Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

Crop Price Insurance for Farmers in Ghana

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According to Innovations for Poverty Actions (IPA), 50 percent of the rural population in Ghana lives in poverty. “In the Eastern Region, where the Mumuadu Rural Bank (MRB) operates, an estimated 70 percent of households make a living in the agricultural sector, but agricultural loans make up only 2 percent of the bank’s loan portfolio.”

Why? Because farmers are reluctant to take on loans out of fear that fluctuations in crop prices might lead them to default, while banks worry that the risks associated with farming might fall back on them.

Price fluctuations due to factors external to farm-holding directly affect farmers, who often barely have enough to pay for their own family’s survival. Baseline surveys suggest that there is an unexploited market for crop insurance as “farmers in the area served by MRB express that they would be willing to pay to guarantee a certain minimum crop price.”

Nevertheless, in addition to their reluctance to provide loans due to the associated risks, banks also face incomprehension from farmers because “insurance is not a commonly understood concept among farmers in the region.”

In coordination with the MRB, a system of loans, including a crop insurance parameter, was introduced in the region in order to ensure a form of insurance against low crop prices. The system went like this: if the price for eggplant fell below the 10th percentile of historical prices and the price of maize fell below the 7th percentile of historical prices, the bank would forgive 50 percent of the loan and interest payments.

The goal of introducing price insurance for maize and eggplant was to enable farmers to reduce the risk of investing in agricultural input and improve their harvesting capacity and technology. Eggplant and maize were targeted because both plants are widely grown in the region and have had volatile, but well documented prices.

The average loan size is $159, a substantial cash flow for a farmer in Eastern Ghana. The project was conducted at no cost among 84 farmers, and researchers at the MRB have been able to draw conclusions from the crop insurance experiment.

Although the sample size was small, crop insurance tended to be adopted by older people who had a record of borrowing. The reduced success of crop insurance might be explained by a lack of understanding of the risks and benefits associated with loans, or by the fact that price fluctuations might not be as important for investment as had so far been believed.

The MRB experiment conducted in Ghana paves the way toward improving agriculture in poor rural regions. Once the ideal loan and insurance system is established and once farmers are fully able to understand it, there is hope that farmers might invest in long-lasting technologies that will considerably improve their harvesting capacity. But, for farmers to make long-term investments, crop price fluctuation risks must be reduced to the maximum.

– Lauren Yeh

Sources: Innovation for Poverty Action, SOW
Photo: The Guardian

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Arrive Alive by Chevron Drives Home Road Safety

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According to the World Health Organization, approximately 1.24 million people die every year on the world’s roads. As well as 20 to 50 million incur nonfatal injuries as a result of road traffic crashes. The WHO report, ‘Global Status Report on Road Safety 2013: Supporting a Decade of Action,’ attributes road traffic casualties to be the eighth leading cause of death globally with an impact similar to that caused by many communicable diseases, such as malaria.

Current trends suggest that, by 2030, traffic accidents will become the fifth leading cause of death unless urgent action is taken. While the report offers recommendations that focus on legislative reforms, there are also corporate examples, like that of Chevron’s, which help promote awareness of road safety.

Road traffic deaths are the leading cause of death for young people aged 15–29 years, and as a consequence, take a hefty toll on those entering their most productive years. Economically disadvantaged families are hardest hit by both direct medical costs and indirect costs such as lost wages that result from these injuries.

At the domestic level, road traffic injuries result in considerable financial expenses, especially to developing economies. “Road traffic injuries are estimated to cost low- and middle-income countries between 1–2 percent of their gross national product, estimated at over US$ 100 billion a year,” which is a serious impediment to poverty eradication.

Only 28 countries, representing 449 million people (7 percent of the world’s population), have adequate laws that tackle all five risk factors for road traffic (speed, drunk driving, helmets, seat-belts and child restraints).

The WHO report recommends that all governments enact legislation to make the roads safer and invest money and human resources to help enforce those traffic laws. Pedestrian safety should also be considered when planning for infrastructure.

The Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) is an organization supporting the WHO report. Its role is to create and support multi-sector road safety partnerships that are engaged with front-line, good practice, road safety interventions in countries and communities throughout the world. The partnerships include businesses. Current business partners with the GRSP include Bridgestone, Michelin, BP, Chevron, Honda, Shell, Nestle and Toyota.

Many businesses support road safety to benefit their corporate image, to develop new markets through demonstration projects, or to brand their products as safe. Also, corporate sponsorships have been used for social marketing campaigns to increase the public’s awareness of road safety. In the end, businesses benefit from the lower costs associated with fewer road crashes and safer driving practices.

One American company, Chevron, has implemented what they call the Arrive Alive program. The program strives to protect people living in high-risk areas from traffic related injuries and fatalities.

