Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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The Relationship Between Social Justice and Economic Justice

social justice and economic justice
There is an enduring and powerful relationship between social justice and economic justice. Social justice has many definitions. The most common definition, according to the Oxford Dictionary, is: “Justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities and privileges within a society.”

The definitions that are most applicable to alleviating poverty, however, are:

  • The idea that every person should have equal rights to basic liberties and needs, and inequalities should be arranged to the greatest benefit for those considered lowest in society.
  • From the Huffington Post: “…promoting a just society by challenging injustice and valuing diversity. It exists when all people share a common humanity and therefore have a right to equitable treatment, support for their human rights and a fair allocation of community resources.”

However, the current functioning of global society violates each of these definitions almost completely, and therefore expresses the lack of and need for social justice in all areas of the world, especially developing nations.

The United Nations Development Programme reports shocking statistics from poverty elimination research, detailing that as of 2000, there were 323 million people living on less than $1 a day, 185 million people who were undernourished and 273 million people without access to improved water sources in sub-Saharan Africa, the most impoverished region overall.

These harrowing numbers from sub-Saharan Africa were accompanied by information stating that 44 million primary age children were not in school, 23 million primary age girls were not in school, five million children under five years old were dying each year and 299 million people were without access to adequate sanitation. These statistics demonstrate that simple economic failure and injustice is not an isolated issue, but rather closely parallelled by social failure and injustice as well.

In contrast, the statistics from central and eastern Europe are staggeringly different. Only 21 million people were living on less than on $1 a day, only 33 million people were undernourished, only 29 million people were without access to improved water sources, only three million primary age children were not in school, only one million primary age girls were not in school, less than a million children under five years old were dying each year and an insignificant amount of people were without access to adequate sanitation as of 2000, so low that it was not even reported numerically.

As can be clearly seen, there is a direct correlation between social justice and economic justice, and a very large gap between developed nations and impoverished countries. The more economically impoverished a nation remains, the more social injustice thrives and prevails. The greater the poverty, the fewer people are given fair and equal access to basic needs and rights.  

To start fighting such global, national and statistical chasms and deprivations, the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals have started targeting social justice, specifically to help achieve the goals of:

  • Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger
  • Promoting gender equality and empowering women
  • Ensuring environmental sustainability

The hope is that the new information and educational awareness of the relationship between social justice and economic justice will kickstart the alleviation of poverty by focusing on the social injustices in each region and developing country to foster a new approach for decreasing poverty overall.

– Lydia Lamm

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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Ways to Get Involved: Eight Impactful Types of Advocacy Work

types of advocacy work
Advocacy can be done and acknowledged in many different forms. In simple terms, advocacy is the public support for particular causes and policies. The following list delineates eight types of advocacy work to help people worldwide, and some you can help with right from the comfort of your home. To support these programs and groups to continue their advocacy work, you can share their websites on social media, as well as donate and volunteer to their cause.

