its notable tourism industry, Rome will likely remain one of Europe’s most prominent cities despite its lingering poverty problem.

– Ethan Safran

Sources: Reuters, Ansa Med, Open Society Foundations, Global Post, The Guardian
Photo: RT

, ,

Outlook of Latin American Markets

Save a few exceptions, outlook for the Latin American fiscal market is bleak. The region as a whole will grow only by two percent and is marked by countries like Peru, where growth has been exceptionally slow, and even more notably by the recent default in Argentina.

This was Argentina’s first default in 13 years, but the eighth default in its history. When the country defaulted in 2001, the government issued negotiable promissory notes that the country later decided not to honor. When Argentina renegotiated to pay back its debt at 30 cents on the dollar, over 90 percent of the bondholders agreed.

The remaining investors did not yield, and were led by Elliot Management to find a solution and be repaid. In a strange turn of events, the Wall Street firm, with only a few hundred employees, managed to attain control of an Argentine naval vessel. It should be noted that no physical force was used, and the original crew was allowed to remain aboard.

Despite the theatricality and the poverty held within Buenos Aires, the nations of Colombia and Peru offer interesting insight into the future of prosperous Latin American countries, even if they show what not to do.

In the short term, Colombia is succeeding. The first reason for its success has been called “winning the commodity lottery.” Colombia’s main exports, oil and coal, have held steady prices in recent years. However, that is hardly replicable. When copper and gold staggered, so did Peru, as the two materials account for 50 percent of exported goods.

Colombia has reformed as well. They have lowered mortgage rates through an agreement with banks and public subsidies. Unemployment decreased, and jobs in construction grew vastly. A law signed in 2012 cut payroll tax, while raising income rates on the better off. It was a true success story, as jobs grew at eight percent.

Peru, in contrast, saw its currency depreciate. Poor contracts in fishing and farming markets lowered public trust. Several corruption scandals did not help matters, either.

The government has tried to respond by including bonuses and increasing wages for state employees, while giving out extra loans for small businesses. Analysts predict that such reforms could have Peru overtake Colombia once more, especially if their lottery fortune increases even marginally.

– Andrew Rywak

Sources: Slate, MercoPress, The Economist
Photo: The Budget Traveler

, , ,

History and Causes of the Somali Famine

somali hunger

Famine entails a widespread and extensive scarcity of food, attributed to a “triple failure” of food production, access to food and political response by governments and international donors.

According to the U.N.’s five-step scale of Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, famine (Stage 5) requires that “more than two people per 10,000 die each day, acute malnutrition rates are above 30 percent, all livestock is dead and there is less than 2,100 kilocalories of food and 4 liters of water available per person per day.”

By the time the U.N. declares a Stage 5 situation, there has already been massive loss of life. From 2010 to 2012, Somalia was gripped by a crippling famine that killed nearly 260,000 people. Half of these deaths were children under the age of five.

Somalia was devastated by a two-year drought, which caused reduced harvests, food inflation and a steep drop in labor demand and household incomes. The country had already been suffering from high levels of malnutrition and child mortality, but the drought skyrocketed numbers even further. It also killed off valuable livestock, the only assets many families possessed.

Learn what causes poverty.

But what turned a natural drought into a man-made catastrophe was the inability of Somalia’s government and donors to tackle the issue of chronic poverty. There was already a serious lack of development and investment in basic infrastructure. During the famine, healthcare professionals reacted too slowly and the government itself was in shambles.

Somalia has been entangled in a civil war for the past two decades, and the subsequent violence and upheaval have greatly contributed to the famine.

During the 2010 to 2012 famine, the Islamist group al-Shabaab was at war with the government. Another factor was that the United States—Somalia’s main source of food aid—had discontinued their supply of aid in 2009 to avoid providing food to al-Shabaab.

Since the civil war began, and after an inadequate U.S.-led intervention attempt, the West largely withdrew from Somalia’s affairs. Having failed to stabilize the state and provide the needy with food, a worrisome pattern emerged. Humanitarian aid and food relief were only brought into Somalia with the permission of local war lords or clans, who used violence to control access to resources.

The U.S. withdrawal of aid in 2009 also pressured international aid organizations to do the same, because they feared U.S. backlash should they continue to provide food or supplies.

The U.N. first declared famine in Somalia’s Southern Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions—both controlled by al-Shabaab. The militant group denied that there were any food shortages whatsoever, forbade famine victims from fleeing the country and banned international aid agencies from operating within its territories.

