Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

Humanitarian Need and Conflict in Central Africa

Armed Conflict and Humanitarian Need in Central Africa
An economic crisis ravaging Sudan, Chad and other such nations of Central Africa has made the region a hotbed for protest and armed conflict. As a result, this worsens the living conditions of the citizens residing there. Recently, rising tensions in these nations have contributed to an actively worsening humanitarian crisis. Consequently, this left countless people with homelessness and food insecurity. In Sudan alone, 260,000 people face displacement and hunger due to conflicts in Port Sudan and the Red Sea State. While international relief organizations are administering humanitarian aid, a long list of challenges due to conflict in Central Africa made this process exceedingly difficult.

Crisis and Military Conflict in Sudan

Sudan has been in military conflict since a military coup removed its long-serving ruler Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. The coup removed al-Bashir as a result of austerity measures in response to an economic crisis that has been ongoing in Sudan since 2012. Austerity measures or higher subsidies on products worsened the poor quality of life of citizens living in the area. Instability within the Sudanese reached a boiling point when public protests of living conditions broke out across the country with citizens often calling for al-Bashir’s removal.

Since the April 2019 coup, a council of generals exercised executive power over the nation. However, stability has yet to return. On June 3, 2019, the government of Sudan responded to the protests with violence. The government murdered dozens of journalists and threw their bodies into the Nile. Meanwhile, the military government and armed conflict in Central Africa worsened the humanitarian conditions of the vulnerable citizenry further. Moreover, the nation remains on the United States’ “State sponsors of terrorism” list. Consequently, the nation has less access to debt relief through the United States. This means that the $50 billion debt that Sudan owes to external nations falls on the shoulders of the military government. This will affect vulnerable and impoverished citizens.

Civil Conflict and Resource Scarcity in Chad

Civil unrest in Chad is the primary factor contributing to the depletion of the resources of the already economically insecure population for a number of decades. Since 1990, the Chadian population lived under the power monopoly of the Zaghawa military clan. Its leader is the long-standing president Idriss Déby. Under this military regime, the Chadian population has suffered from political violence and poor social relations due in large part to the nation’s corrupt spoils system. Likewise, poor international relations with the government of Sudan perpetuates conflict within the Chadian border, as each nation offers its support to the other nation’s rebels.

Chad suffers from resource depletion, widespread internal displacement and a high influx of foreign refugees. Protracted internal conflict in Nigeria has displaced more than 200,000 refugees to Chad, Cameroon and Niger alone. As Chad, Sudan, Niger, Nigeria and other surrounding nations participate in armed conflict in Central Africa, resources spread ever-thinner for those in the throes of poverty.

Relief and Reduction of Conflict in Central Africa

Some nations in Central Africa receive funding and foreign aid in order to relieve their populations of the life-threatening stress of resource depletion and military violence. Sudan, however, failed to meet the political requirements for such funding. Likewise, while Chad, Niger and Nigeria all receive funding, these nations are consistently underfunded by 30-40%. Providing guidance to the Sudanese government will foster peace and greater security and end the conflict in Central Africa. Funding goals should be consistent in order to resuscitate the faltering economies of the Central African region.

The Sudanese government has made a recent effort to repair social relations with its citizens. The government prioritizes education and health care as central goals of government funding. Likewise, international partners in humanitarian aid, headed by the U.N., intend to develop programs in the Central African region. This act hopes to align economic stability with improved humanitarian resilience.

Aid does exist for those struggling in Central Africa. However, armed conflict poses a continual threat to the safety and security of the population there. In order for the humanitarian situation to improve in this region, the global community must make a more dedicated effort to support peace and economic stability.

– Anthony Lyon
Photo: Flickr

Township Businesses in South Africa

Township BusinessesAlthough South Africa’s apartheid system ended in 1994, the effects of its segregationist policies against non-white citizens can still be seen today. Townships, settlements created by the government to segregate black South Africans from whites, are one of the most visible and lasting scars of the apartheid system. South Africa’s Population Registration Act in 1950 and Group Areas Act defined “non-white” racial groups as black South Africans, Coloreds and Indian South Africans, and forced their eviction from areas designated “white only” to three formally established townships. Today, more than 76 larger townships, each containing township businesses, border several South African cities.