Eight Types of Advocacy Work

  1. Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI)
    Founded by Ben Affleck in 2010 the ECI works within the bounds of advocacy and public and private partnerships to help the people of the Eastern Congo. Its goals are to raise public awareness, promote policy change through the U.S. government, and help communities locally. Some of the types of advocacy work that ECI does daily are helping improve maternal and newborn health care, aiding the DRC security sector and creating more economic opportunities in the Eastern Congo.
  2. International Child Resource Institute (ICRI)
    ICRI is working to help improve the lives of children and families globally through education, empowerment, health care, children’s rights and community development. ECRI offers travel goals anyone can take so you can travel with a purpose. You can go to places such as The Great Wall of China, the Kakadu National Park in Australia and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and help fundraise for IRCI along the way; everything raised through the trips goes directly to the organization’s programs.
  3. ONE
    ONE is an advocacy group that fights and alleviates extreme poverty and preventable disease through public awareness. Due to ONE’s specific type of advocacy work, the group has been able to help over 110 million people; ONE takes on issues in disease, agriculture, energy, maternal and child health, water and education.
  4. Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF)
    AHF a nonprofit organization that helps people in over 39 countries fight against HIV/AIDS. Some of the types of advocacy work that AHF does include testing one billion people every year for HIV/AIDS, finding new cutting-edge medicine and discovering new ways to educate, treat and prevent further spread of the disease.
  5. Global Citizen
    Global Citizen is a movement that started in 2012 that aims to help fix the world’s most significant every-day challenges. Due to their types of advocacy work, Global Citizen has gotten over $30 billion in financial aid to help over one billion people worldwide; in addition, the organization gained 130 commitments and policy announcements from world leaders. Their ultimate goal is to end extreme poverty by 2030.
  6. Survival International
    Survival International works towards the global movement for tribal people’s rights. The goal is to help defend tribal people’s lives, protect their lands and allow them the autonomy to determine the course of their own futures.
  7. UNICEF: For every child
    UNICEF works in over 190 countries to help save children’s lives and defend their rights. The types of advocacy work UNICEF focuses on are education, child survival, child protection, equality for women and girls and innovation.
  8. Intern for The Borgen Project
    The Borgen Project offers five different types of internships which can be done right from home. The internships available are Public Relations/Marketing, HR, Writing, Journalism and Political Affairs. All of these internships can further help show the types of advocacy work both The Borgen Project and one intern can do.

With just these eight options, everyone has the opportunity to get and stay involved. Increased awareness and action can change the world, it’s just a matter of picking the cause you want to fight for.

– Amber Duffus

Photo: Flickr

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Increasing the Amount of French Foreign Aid in Africa

French Foreign Aid in Africa
France’s intimate relationship with Africa began in the 17th Century and, like other major European nations, ended after two consecutive World Wars. However, France stubbornly held on to territory in Morocco for years after the end of the wars; it was not until 1964, after a war nearly a decade long, that France relinquished its claim to the North African territory.

France’s Goals in Africa

Now, like other formal colonial powers, France has changed its goals in Africa. French foreign aid in Africa is now meant to help develop the world it left behind. In 2015, a representative from Oxfam France defended France’s bias to helping its former colonies “because the former French colonies in Africa are de facto the poorest countries in the world. There is a consistency in that decision.”

In 2009, France was the second largest donor of foreign aid in the world, only behind the United States. French foreign aid during these years was focused to two main areas — the Mediterranean Basin and Sub-Saharan Africa. French foreign aid in Africa was focused in five sectors: health, education, sustainable development, food security, and economic growth. In 2010, France was the third largest foreign aid donor.

It is also important to note that unlike other nations, France does not have one departement or governmental agency dedicated to the distribution of foreign aid; it instead relies on a multi-agency board to oversee its distribution.

Online Foreign Aid Resources

Due to the lack of a central agency to track French foreign aid in Africa, France launched a website to help citizens track projects. The website separates aid into eight different areas: environment and natural resources, agriculture and food security, outside sectors CICID, water and sanitation, education, productive sector, health and the fight against AIDS, infrastructure and urban development.

There is also an interactive map that allows anybody curious enough to look at projects in each of the 16 priority nations: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros Islands, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ghana, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo.

French Agency for Development and Africa

An example of French foreign aid in Africa at work is the aid project currently underway in Madagascar. The French Agency for Development (AFD) has worked since 2013 in Madagascar to help locals live in harmony with the environment.

Slash-and-burn agriculture is still the most prominent technique for clearing forest, and the goal of this project is to help people learn other farming techniques to preserve the rainforest since using slash-and-burn agriculture in a society with a large population is not sustainable. Since December 2017, over 1.9 million euros have been spent on this particular project.

By simply clicking the water and sanitation tab, a user can find information about all French aid projects under this category. Of the 148 water and sanitation projects underway or completed, just over 120 of these projects are located in sub-saharan Africa. Projects range from improving water- and sanitation-provision infrastructure, to building entirely new systems. Maintaining old infrastructure is important as well, since poorly-kept human waste management systems can taint clean drinking water.