The Obama administration responded by providing waivers to aid organizations to protect against prosecution. This shifted all blame of food aid blockages to al-Shabaab, which subsequently led to a sharp drop in public support for the group. Bereft of support and power, Al-Shabaab withdrew from the capital city of Mogadishu, which they had occupied since 2008.

The U.N. declared the Somali famine over in February 2012. However, the strain on al-Shabaab and similar organizations continues to grow as people demand more access to food aid. Ethiopia and Kenya have considered training Somali militia to fight al-Shabaab and other terrorist organizations, but this could prove to be a dangerous move in such a conflict-ridden country.

In the 21st century, the public has the ability to completely eradicate famine, and has done so on every continent except Africa. In order to fight famine successfully, a variety of steps must be taken. More funding must be invested in African food production to prevent droughts from completely annihilating crops. There must be more support for farmers and pastoralists to raise hardier crops with cheaper inputs and learn about risk management in the case of a disaster. More aid must also go to infrastructure investment and fortification of unstable markets.

Currently, emergency aid is vital to helping Somalians gain a foothold after this devastating famine. However, effort must also be made to examine the root causes, in order to prevent similar disasters from occurring in the future. The world was slow to act on warning signs this time, but with greater long-term investment, Somalia has the potential to deal with droughts and natural disasters effectively and without external aid.

– Mari LeGagnoux

Sources: Oxfam, SBS, Foreign Affairs, BBC
Photo: Flickr

, , ,

Migrant Workers in Shanghai

Standing on a bustling street in Shanghai, it is hard to ignore the feeling of constant movement and intensity. The mantra seems to be: keep moving and keep progressing. And at both the individual and state level there is an insatiable desire to be the best.

But at what price? The pace of development in China is incredibly impressive and yet, despite the new and efficient subways, trains, and buildings, a contrast of wealth still exists.

As a whole, China has been on the forefront of poverty reduction in the last couple of decades, raising nearly 300 million people out of poverty. However, it is not hard to find the instances of impoverishment that still exist even in some of the most developed cities, like Shanghai.

The population of Shanghai in 2013 was 23.9 million, making it the largest and most populous city proper in the entire world.  Furthermore, it has experienced double digit growth nearly every year since 1992, falling below double digits only temporarily during the 2008-2009 recession.

According to the 2010 census, more than 39 percent of Shanghai’s residents are migrant workers who have flocked to the city from the nearby provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu, Sichuan, and Henan seeking better economic opportunities. These migrant workers in Shanghai, who have made up the largest percentage of the city’s growth in the past few years, often live in the poorest conditions.

As development has increased in China, upwards of 250 million people have left the countryside for the east coast in the hopes of finding more lucrative work. Migrant laborers often work in labor, construction, factories as well as the service sector. Their wages tend to be lower than those of Shanghai residents and their living conditions incredibly poor. Just down the street from the newest high apartments and office buildings, it is not unusual to see old neighborhoods crowded with huts full of migrant laborers.

It’s important to note that poverty for migrant laborers is relative. In China, poverty and inequality differ dramatically in different parts of the country. Many laborers, who migrate to Shanghai for work, come from even poorer rural villages. While their wages are low, the income is often still better than what could be made back home.

Despite this, without a Shanghai hukou, a registration card that is used to classify where individuals are from, migrants are unable to live in subsidized housing, access basic health care and unemployment benefits, or enroll their children in local schools.

Marginalized and discriminated against, the poorest of Shanghai struggle to find social acceptance as well as economic security in their new lives. Yet, these migrant workers are the drivers of China’s tremendous economic growth. If this growth continues, the people of Shanghai will have to find a way to better accommodate their ever-evolving workforce. One of the biggest obstacles Shanghai faces is housing. Real estate prices are extremely high, leaving many people with low wages unable to purchase or rent homes.

Addressing this issue, as well as reforming the hukou system to allow for migrant workers to access health, education and other public services, will help further reduce the poverty and inequality that persists in Shanghai and China as a whole. It is easy to let the gleaming towers and trendy streets distract from the reality that most of Shanghai’s current population is still very much struggling to move beyond impoverishment.

– Andrea Blinkhorn

Sources: Poverties, China Perspectives, World Population Review, Nyuzai Shanghai, WSWS
Photo: The Globe and Mail

, ,

Poverty in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires, Argentina is a difficult place to be poor.

The government announced earlier in 2014 that poverty levels at the national level continue to decline. Between 2011 and 2012, the nation’s poverty levels dropped from 5.7 percent to 4.3 percent. However, the impoverished of Buenos Aires continue to experience hardships.