According to the World Bank, townships today contain about half of South Africa’s urban population and 38% of its working-age citizens but as much as 60% of its unemployed. The communities were intentionally developed on the periphery of larger cities. These locations were chosen to separate them from the economic bustle of city centers. This socioeconomic isolation resulted in the development of what is considered an “informal” economic sector containing nearly 6 million businesses across the country.

Businesses in the Informal Economy

These township businesses, according to a 2018 report by the First National Bank, operate in the six primary sectors of grocery stores and stores stocking fast-selling consumer goods, taverns, hair salons, educational centers, micro-manufacturing and motor and cellular repair services. The majority of these enterprises are cash businesses that can make up to millions of rand in revenue. This is particularly true for those that operate in retail. For example, Ram Thapa’s is a South African beauty store and fast-food vendor that has an annual turnover of about 19 million rand ($1.36 million).

Despite a large amount of cash in circulation, the businesses in South Africa’s townships have been historically ignored by the country’s formal economic institutions, such as banks and corporations. These businesses operated untaxed and unregulated. However, the recent recognition of untapped business opportunities in townships and the benefits of collaboration between “informal” and “formal” businesses is marking a turning point in the relationship between these economic sectors in South Africa.

Hardships Within Townships

The recent movement to connect South Africa’s formal and informal economic sectors is closely linked with several issues townships face. These issues regard lack of credit, crime and poverty. The high unemployment and poverty rates in townships could be improved through the growth of township economies and informal institutions. Using poverty lines developed by Statistics South Africa, a 2012 report by T.J. Sekhampu from North-West University in South Africa found that 77% of households in townships were below the upper-bound poverty line. In addition, 50% are below the lower-bound poverty line. With the growth of township businesses through partnerships with formal economic institutions, these startling rates could decrease.

Additionally, a lack of access to credit has discouraged investments in township businesses that are necessary for growth. It has ultimately hindered the development of township economies. Government initiatives are focused on developing physical infrastructure and encouraging regulation. This would create the base for a safer, investment-friendly business environment without the constant threat of crime.

Financial Partnerships

The World Bank estimates that of the 5.78 million informal businesses in townships, which range in size from micro to medium, less than half have a bank account. However, formal institutions are taking steps to offer these businesses financial legitimacy and inclusion, starting with the cities they border. In 2018, FirstRand Ltd.’s First National Bank partnered with startup financial-tech company Selpal. It uses software and tablets to connect local stores with suppliers. The goal of this partnership is to use zero-fee offerings, as opposed to the traditionally high fees needed to set up business accounts, to attract owners of businesses located in townships.

Ultimately, this partnership signifies a push to connect informal businesses with external suppliers and formal economic institutions that will fuel economic growth for both parties. Economic advancements in townships foster lower crime rates, especially with the lesser amounts of cash business owners will have on-hand. In addition, they help to lower poverty rates by encouraging the growth of businesses that will require more employees.

I Am Emerge

However, Selpal and First National Bank are not the only firms providing township businesses with opportunities for increased economic inclusion and legitimacy. I Am Emerge, an agency specializing in connecting township markets to big business and vise versa, created “Vuelka”, an award-winning app that facilitates bulk purchases of goods sold by businesses in townships. Informal business owners order goods in bulk with cashless purchases.  This further enforces the necessity of Selpal and First National Bank’s goal to increase the number of owners with business accounts.

With continued efforts from organizations such as these, the economic limitations of informal township businesses can begin to lessen. They can pave the way for further equality across South Africa.

– Isabel Serrano
Photo: Flickr

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Building Inclusiveness in Nepal

Inclusiveness in NepalIn 2015, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the South Asian country of Nepal, killing 9,000 people, injuring 168,00 more and destroying tens of thousands of homes. The tragedy and ongoing reconstruction that followed sparked the scarred nation to adopt a new constitution. This act is in an effort to create more transparency and equality. However, Nepal’s traditional society that remained provided little support for the lower class including women. USAID has stepped in to aid with reconstruction and support Archana Tamang as a USAID-funded gender and social inclusion (GESI) advisor to the government. She wants to ensure that women, as well as other marginalized people, have a voice in creating a sense of inclusiveness in Nepal and helping lead it into the future.