The Website

French foreign aid in Africa and around the world can be traced on the website. The map differentiates between three French foreign aid agencies, or societies, as they are referred to on the website. The largest is the aforementioned French Agency for Development, who leads the majority of these projects around the world.

According to the website, this organization is involved in over 2,500 projects in 108 different countries around the world. In 2016, the AFD hit the milestone of effectively using $9 million euros on over 600 different aid projects.

Due to political and public pressure, though, France slowly began fall behind on the list of the world’s top donors. In an act of compromise, France’s new President, Emmanuel Macron, has decided to once again increase France’s soft power footprint. In July of 2017, he announced that by 2022, .55 percent of the French GDP will be spent on foreign aid. This announcement was a U-turn on previous promises made by the President as a candidate.

GDP to Foreign Aid

OECD set a 0.7 percent of GDP goal for well-developed nations, and these countries are expected to reach this benchmark by 2030. According the the President, France is on the way to reach this goal. As more and more countries regain independent influence in the world, it will be important for France to show that it can compete if the nation wants to remain relevant on the international stage.

– Nick DeMarco

Photo: Flickr

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Global Food Security Reauthorization Act of 2018 Introduced to House

Global Food Security Reauthorization Act of 2018 Introduced to House Committee on Foreign Affairs
On February 27th 2018, Representative Chris Smith introduced a bill to reauthorize the Global Food Security Act for four years from 2018 through 2021.

The Original Law

The original Global Food Security Act, also introduced by Rep. Chris Smith, became a law in 2016. The law only lasted a year, and has since encountered difficulty being reintroduced.

The law sought to outline a clear approach for the United States’ foreign assistance, so that its role was not just to increase food security in developing countries (as the name of the bill suggests), but to also provide economic growth through sustainable agricultural means, increase nutrition and resilience, help women and children particularly to receive that nutrition and fight against hunger and poverty in general.

The bill became law in 2016 under then-President Obama, who said of the law at the White House Summit on Global Development: “No society can flourish, children can’t flourish if they’re going hungry. We can’t ask a child to feed her mind when she can barely feed her stomach.”

Senator Robert P. Casey Jr. attempted to reintroduce the law in 2017. The law was read twice and referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in December of that year, but never made it to a vote.

New Changes

Rep. Chris Smith’s Global Food Security Reauthorization Act of 2018 would add several amendments to the old law. The first change would be to one of the goals in the Statement of Policy Objectives. The new objective focuses on providing adequate nutrition to women and children, and increasing maternal and child health.

Aside from the goal of improving nutrition and encouraging more diverse diets, the 2018 version of the act would add a new emphasis on deworming programs. The second amendment includes The Inter-American Foundation in the list of relevant federal departments and agencies for the Global Food Security Reauthorization Act.

The last three changes update the language of the bill so that the act will extend from September of 2018 through 2021.

Foreign Assistance Act of 1961

Another addition to the Global Food Security Reauthorization Act of 2018 is that it amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to reflect the extension of the years to 2021.

The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is a law that was originally signed by President John F. Kennedy in November of that same year. Its goal was to promote the United States’ general welfare, security and foreign policy through helping developing countries achieve security and a stable economy.

The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Global Food Security Reauthorization Act of 2018 are both important not just for the benefit of developing countries, but also for achieving the best national security interest for the U.S. The original 2016 act states that helping developing countries by encouraging economic growth based on agriculture is an important step to end global poverty and hunger.

So far, the Global Food Security Reauthorization Act of 2018 has been referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. To help get this bill signed into law, you can use the Borgen Project’s website to contact your representative and encourage them to support it.

– Jennifer Jones

Photo: Flickr

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How the US Benefits From Foreign Aid to Paraguay

How the US Benefits From Foreign Aid to Paraguay
With federal aid, the U.S. has the opportunity to advocate economic and social growth for other countries. This reputation has earned the trust and cooperation of many nations around the world, including Paraguay.

Located in South America, Paraguay is a nation with lush tropical forests and agricultural activity. Paraguay struggles more in comparison with other Latin American countries in several socioeconomic categories such as potable water and secondary school enrollment.