Despite a slight reduction in poverty in the first decade of the century, Buenos Aires’ residents considered to be either poor or extremely poor continue to heavily populate the city.

Rising food prices in recent years have contributed to the problem. Crime is also a common problem in and around Buenos Aires. According to a 2011 report, crime is considered to be “one of the biggest burdens facing residents.” Robberies, especially muggings at bus stops, as well as street violence and other shootings are not unordinary in part due to a lack of police presence in areas of the city and the metropolitan region’s poorer areas.

Not helping the level of poverty in Buenos Aires is the city’s inadequate housing. Much of the city’s substandard housing was built with second-hand materials. Some of the buildings were never even finished.

While the city’s water and sanitation levels are adequate, Buenos Aires’ general infrastructure is subpar. The metropolitan areas lack the necessary architectural support to withstand hazards and extreme weather events.

In addition to such shortcomings, notable discrepancies exist among the city’s wealthy and poor. Even though certain areas of Buenos Aires remain inadequate, the more wealthy parts of the city possess newer, stable infrastructure.

Like other regions in South America, Buenos Aires features an abundance of low-income housing on unstable land. This includes land with contamination, low-lying and flood-prone areas and land on or near landfills.

One of the government’s most notable criticisms is its indecision in implementing a national poverty line. Even though many developed and some developing nations maintain such a threshold, Argentina does not.

In recent years, the Argentinean government stated that six pesos, or roughly $1.30, are enough for a citizen to sustain an entire day’s worth of food. The statement drew outrage both domestically and internationally. Given the expenses of living in a city, the average Buenos Aires resident would face financial hardships subsisting on such an amount.

Recently, children inhabiting one of Buenos Aires’ most dangerous slums have utilized cricket and the competitive spirit of sport as a means to separate themselves from a life of poverty. The Caacupe cricket team has seen some of its players enter training sessions at private schools and even play internationally.

“You can really use it in life as well,” fourteen-year-old Alexis Gaona said in an Associated Press article from March. “From here you have a reference for the rest of your life.”

It is a silver lining in a city where being poor poses many challenges.

– Ethan Safran 

Sources: Buenos Aires Herald, Yahoo News, International Institute for Environment and Development, Worldbulletin
Photo: Flickr

, ,

Top 7 Donors to Gaza and West Bank

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has stated that Palestinians in Gaza currently face an “enormous reconstruction task.” While rebuilding will probably be left up to humanitarian aid organizations, these organizations will depend on donations from the international community. International organizations play an important role in the economy of the Palestinian territories.

1. United States ($440 million)

Despite being in a difficult position in the Middle East, the United States is the largest donor to the Palestinian territories. On top of military aid to Israel, the U.S. has contributed humanitarian and economic recovery aid to the Gaza and West Bank in an attempt to alleviate poverty and suffering in those areas.

2. European Union ($370 million)

The European Union provides aid to the Palestinian territories in order to improve areas that are important in forming a thriving and peaceful state and relieving poverty. The European Union’s aid assists the Palestinian Authority in providing social assistance, supporting public service delivery, paying the salaries of public workers and supporting the private sector strengthens the rule of law and improves sanitation and water. Its total humanitarian assistance for Gaza and West Bank this year is at around $42.3 million. Two-thirds of this is allocated for emergency response and food assistance in Gaza.

3. UNRWA ($310 million)

UNRWA is seen mostly as a stabilizing agency in Gaza and West Bank, providing education, health care and food in those areas. Although Israel has accused the organization of being one-sided and members of U.S. Congress are concerned that U.S. aid to UNRWA could be funding Hamas, UNRWA has continued to provide services to Palestinian refugees in the Middle East.

4. United Kingdom ($136 million)

Although the United Kingdom believes that Israel has a right to self-defense, it is currently debating if they should still sell arms to Israel. Support from the United Kingdom for Gaza and West Bank is also large. In 2014, the United Kingdom will give $19 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority, which will be used to provide education needs as well as alleviate hunger and poverty in the Palestinian territories.

5. Japan ($76 million)

Japan is very outspoken in its support for the Palestinian territories. In July, Japan promised $5.5 million in humanitarian aid to Gaza to assist in distributing medicine, food and improving water and sanitation. Some of Japan’s 2014 bilateral aid spending will go to West Bank, improving public services in Jordan Valley and strengthening water infrastructure in Jericho City.

6. Germany ($55 million)

Germany’s aid programs in Gaza and West Bank highlight economic development, security, governance, environment and water infrastructure as important areas to work on. On top of strengthening institutions to provide and regulate water services, Germany works with the Palestinian Ministry of Women’s Affairs to empower women to take on management positions in the water sector. Germany also works with refugee communities in the West Bank and provides psychosocial support in Gaza’s schools.