A History of Gender Inequality and Violence

Women, especially those from lower castes in Nepal’s Hindu culture, have little opportunities for education, health care and work outside the home. A woman has no choice but to marry into what are often arranged marriages that define her life. Husbands control the family resources leaving women often shunned and impoverished should they be divorced or widowed. These marriages can often be oppressive and even abusive.

“During the first earthquake in 2015, Archana was traveling to Afghanistan for work; but the quake ‘was a real wake up call.'” Tamang’s choice to fight GESI issues is inspired by her experience. She got married at the early age of 17 to a man from India. Tamang lived with emotional and physical abuse for five years before escaping back to Nepal with her daughter. In Nepal, she later became involved in GESI efforts. She was working in Afghanistan when the earthquake hit and quickly returned to her home to help rebuild.

On the Road to Change

The National Reconstruction Authority is the sector of the Nepalese government that has overseen rebuilding after the earthquake. As Nepal’s government moves toward a more transparent leadership, the National Reconstruction Authority had pledged to help defenseless populations. However, a focused approach was lacking. Tamang developed a research-supported GESI Action Plan for the government where she would “empower women and ensure that they were able to earn a living.”

Tamang makes it her mission to visit women and other powerless people in their home villages to educate them on their liberties and duties. She wants to make sure they are heard in the reconstruction process. Her GESI Action Plan mandates that at least two of five posts in local governments are to be held by women. Plus, women make up at least one of two mayoral or deputy mayoral candidates in each Nepal district. The plan has also called for women to get paid the same as men for their labor helping to rebuild, further nurturing inclusiveness in Nepal.

A Future for Inclusiveness in Nepal

In 2017, Nepal had its first election in over 20 years under the new constitution and more than 1.7 million Nepalis — most of whom were women and lower-class people — registered to vote for the first time. The elections brought more than 14,000 women into government. This demonstrates the effectiveness of Tamang’s Action Plan to the point where it received full government financial support. She is happy to report that in 2019, 40% of elected officials were women. In addition, more and more girls are being educated and finding their voice to help heal their scarred nation.

– Joseph Maria
Photo: Flickr

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The New Zealand Green Party: Poverty Action Plan

New Zealand Green Party
The New Zealand Green Party believes that protecting the planet and its inhabitants are two sides of the same coin. Green Party members hold eight seats in the federal government and are also represented in 42 local governments. Ahead of the 2020 elections in New Zealand, the Green Party has announced they are running 24 candidates for various seats within the federal government. According to the party’s website, the Green Party believes that New Zealand’s government must take further action to “protect our planet and make sure everyone is treated equally and has access to what they need to live a good life.” The party also announced an unconventional plan to reduce poverty in New Zealand.

New Zealand’s Poverty Action Plan

While New Zealand is typically considered a prosperous nation, approximately 14% of New Zealanders live in poverty. Some calculate this figure (poverty) based on the median household income, since there is no official national poverty line. As of 2016, researchers consider households with two adults and two children to be living below the poverty line if they are earning less than $390 (New Zealand dollars) per week. Additionally, single parent, single child households making less than $250 (N.Z. dollars) per week fall into the same category. The New Zealand Green Party has announced a poverty reduction plan centered around wealth taxes and a guaranteed minimum income. The plan, according to the party’s website, intends to “completely change the way [the government] support[s] people in New Zealand so when people ask for help, they get it.”

Poverty Action Plan Design

The party’s Poverty Action Plan is built on the following eight points, each of which is designed to fix what the party has called the country’s broken welfare system:

  1. Guaranteed Minimum Income: All New Zealanders who do not work a full-time job, including students, are provided with a small, guaranteed weekly income that assists those living below the poverty line and those living paycheck-to-paycheck.
  2. Universal Child Benefit: Families with children under three-years-old are supplied with a small, weekly payment of $65 (N.Z. dollars).
  3. Family Support Credit: Family Support Credit is a simplified version of New Zealand’s existing Working for Families tax credit system. It would provide weekly payments for families based on the number of children they have.
  4. Financial Support for Single Parents: Single parents receive additional financial support in addition to the Family Support Credit.
  5. Reforming the Accident Compensation Corporation: Improve compensation for work-impairing health conditions and disabilities to be fairer and more equitable.
  6. Wealth Taxes: All New Zealanders with a net worth over $1 million (N.Z. dollars) will be subject to a 1% wealth tax.
  7. Progressive Tax System: Redefine tax brackets to redistribute wealth among New Zealanders.
  8. Tax Brackets: Redistribute wealth using the addition of two new top income tax brackets.