With the assistance of the U.S., Paraguay is progressing in reducing poverty and corruption. As a result of strong production and high global prices, Paraguay’s economy has grown at an average of four percent every year since 2014.

U.S. Assistance to Paraguay

The United States has supported Paraguay’s democracy and economic reform through foreign aid since 1861, just fifty years after Paraguay declared its independence from Spain. For the 2018 fiscal year, $400,000 of the $28 billion foreign aid budget was allocated to Paraguay, a large decrease from 2017’s allocation of $6 million.

In previous years, the money was budgeted for categories including Economic Development and Democracy and Human Rights and Governance; this year’s budget specifically targets Peace and Security.

The U.S. previously aided Paraguay in reducing corruption and creating jobs, and have stressed the significance of supporting groups such as women, indigenous peoples and youth. The aid is intended to strengthen Paraguay’s democracy and increase economic opportunities.

U.S. Benefits of Economic Progress

The U.S. invests aid into other countries to build their economic growth through aspects such as healthcare, education and infrastructure. Providing the opportunity for stability in impoverished countries strengthens the nation’s stability and contributes to ally and trade relations with the U.S.

Investing in other countries means investing in the U.S. Businesses that export goods to other countries account for one in every five American jobs. The U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Paraguay through providing economic benefits in exports and jobs; in fact, in 2015, U.S. exports of goods to Paraguay supported an estimated 7,000 jobs.

The U.S. has several investors in Paraguay as well, including computer, telecommunications and banking firms. About 75 U.S. businesses have employees working in Paraguay.

Trade

With $2.1 billion in goods traded in 2016, Paraguay is the U.S.’s 73rd largest goods trading parter. Also in 2016, the U.S. goods trade surplus with Paraguay experienced a 34.8 percent increase from the prior year of 2015.

The U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Paraguay through trade imports and exports. Exports to Paraguay in 2016 were $2 billion, which is a 30.7 percent increase from 2015 and a 117.4 percent increase from 2006.

Exports include a wide range of items such as cell phones, computer accessories and vehicle parts, but the largest export categories in 2016 were electrical machinery ($1 billion), machinery ($1 million) and chocolate and cocoa products ($965,000).

In 2016, U.S. goods imported from Paraguay was $57 million, a 170.1 percent increase since 2006. Top imports include sugar ($60 million), metal and stone ($23 million) and seeds and fruit ($15 million).

Foreign Relations

The U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Paraguay through strengthening foreign relations. The U.S. and Paraguay both are members of international organizations such as the United Nations, Organization of American States, World Bank and the World Trade Organization. The organization also partners with 100,000 Strong in the Americas, an organization that aims to increase the amount of U.S. students that study across the Western Hemisphere to 100,000.

The U.S. aims to improve countries around the world through foreign aid. Countries such as Paraguay have shown that the money provided to them has strengthened their socioeconomic and economic conditions, which in turn benefits the U.S. through economy, trade and relations.

– Anne-Marie Maher

Photo: Flickr

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The Most Dangerous Countries in the World

most dangerous countries in the worldAs of January 2018, the State Department currently categorizes 11 countries with a level 4 travel advisory. The advisory recommends that U.S. citizens refrain from traveling to that individual country due to dangerous conditions. Level 4 travel warnings are issued for various reasons, which include terrorism, armed conflict, health, civil unrest and crime. The seven most dangerous countries in the world detailed here all have high poverty rates due to the unsafe and unstable living conditions in the country.

The Most Dangerous Countries in the World

  1. Afghanistan
    In recent years, Afghanistan has experienced prolonged armed conflict between NATO forces and domestic terrorist groups such as the Taliban and ISIL. Al-Qaida and other foreign terrorist organizations have maintained a presence in the conflict as well. Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, continually faces the threat of terrorist attacks, which include suicide bombings, kidnappings and armed conflict. A portion of these attacks explicitly target government buildings, hotels, restaurants and other areas frequented by foreign visitors.
  2. Syria
    According to the State Department travel advisory for Syria, “No part of Syria is safe from violence. Kidnappings, the use of chemical warfare and aerial bombardment have significantly raised the risk of death or serious injury.” As of February 2012, the U.S. Embassy in Damascus has ceased all operations.