7. France ($40 million)

Through the French Development Agency’s investments in water and energy, France has been supporting Gaza and West Bank humanitarian rebuilding efforts. Last year, France gave $25.7 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority. In July, President François Hollande stated that France would give almost $15 million to Gaza. Almost $11 million of that will go to the Palestinian Authority, and the rest will go to Gaza-based NGOs.

Christopher Gunness, a spokesman for UNRWA, said that the work ahead of them in reconstruction efforts is enormous. “Some estimates say as many as 10,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed, affecting tens of thousands of people. So the catastrophic human displacement crisis is morphing into a homelessness crisis on a massive scale.”

– Colleen Moore

Sources: Devex, International Business Times
Photo: The Guardian

, ,

What is Development?

The definition of development has been controversially contested, complex, ambiguous and unstable. The most common theme among the definitions put forth is that development, as a whole, encompasses change of the human condition.

Since the 1990s, development has come to relate to policy objectives and performance indicators. Some examples include social and psychological development as well as more economic-related factors such as per capita income.

Poverty involves a wide range of concerns, all of which cannot be counted for when considering income alone. With regard to a person/family’s quality of life, countries with similar incomes may differ extensively.

Development cannot just be summed up by the prosperity of an economy, brought about by making the people of that economy more fortunate. Development carries a connotation of change that is long-lasting. Instead, development should be looked at as Nobel-prize winning economist Amartya Sen would define it: the capacity of economic, political and social systems to provide the circumstances for well-being on a sustainable, long-term basis.

According to Owen Barder, a global development specialist from the Center for Global Development, “I argue that development is an emergent property of the economic and social system, in much the same way that consciousness is an emergent property of the brain.”

Barder’s argument suggests that development is the result of human interaction within three systems: economic, political and social. If development can provide sustained improvements in all three systems, then systemically, it is a success. Otherwise, it is a failure.

As the accepted definition of development continues to change, it is important to remember that development encompasses the long-term transformation of  societies in addition to those short-term desirable outcomes.

– Ashley Riley

Sources: Sage Pub, Center for Global Development
Photo: Time for People

, , ,

Get Out and Play: Sports and Child Development

Playing is fun! The importance of play goes beyond simply passing time or seeking health benefits. A study completed by scientist Jaak Panksepp supports the pre-existing hypothesis that play is critical to child development.

Panksepp, along with others in the scientific community, theorizes that humans, as social animals, need play to learn social rules and cues. Through sports, people form communication skills, learn cooperation and leadership and come to better understand others.

To test this idea, Panksepp experimented with rats. He isolated one group so they could not play, while allowing another group to play. When both groups were placed in the same cage, the rats that received more stimulation were better able to interact and mate than the rats that were not allowed to play.

A comparable study done on kittens by a different group of scientists observed similar results. The young cats that were unable to play failed to acquire certain social skills. And although the kittens that were deprived of play could still hunt well, they were more aggressive and had trouble fitting in socially with other cats.

Lack of play, especially at a young age, proves to be a serious problem. Panksepp concluded that, with play, both humans and animals learn to live in social groups, build relationships, express emotions and master skills that do not come instinctively.

The importance of play for child development cannot be understated, according to Panksepp and many others concerned with the health and well being of young people.

The U.N. and UNICEF hold play as a fundamental right for every child, and protect that right under Article 31 of the Convention of Right of the Child. Sport and recreation are essential components of a child’s education, allowing children to gain confidence and lead healthier, more balanced lives.

Unfortunately, children living in poverty and areas of conflict are the most deprived of play.

Children are denied their rights when they are forced to work at a young age. In an effort to support their families, poor children drop out of school and work long and hard jobs. Across the world, there are over 168 million child laborers. Laboring like adults prevents them from playing and gaining the important life skills that come with play.

War and violence also keep children from play. Those in conflict zones live in constant fear and cannot run and have fun outside. With current conflicts raging in Gaza, Iraq and Syria, to name a few, the impact of war on children’s lives today is extensive and pervasive.

Without play, children living in poverty and conflict are denied essential interactions. Childhood is a critical period to set the foundations for healthy development, and play acts as an important component to this growth. The study completed by Panksepp suggests that the conditions experienced by children in poverty and conflict can have long-term negative consequences on their development.

– Kathleen Egan

Sources: NPR, UNICEF, International Labor Organization
Photo: UNICEF