The New Zealand Green Party leader, Marama Davidson, believes the country’s current welfare system is “outdated, unfair and unlivable.” Davidson hopes her party’s ambitious new plan will help struggling New Zealanders. While New Zealand does not suffer from extreme poverty, there is still room for improvement. The Green Party hopes to be a catalyst for this change through its new Poverty Action Plan.

– Jessie Cohen
Photo: Unsplash

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Hugh Evans and His Battle Against Global Poverty

Hugh Evans
One of the most challenging aspects of charity work is getting the word out. Even in the era of social media, it is difficult to reach people and convince them to support a cause, especially during a global pandemic. Yet, music has the power to bring people together during divisive times. Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans found a way to fuse music and charity together. By hosting concerts around the world, he has raised billions of dollars in the fight against global poverty.

Now 37, Hugh Evans was born in Melbourne, Australia. His goal in life is to eradicate global poverty completely, and he is confident that he can do it. Evans believes that people created poverty and that people can destroy it. In an interview for the Sydney Morning Herald, Evans noted that there are more than 2,000 billionaires in the world. If they each gave as much as Bill and Melinda Gates give, poverty would cease to exist completely. Jeff Bezos, owner of Amazon, “could do it on his own.” But most billionaires are not pitching in enough, or at all. So, Evans calls for systematic change by engaging governments, corporations and ordinary non-billionaires.

Early Inspirations

In 1997, 14-year-old Hugh Evans went on a World Vision trip to the Philippines and saw extreme poverty first-hand. An extremely poor family hosted him. They slept on a concrete roof and had little to offer him besides a straw mat. Lying on that mat, watching cockroaches crawl around him, Evans realized that something needed to change. It was then that he decided to commit his life to ending poverty.

After returning from the Philippines, Evans earned a scholarship to study at an international school in India. There, he learned even more about global culture, language and poverty. He spent weekends doing charitable work in nearby slums or at a branch of Mother Theresa’s charity. Evans even took a gap year after high school to work with HIV/AIDS orphans in South Africa. By the time he was 20, he had a much more personal understanding of global poverty than most middle-class Australians will ever have.

Charitable Concerts

In 2006 and 2007, as a university student, Evans organized the Make Poverty History concerts in Australia, featuring Bono, the Edge and Eddie Vedder. Those concerts introduced him to the idea that celebrities could harness real power in the mission to end poverty. Since then, he graduated from Monash University with a science/law degree, got his master’s in international relations and founded Global Citizen. Through this organization, he has coordinated many more concerts around the world, including Together at Home, the live-streamed concerts during the COVID-19 quarantine. Rather than buying tickets, concert-goers must earn them by taking actions as members of Global Citizen. They can do so by signing petitions, contacting world leaders and taking quizzes to educate oneself about global poverty. These may seem like small feats, but advocacy and education are some of the most powerful weapons against global poverty.

Always a hard worker, Evans often endures long days and sleepless nights to organize charitable events, often under short notice. When COVID-19 began reaching countries that already struggle to meet healthcare needs, Evans and his team immediately started planning the Together at Home concert, which they were able to organize in just three weeks.

Inspiring Future Progress

In a world with constantly changing interests and opportunities, nonprofit organizations must work hard to continue attracting attention and fundraising effectively. Hugh Evans’s first-hand experience with poverty has successfully raised billions of dollars towards the fight against global poverty, and he is only 37-years-old. His establishment of Global Citizen is one of the most prominent triumphs in helping impoverished people all around the world. Not only does the organization provide the necessities for survival, but it also gives impoverished communities the tools to bring themselves and others out of poverty. It may have started on a straw mat in the Philippines, but Evans’s optimism and diligence have reached across borders and will continue to support the dignity, compassion and humanity necessary to end global poverty.

– Levi Reyes
Photo: Flickr

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3 Organizations Combating Liberia’s Water Crisis

Liberia's Water Crisis
Insufficient access to clean water sources is one of the primary issues that developing countries are facing today, particularly in Africa. Without clean drinking water, people in these countries turn to unsafe secondary sources which can spread disease and promote unhealthy living conditions. Particularly during COVID-19, access to reliable drinking water has become more critical than ever. Liberia’s water crisis is an example of why safe water sources are so important.