    Originally, the Syrian conflict began as an extension of the Arab Spring, which sought to remove Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s current president. Over the course of the last seven years, the nature of the conflict has changed with U.S., Turkish and Russian involvement. Armed conflict continues among multiple militia groups. As a result of the continued crisis, a large number of refugees have sought asylum in Europe, North America and other regions of the Middle East. It is unclear as to when a peace agreement can be reached between the current opposing forces.

  3. Yemen
    With the removal of President Abd Rabuh Mansur Hadi by Huthi forces in 2015, Yemen has suffered from continuous internal conflict between tribal groups and political parties. As a consequence, Yemen’s infrastructure of medical facilities, schools, housing, power and water utilities have been massively damaged.Between April and July 2017, more than 400,000 cases of cholera were reported. During that same period, close to 2,000 individuals died of cholera. In 2016, the U.N. attempted to reach a peace agreement for the cessation of hostilities, which ultimately failed.

    Sporadic fighting persists within Yemen, along with a domestic presence of terrorist groups such as al-Qaida.

  4. Mali
    Violent crime and terrorism are prevalent issues in northern and central Mali. The State Department warns foreign visitors that both kidnapping and armed robbery are major concerns when traveling to the country. Hotels, nightclubs, places of worship and restaurants are frequent places for domestic terrorist attacks.It is advised to avoid traveling at night due to random police checkpoints and illegal roadblocks. Seasonal holidays have also seen increased violent activity.
  5. Somalia
    Somalia has seen great progress in recent years with the creation of a 275-member parliament and a presidential election in 2012. However, the continued presence of the terrorist group al-Shabaab, an al-Qaida affiliate, presents dangerous conditions for Somali citizens and foreign visitors.

    On October 14, 2017, Somalia saw its deadliest attack ever recorded in its prolonged war against Islamic extremists. Two truck bombs were detonated in the capital city of Mogadishu, resulting in approximately 280 casualties and more than 300 wounded. Illegal roadblocks are common throughout the country, posing dangers to travelers. Also, the issue of piracy continues to threaten the security of those traveling by sea.

  6. Central African Republic
    In its report on the Central African Republic, the State Department warns visitors of crime and civil unrest. Currently, large areas of the country are under the control of armed groups, preventing safe travel. Notable violent crimes are listed, such as armed robbery, aggravated battery and homicide. The fragmented nature of the country is a result of a civil war launched in 2013 which ousted President Francois Bozize, who seized power through a military coup in 2003.

    As of 2016, the current president, Faustin-Archange Touadera, has sought to establish peace with the various rebel groups through a program which aims to reintegrate the armed groups into society.

  7. Iraq
    Upon the removal of Saddam Hussein by U.S.-led coalition forces, an Iraqi government was formally established. However, Iraq has continued to be a hotbed for armed conflict and terrorist activity, most notably the invasion of Mosul by the forces of ISIS and their eventual defeat in late 2017. Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, continues to be the target of suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks. Due to the current security crisis throughout Iraq and the civil war in neighboring Syria, Iraq remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world.

    As the security situation remains largely unsolved, the State Department continues to list Iraq as a level 4 travel warning, urging potential visitors to avoid travel for the foreseeable future.

Primarily, the current security climate in these states is a direct result of various types of armed conflict. As a result of armed conflict, critical health issues have also arisen. However, this is cause for hope. Continued support from the world’s wealthiest nations in the form of development and aid can help bring armed conflict to an end. A different future is possible, one in which these war-torn nations will no longer be classified as the most dangerous countries in the world.

– Colby McCoy

Photo: Flickr

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The Church Works to Improve Education in Belize

education in belizeIn developing countries, education is the most important sector for governments to direct resources to. In Belize, a Central American country south of Mexico, the education system has major ties to the British system. Belizeans lived under British rule until 1981, and as a result, the country often uses Britain as a model. Quality education in Belize is particularly important considering that almost two-thirds of Belizeans are under the age of 20, so the future of Belize rests on the shoulders of the young.