Causes of Water Insecurity in Liberia

Situated on the coast of West Africa between the Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone, Liberia is a relatively small country with a population of just over 5 million people. It is Africa’s oldest republic, declaring its independence and drafting a constitution that it modeled on that of the United States in 1847. It is a tropical country with ample water sources, but several wars and disasters are to blame for the country’s lack of water purification systems and a limited ability to transport those resources.

Two brutal civil wars, first from 1989-1997 and again from 1999-2003, severely damaged Liberia’s infrastructure and nearly destroyed its economy. The country experienced a subsequent period of economic growth but lost much of its progress during the West African Ebola outbreak of 2014-2015. This outbreak caused the death of over 4,800 Liberians, causing the country to struggle in rebuilding its economy and infrastructure ever since. Liberia now relies heavily on international organizations and foreign aid, especially in securing potable water.

Combating the water crisis in Liberia is an undoubtedly daunting task. For example, 3.7 million Liberians— or eight in 10 people—do not have access to a functioning toilet. This deficiency forces citizens to relieve themselves outside in groundwater sources, which quickly become contaminated and allow for faster disease transmission. Ebola spread throughout the country as rapidly as it did because of the scarcity of clean toilets, which fostered diseases such as diarrhea. Diarrhea is the second leading cause of death in children in Liberia, with over 700 children under the age of 5 dying each year due to the disease.

In addition to damaging people’s health, Liberia’s water crisis reaches into other aspects of society such as education. Many children remain at home to help around the house, particularly with water retrieval, instead of attending school. For those who do go to school, the shortage of proper toilet facilities in classrooms can result in disease spread and has contributed to the country’s ever-increasing dropout rate. While the water crisis is widespread and threatens to grow with the rise of COVID-19, several organizations are collaborating with the Liberian government to rebuild the country’s infrastructure and provide clean water to those who need it most. Here are three organizations providing clean water in Liberia.

3 Organizations Providing Clean Water in Liberia

  1. UNICEF: The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is the most prominent organization combating Liberia’s water crisis. UNICEF has been working with the Liberian government to construct water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) systems in rural areas with extremely limited access to clean water, as well as schools and hospitals. These low-cost, high-quality centers are key to increasing nationwide hygiene and personal health. As of 2017, nearly 65% of all Liberian WASH systems were functioning properly and serving the country’s citizens, up from just 53% in 2011.
  2. Charity: Water: Charity: Water is a nonprofit organization focused on the global water crisis as a whole, and has an operation in Liberia. In Liberia, Charity: Water is working to restore an aging water-transporting infrastructure that has either experienced destruction or simply not received repair since the last civil war. In addition, the program educates communities on maintaining personal hygiene and teaches locals how to keep these water projects operational.
  3. Face Africa: Face Africa is another nonprofit organization that aims to bring clean and safe drinking water to developing countries, but with a tighter regional focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. Since the start of its mission in Liberia, the organization has completed 50 WASH projects in the country’s rural areas and brought clean drinking water to over 25,000 people. Similar to Charity: Water, Face Africa focuses on ensuring that pre-existing water projects in Liberia are functioning properly and serving their communities. Additionally, the organization is building its own WASH projects in the country.

While combating Liberia’s water crisis is no easy feat, UNICEF, Charity: Water and Face Africa are all doing their part to help end the issue. As Liberia’s economy grows and its ability to rebuild its failing infrastructure strengthens, the country will better able to fight off future water crises.

– Alexander Poran
Photo: Flickr

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Online Activism: How Generation Z Is Making Change

online activismGeneration Z has grown up in a time of endless war, online activism and extreme cultural change. With unlimited access to the internet, many Zoomers have become adept with technology. They often use the internet to self-educate on important topics and become more globalized people. Generation Z has channeled their frustration in society into online activism, creating an international movement of social awareness.

Generation Z’s Innovation

Gen Z has grown up with online activism. Teenagers care about making a difference in a way that is accessible to them. A campaign from 2015 that revived in 2019 involved turning a person’s Instagram profile picture blue in solidarity with the Sudan protests. It brought attention to the fact that the Sudan military opened fire on unarmed demonstrators and killed over 100 people. One of the demonstrators who died, Mohammad Mattar, had a blue image as his profile picture. The #BlueForSudan trend started in honor of him and the protests. Turning Instagram profile pictures blue increased awareness and encouraged many young people to educate themselves on the situation.