The education system in Belize can be divided into three parts: primary education, secondary education and tertiary education. Primary education is mandatory for children until they turn 14, and is free if the school is public. Parents face the possibility of fines if they do not send their child to primary school, but these fines are comparable to the fees associated with the “free” education. Some public schools are in bad neighborhoods and many parents cannot afford to buy their children uniforms or books, so a number of children still leave school to work before the age of 14. Secondary school takes about four years to complete on average and is similar to an American high school education. Universities comprise tertiary school.

While most young children are enrolled in primary school, many question the quality of education in Belize. Teachers are paid very little, and many of them are inadequately trained. In Belize, there is no official separation of church and state, so Christian churches have the largest influence on education in Belize. This results in uneven quality among educational facilities, as more money is poured into schools run by the Roman Catholic Church.

While the lack of a divide between church and state widens the gap between good schools and poor schools, the church has contributed a lot to improve education in Belize. A prime example of this trend can be observed at Unity Presbyterian School in Belize City.

This author had the opportunity to visit Belize City and converse with Pastor Ernest Betson, an ordained Creole minister. Betson founded a church in one of the poorest areas in Belize City in 2006, along with his wife Carolyn. They saw the lack of educational opportunities for children in the area and decided to build a school alongside the church in 2007.  At first, the school only offered preschool programs, but today it accommodates children through grade six.

With the help of the organizations Help Another National Develop Schools and Mission to the World, the school has improved immensely, and each year it educates hundreds of children who would otherwise not be in school. Unity Presbyterian School has a large playground, a computer lab and music programs, as well as classes for basic subjects. In an area affected by human trafficking and gang violence, the school has brought a lot of hope to the young people in the area. Unity Presbyterian School is particularly inspiring in that it serves as an excellent example of Belizeans helping improve the lives of other Belizeans with the help of foreign aid but not dependent on foreign intervention.

While there are still many obstacles for impoverished children seeking education in Belize, there are many organizations, religious and non-religious, seeking to bridge the gap. With people like Pastor Betson spearheading the campaign for better education in Belize, the country can expect to see more improvements in future years.

– Julia McCartney

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The Global Economy Is on the Rise

global economy is on the risePeople around the globe experienced the mania of the Dow Jones’ historic low in February 2018. Some traders even questioned if this was a sign of a global stock market crash. But as the U.S. stock market recovers from its volatile hijinks, global trade as a whole is rising, and rapidly. This rapid rise has many economists optimistic that the global economy is on the rise as well.

The global economy is driven by trade. As international trade rises, so do technological developments as nations tear down trade barriers. According to a report by the CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economics Policy Analysis, the volume of imports and exports grew by 4.5 percent in 2017. To gain perspective, this is a significant spike from a stagnant 1.5 percent rate of growth the previous year, which was the lowest since the global financial crisis in 2007-2008.

Globalization a Reason Why the Global Economy Is on the Rise

The world is changing. Globalization moves the market, just as we move through our interconnected culture of technology, digital communications and transportation. As markets evolve, global poverty is decreasing, while the global economy is on the rise.

Old business practices are being phased out, technology is replacing hard labor and workers are rising to higher levels of efficiency. Automation is shifting the way goods and services are distributed, easing mass production.

Nations have outsourced businesses to developing nations, partly to reduce wage costs. Yet, business process outsourcing provides an oasis of income for people in developing countries such as India, the Philippines and Malaysia. In many places, this opportunity to earn a living would not be possible without outsourcing.

As technology advances, the market shifts and standards of living rise across the globe. Developing countries who have broken trade barriers have developed competitive advantages in the production of certain products. Ukraine, for example, is known as the breadbasket for its richness in wheat and farmland. Venezuela is known for its vast oil supply and China’s factories are known for producing more than half of the world’s clothing.