Most Zoomers use various kinds of social media platforms, but one of the best platforms to reach millions is TikTok. Posting a graphic on an Instagram story with a small platform frequently reaches hundreds. However, on TikTok, 100 followers could easily make a video go viral. Teens have figured out that by commenting, pressing the “copy link” button and rewatching the video, the TikTok algorithm will give more attention to the video, hence increasing its audience. This knowledge allows Zoomers to make any video go viral to inform millions of people.

Action and Awareness

Similarly, Gen Z has also found that it can mobilize and overtake certain hashtags. For example, the recent #blackouttuesday demonstration led to the creation of over 20 million posts in a day to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. As the most technologically advanced generation, Gen Z can easily operate through online activism to create change.

Gen Z members have also begun to utilize scripted emails to quickly contact their representatives in support of specific causes. A pre-written email in the U.K. has become popular to show support in ending the Yemen crisis. The Borgen Project and many other organizations have noticed this effective way to create meaningful change in government and have provided an assortment of scripted emails for citizens to send to their representatives.

Another popular way of spreading awareness about important issues is through the repost button on Instagram. Instagram stories are a popular way to spread information to many people. It is now very efficient to share important news with your followers with minimal work.

How Generation Z is Increasing Foreign Aid

Generation Z comprises of teenagers and college students. Therefore, most Zoomers do not have the funds to donate directly and have found alternative ways to fundraise. The most common way to do this is through YouTube ads. Creators put ads on their videos to generate revenue for donations. One hour-long video that the account “haera shin” created was to collect donations for Save The Children, a humanitarian organization helping end the Yemen crisis.

Zoomers also popularized Cardd.co links: free links to spread resources on a customizable single-page website. Most have links to resources to learn more about the topic, petitions to sign, how to contact your representatives and other information to know. One Yemen Cardd.co is incredibly popular and has reached a significant number of people as Zoomers continue to link the Cardd.co in their Instagram, Twitter and other social media bios.

Petitions For Change

Zoomers have popularized using petitions to create awareness and have even created a new internet trend meant to increase petition signatures. They are using a character called Manny, from the book series “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” as a reminder to go sign a petition. For example, whenever a drawing of Manny pops up on one’s social media feed, it is a prompt to sign a petition. The Manny character first arose in an attempt to prank Fox News. It featured a petition to change the American flag to what Zoomers call the “Manny flag.” The petition started as a joke, but it created a reminder that gets thousands of Zoomers to sign petitions hourly.

Most petitions that people are signing at the moment are in relation to Black Lives Matter or the Yemen crisis. As petitions gain attention and signatures increase, pressure mounts on leaders to take action. By participating in online activism, teenagers are helping change the world without a single click, a feat no other generation has accomplished before.

– Jacquelyn Burrer
Photo: Flickr

5 Inventions to Help People in Poverty

Help People in PovertyResearchers and innovators across the world create inventions that can help people deal with the impacts of living in poverty or hunger. Here are five inventions helping those in need.

5 Inventions to Help People in Poverty

  1. The Lucky Iron Fish — The Lucky Iron Fish is a small invention that reduces iron deficiency in marginalized communities. Iron deficiency impacts energy levels, concentration, memory and cognitive development. Iron deficiency impacts over 2 billion people globally, making it the most widespread nutritional disorder around the world. Additionally, women are more affected by this deficiency, especially during pregnancy. People can add the Lucky Iron Fish to boiling water so that it can enrich vegetables with iron.
  2. 3D Food Printing — Food printing is a relatively new innovation. It is a potential solution to global hunger. Nevertheless, 3D food printing can create a stable food source for impoverished areas. This innovation can address malnutrition through custom features that allow creators to set standards for nutritional additions. The printers also have on-demand usage. This is a suitable solution for countries dealing with natural disasters in which food production or food supplies are unstable. Food printers can bring these benefits to impoverished areas and also produce less waste.
  3. Feedie — People already love to snap pictures of their delicious meals before posting them on social media. Feedie is an app that allows users to help feed people around the world by just taking a picture of their meal. Each picture turns into a donation to the Lunchbox Fund which it can then use to produce meals for people in poverty all around the world.
  4. Golden Rice — Vitamin A deficiency has become a public health issue due to the impact the deficiency has had on children around the world. Vitamin A deficiency is responsible for over 500,000 cases of irreversible blindness in children under the age of 5. Golden Rice is a type of rice that has been genetically modified to contain three new genes that help create provitamin A. The Filipino government was the first to allow Golden Rice for direct use. Many countries rely on rice as a food source; Golden Rice is an innovation that will not cause drastic changes to current diets.
  5. Growing Shoes — Many children in poverty around the world are at risk for soil-transmitted diseases and parasites if they cannot afford a suitable pair of shoes. Growing Shoes is a durable shoe that expands in several places, allowing children to adjust the size as their feet continue to grow. The shoe can grow up to five sizes. Growing Shoes are specifically meant to help children in poverty who are constantly on the go and need protection from environmental factors. 

As long as poverty and hunger continue to be a global issue, people around the world are creating new products to help people living in these destitute conditions. These small inventions help an entire community through iron fish, a grain of rice or growing shoe at a time.

– Camryn Anthony
Photo: Flickr

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Solar Energy in Benin Empowers Women and Girls

Solar Energy in Benin
In Benin, a country in West Africa, only 11% of the rural population has access to electricity. This deficit contributes to poor nutrition and health, particularly in rural communities. Additionally, about 40% of the country’s 12 million citizens live below the poverty line. The Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) is a nonprofit organization that uses solar-powered water pumps and solar drip irrigation to improve agriculture, increase access to clean drinking water and economically empower women in Benin, all with a focus on sustainability. Recent innovations utilizing solar energy in Benin are improving conditions for female farmers across the country.

Solar-Pump Water Stations: Benefiting Women and Girls

In the Kalalé District of northeast Benin, there are only 113 sanitary water sources for a population of 180,000 people. Many potable wells require women and girls to travel long distances outside their villages. This lack of available energy, known as energy poverty, increases the risk for women and girls of becoming targets of sexual violence. To avoid danger, many women and girls take routes to alternate water sources, such as nearby streams or open wells of contaminated water. Relying on these local water sources poses another significant health risk: water-borne diseases are responsible for about 15% of all deaths in Benin.

SELF has built 20 wells in the Kalalé District since 2011 and is currently working to install solar-pump water stations in the region. Funded by a grant from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), this initiative will install a new solar-pump water station in 24 villages, bringing clean, sanitary water to about 82,000 people. These solar-pump water stations use sunlight—a clean, renewable energy source—to increase access to clean water without emitting greenhouse gases. They also do not require batteries and can last at least 10 years without replacement.

With these solar-pump water stations, women and girls in 24 villages will no longer have to choose between a long, dangerous walk and contaminated water. By providing solar-powered technology to pump clean drinking water, SELF is reducing the prevalence of water-borne diseases in northeast Benin’s rural communities, as well as the risk of sexual violence for women and girls.

Solar Drip Irrigation: Empowering Women Farmers

In northeast Benin, the dry season is long and severe. According to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, it is “nearly impossible to grow food” for six months of the year. This especially harms women farmers, who are more likely to be living under the poverty line, as well as women and girls who must travel longer distances to collect water for irrigation.

The Solar Electric Light Fund created the Solar Market Garden (SMG) project to reduce malnutrition and food insecurity in Benin year-round. For this initiative, SELF used solar-powered well pumps to operate drip irrigation systems on 11 female-operated farms designated as Solar Market Gardens, impacting 400 women farmers in 10 villages throughout the Kalalé district. Each garden produces more than 4,000 pounds of food every month. As a result of this project, 66,000 more people have reliable access to fresh produce, increasing food security, nutrition and health. For rural villages in northeast Benin, access to solar energy can reduce hunger without negatively affecting the environment.

In addition to improving agriculture, SELF’s Solar Market Gardens also empower women and girls in Benin. Female farmers involved in the project can adequately feed their families, earn a larger and more reliable income and gain reputations as entrepreneurs. Women’s economic empowerment is crucial for poverty reduction because, according to U.N. Women, it “increases economic diversification and income equality” and grants women more “voice, agency and meaningful participation in economic decision-making at all levels.” At the same time, women and girls in each village can focus more on their education and other economic activities instead of water collection. According to the World Bank, educated women and girls are more likely to live healthier lives, earn an income and have fewer children. They are also less likely to marry as minors.