Tariff Reduction Has a History of Success in Developing Countries

History reveals that nations who open their economies to trade with the global economy experience faster growth and poverty reduction. During the past 30 years, global poverty has been cut in half. Studies show that developing countries that lowered tariffs in the 1980s experienced quicker economic growth in the 1990s compared to those that did not. Tariffs, or taxes on imports and exports between sovereign states, are often viewed as barriers affecting the global economy.

Developing nations have tariffs that are three to four times higher than industrial countries, and they are even higher on agriculture. Average tariff protection in agriculture is about nine times higher than in manufacturing. This can undermine a developing country’s agricultural sector and exports by depressing world prices.

The outlook for the global economy depends on these countries tearing down trade barriers. Yet, political decisions in developed countries are affected by trade barriers as well. In Venezuela’s case, the U.S. has imposed investor-related sanctions on Venezuelan oil to pressure its government to address its humanitarian crisis of inflation and starvation. According to Reuters, U.S. officials are not ruling out a complete ban on Venezuelan oil in order to send a strong message to its dictator, Nicolás Maduro.

Trade Wars Are Common and May Not Affect Global Trend

China’s trade practices have also affected U.S. trade on a political level. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, recently called on U.S. President Trump for equal and fair rules for cars, citing China’s pressure on foreign businesses to partner with Chinese carmakers before manufacturing in China. Musk noted China’s 25 percent import duty on cars compared to America’s 2.5 percent duty. President Trump proposed a sweeping tariff on steel and aluminum on March 8, 2018, which characterizes the trade wars.

Skeptics believe this political decision could take the global economy down the rabbit hole. Others are bracing for a global crash for different reasons. “I still believe that we’ll face a financial crisis within the next two years if we don’t solve the debt problems,” said Bjorn Ritschewald, a civil engineer with the government Road and Traffic office in Bremen, Germany, a city popular for its maritime trade. “Almost every country spends more than its income. Actually, I don’t know any country that spends less than what it takes in.”

“Waves in trade flow are common, but it depends on the goods,” Ritschewald told The Borgen Project. “You can’t just look at the financial numbers. You also have to look at the real amount of goods and which kind of goods are being sold.” World markets experienced the rippling effects of the Dow Jones’ plunge. The plunge is characterized as market correction, a phenomenon where unusual market success sparks panicked selling, driving market drops across the globe.

On the other hand, many economists believe that the global economy is on the rise. Their confidence stems from positive trade initiatives such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free trade agreement set to be signed by 11 countries in March. The trade wars and other trade barriers are pitfalls that affect the global economy. However, with trade growth booming, there is much optimism in the air about a healthy global economy in the future.

– Alex Galante

Photo: Google

How Sharks Can Reduce Poverty

Sharks Can Reduce PovertySharks have become increasingly feared throughout the years. In 2017, more people were recorded being afraid of the animal than they were of death. Thanks to movies with ominous music preceding the creature’s appearance on screen, extensive media coverage of the few shark encounters, rather than the more extensive dog bites and lightning strikes, people are associating fear with sharks more and more. The marine animal is on more people’s minds now than gang violence, illegal immigration, or drought, but the truth is, sharks can reduce all of those things that attribute to human suffering. In fact, sharks can reduce poverty itself.

Essential Species

Sharks are considered a ‘keystone’ species among scientists meaning that they are essential in keeping their inhabited environments balanced and well. They keep the oceans and reefs from collapsing. Sharks keep the fish healthy by consuming the unhealthy and weak ones which allow evolution to strengthen fish. This not only maintains the populations and allows the plant life to thrive as a result of balanced amounts of feeding fish, but for the seafood that people in developing countries eat and sell to be of good quality. In short, saving the sharks save the oceans, and saving the oceans saves people relying on it for income and nutrition. In short, sharks can reduce poverty.

Many developing countries’ economies rely on the seas. Whether that be for their fishing markets, tourism due to beaches, or shark tourism itself (most sharks have been estimated to be worth over a million dollars for revenue over their lifetime), many poor communities depend on healthy oceans for sustainable human lives. Ocean conservation means prosperity, and one big way to do that is to save the sharks.

Sharks Need Protection

Currently, we are killing sharks faster than they can recover. Humans are poaching, accidentally killing them with other fishing gear, and getting them trapped in nets. Sharks have been around for 400 million years providing people with thriving oceans, and now 100 million are killed annually.

While it’s impressive that scientists are vocal about the climate, society needs to become educated about why sharks need protection. Reasons include:

  • sharks control and keep oceans thriving;
  • once you reduce the shark population, the ocean becomes less secure;
  • sharks maintain the oceanic ecosystem and contribute to healthy oceans which counteract climate change.

Even just in terms of tourism revenue, a study of Palau found that each shark was worth almost two million dollars. The Australian Institute of Marine Science found that diver tourism made up 39 percent of the Palau’s income, and 21 percent of those same divers toured exclusively to see  sharks. Struggling communities can not only sustain themselves with the help of sharks, but can thrive.

Again and again it has been proven that sharks can reduce poverty, and therefore, should be protected. Spreading awareness about the animal’s positive impact on poverty-stricken communities can help those struggling in developing nations, and in the process, save the seas. Sharks need to stay.

– Emily Degn

Photo: Flickr

Iboga Growers and Sustainable Agriculture in Equatorial Guinea

sustainable agriculture in Equatorial Guinea

Agrarian-minded agents have shared farming methods online that enable sustainable agriculture in Equatorial Guinea for traditional tribespeople who grow Tabernanthe iboga, a shrub that has many uses in traditional tribal medicinal practices.

One important use of Tabernanthe iboga is to provide hunters and fisherman with stamina and a reduced need to eat and drink as they are hunting and fishing. Iboga also has a lot of other medicinal properties that make its cultivation and use important to the people who live in Equatorial Guinea and surrounding areas. Tabernanthe iboga has been shown to help with diarrhea and various disorders of the mind, and some traditional healers even claim that it helps lessen pain in people who have AIDS.

The Internet Helps Iboga Growers

Before learning new farming methods that encouraged sustainable agriculture in Equatorial Guinea, some of the farmers growing Tabernanthe iboga employed more environmentally destructive slash and burn methods to harvest the plant. Through self-agency by using information about farming available online, the farmers learned about the importance of not removing the whole plant so that the crop can continue to grow in the future, and the need to replace the soil so that the nutrients required to grow the plants do not get destroyed.

The farming methods that were shared online by agrarian-minded agents and used by Iboga growers provide a beacon of light that promotes and supports sustainable agriculture in Equatorial Guinea. However, companies that are not agrarian-minded have passed laws that restrict farmers in Equatorial Guinea from sharing their seeds with other farmers. Such laws, which are designed to protect the profits of biotechnology firms that have created new seeds, hurt farmers in developing countries.

Seed Sovereignty Addressing Restrictions

A political movement called Seed Sovereignty is attempting to repeal the legislation that makes it a crime to save and share seeds. This movement is attempting to restore the right to use seeds to the farmer so that sustainable agriculture in Equatorial Guinea and other areas of the world is possible without needing to buy new seeds each year.

Farmers who violate the law and decide to share the seeds from their harvest with other people can go to prison. In some areas of Africa, the farmer who defies the law by sharing his seeds can spend up to 12 years in prison. Agrarian-minded agents take the opposite approach and empower farmers in places like Equatorial Guinea to protect the plants they grow by sharing their seeds and environmentally-safe farming techniques with others rather than putting them in prison for sharing their knowledge with other people.

An Online Repository of Sustainable Agriculture in Equatorial Guinea

The promotion of methods that support sustainable agriculture practices is needed to help preserve biodiversity and empower farmers in impoverished areas of the world. They offer this help by sharing the knowledge required to farm without destroying the environment so that farmers can produce without worrying about destroying the natural resources that they depend on for food and medicine.

Farmers in Equatorial Guinea have access to new methods to sustainably grow Tabernanthe iboga because of the information shared online by agrarian-minded agents. Tabernanthe iboga is an important plant in Equatorial Guinea, it is a part of their rich culture, and farmers can ensure that Tabernanthe iboga will always be there by growing it using sustainable farming methods.

– Michael Israel

Photo: Google