Encouraging Poverty Reduction

Widespread access to energy, especially electricity, is an essential component of poverty reduction because it allows more people to reliably access clean water and adequate food. The Solar Electric Light Fund reduces poverty and food insecurity in northeast Benin. Others can easily replicate their initiatives, directly benefitting women and girls and creating more sustainable communities. Overall, the rising popularity of solar energy in Benin gives hope to women and girls across the nation.

– Rachel Powell
Photo: Flickr

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How Does Eritrea’s Lack of Clean Water Affect its Poverty Issue?

Eritrea’s Lack of Clean WaterEritrea is a northeast country in Africa, bordering the Red Sea coast. Eritrea has faced severe drought issues over the years. In addition, Eritrea’s lack of clean water affects over 80% of its citizens. This problem has negatively impacted its ongoing poverty issue.

Climate

Eritrea’s weather varies depending on the location. The variety of weather conditions is due to the differences in elevation between plains and plateaus. The average temperature by Massawa, or the coast, is around mid-80s Fahrenheit. However, on higher grounds, like plateaus, the average temperature is around low-60s Fahrenheit. The mean annual rainfall in the plateaus is around 16-20 inches. In the west plain, it is usually less than 16 inches. That is below average in many other parts of the world.

Effects of the Lack of Clean Water

Despite the fact that Eritrea has around 16 to 20 inches of rainfall annually, almost half of the country does not have access to clean water. As of 2020, 80.7% of Eritreans lack basic water services. This problem leads to consequential outcomes such as:

  1. Hygiene & the Contamination of Public Water Sources: Without the basic access to clean water, citizens of Eritrea are forced to use public water sources like rivers and streams. Citizens use public water sources to perform their everyday activities since they do not have safe accessible water at their homes. People will cook and shower with the same water. Thus, the sources become contaminated over time. The water contamination can then lead to fatal diseases.
  2. Diseases: Diarrhoeal disease is a type of bowel infection that usually spreads through contaminated water. Bacteria and viruses from water need a host in order to survive. It is unusual for the diarrhoeal disease to be deadly, but death can occur if a person loses over 10% of their body’s water. According to UNICEF, diarrhoeal disease is the leading cause of death for children under the age of 5 in Eritrea. Cholera is an infectious disease that contaminated water sources also cause. The symptoms are watery diarrhea and abdomen pain. This disease can be fatal if a person does not receive treatment on time because the body will eventually become dehydrated.

Effects of Poverty

Eritrea’s lack of clean water and poverty are linked to one another. Access to clean water means being able to cook, bathe and drink. Aside from covering basic needs, it also helps businesses run safely, keep children healthy and reduces vulnerability during a natural disaster.

  1. Businesses: Farmers and local business owners rely, to some extent, on the access to clean water. Farmers need to keep their crops clean by washing them. Local businesses also need clean water to create products or sell food. Without accessible clean water nearby, owners and employees have to leave their businesses to find a drinkable water source and sanitation facilities. By doing so, they could potentially lose customers.
  2. Girl’s Education: When girls hit puberty, they begin menstruating. If girls cannot practice proper hygiene or have access to clean water at school, they often miss out on education. Some have to skip class until their menstruation ends, which is around a week. During that week, they do not learn whatever their schools teach.
  3. Vulnerability During Natural Disasters: Clean water promotes good health. If communities lack strength due to unsafe water usage, citizens may have a hard time withstanding times of disasters. Houses would possibly be destroyed and businesses may be ruined. Thus, those in poverty would be forced to leave their homes and find another by traveling long distances. Many, without access to clean water, would struggle along the way because potential diseases from contaminated water would weaken their body.

Government Involvement

Eritrea’s state government has partnered up with UNICEF to improve citizens’ drinking water and sanitation issues. The Millennium Development Goal (MDG) aims to increase accessible clean water and promote safe WASH practices in drought-prone areas of Eritrea. UNICEF is also working to connect many schools to community water supply systems.

With the state government’s involvement, Eritrea’s clean water crisis will eventually improve. The promotion of good hygiene practices reduces the spread of diseases. With many schools being connected to safe water supply systems, students will be healthy and girls will not have to skip school during the week of their menstruation. This brings hope for the future of Eritrea.

– Megan Ha
Photo: Flickr