Depending on the country’s needs, Chevron will form a coalition between non-profit organizations, other companies and the local government. The Arrive Alive coalitions have made significant strides on two continents and in four countries since its inception in 2004.

A coalition in Nigeria founded in 2006 advocated for stricter regulations on okada (motorcycle) riders. That year, laws went into effect to regulate the operation of okadas.

To address the 12,000 lives lost annually on South Africa’s roadways, Chevron formed another coalition to implement a publicity campaign aimed at the most vulnerable pedestrian population – youth and teens. Extensive use of poetry in print, radio and billboard communication directed messages towards youth about irresponsible road behavior and its consequences.

– Maria Caluag
Sources: WHO, GRSP, Chevron
Photo: My Legal World

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US Foreign Aid to Africa: What We Give and Why

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In 2012, the United States provided nearly $12 billion in official development assistance (“ODA”) to African nations. The ODA is allocated to education, health, infrastructure and economic development programs in recipient countries. Currently, the United States allocates foreign aid to 47 African nations and USAID operates 27 missions on the continent.

US Foreign aid to Africa began in the 1960s as many African nations gained independence and the United States sought strategic alliances to counter the influence of the Soviet Union. With the exception of disaster and famine relief, most foreign aid to Africa began to decrease with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

In the 2000s, President Bush more than tripled aid to Africa by establishing programs such as the Child Survival and Health Programs Fund as well as the Global HIV/AIDS Initiative.

Though foreign aid programs are designed to assist recipient nations with development, they also benefit the United States in a number of ways.

First, these programs help build strategic alliances and foster support for democratic transitions. It also stimulates Africa’s growth and development, which provides opportunities for increased trade and direct investment in the continent’s emerging markets.

But for all the benefits, foreign aid to Africa has no shortage of detractors. Many critics point out that much of the money allocated to Africa never reaches the people who most need the assistance. “Eighty percent of U.S. aid to Africa is spent right here in America — on American contractors, American suppliers, and so forth,” said George Ayittey, president of the Free Africa Foundation.

In more corrupt nations, politicians and civic leaders are often charged with misappropriating funds designated for the people. Others critics claim that foreign aid to Africa simply does not work—after 50 years of assistance, Africa still confronts the same issues.

But even critics would have to agree on one crucial point: foreign aid is an integral part of U.S. foreign policy. In Africa, aid programs support a large framework of social and economic assistance for developing nations.

Critics are correct that American companies and corrupt politicians siphon a large portion of foreign aid. But aid to Africa has also done much to improve infrastructure, bolster economic development and improve health care conditions for millions of people on the continent.

– Danial Bonasso
Sources: Foreign Policy Initiative, Washington Post, NPR, One.org
Photo: James Bovard

What is Global Poverty?

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What is global poverty? That thing called poverty – how exactly is it defined? What does it mean to lead an impoverished life? Poverty is much more than just statistics about economies, hunger, and homelessness. Poverty is a state of life, affecting all of humanity.

Poverty is most commonly defined by economic standards, based on income levels and access to basic human necessities, such as food, water, and shelter. Poverty is often described with a scale, ranging from extreme to moderate levels. The internationally agreed-upon measurement of extreme poverty currently lies at $1.25 a day, with the next lowest measure of poverty standing at $2 per day. The geographic breakdown of regions with the highest levels of poverty ranging from worst to best include: Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Pacific East Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, North Africa and the Middle East, and Europe and Central Asia.

 

Assessing the Impact: What is Global Poverty?

 

Poverty has many ties to physical health as well, as the world’s poorest countries consistently demonstrate the lowest life expectancies. The majority of these health problems can be traced back to unsafe drinking water and malnutrition, which causes an estimated 8 million people to die every year in addition to 30,000 children’s deaths per day.

Another problem with poverty is the acts of desperation it drives people to. When humans are deprived of basic life necessities, they are forced to take desperate measures in an effort to change their bleak future. Historically, poverty has proven to be the cause of much violence and conflict and continues to be so today. In many situations human trafficking, the use of child soldiers, and prostitution can all be linked to poverty.

In what is perhaps a testament to the subjective definition of poverty, there are mixed results in reducing poverty levels today. According to data from The Economist, nearly one billion people have been lifted out of chronic poverty over the last two decades. While this initially sounds very positive, one must also consider the huge levels of wealth disparity that have shot up in this same time period, as the poorest 20 percent of the world’s population uses a mere 1.3 percent of global resources in contrast to the richest 20% consuming an approximated 86 percent of the world’s resources.

Poverty can be a controversial subject in modern society, as individuals have different understandings of what it means to be poor and what appropriate solutions to poverty should look like. Skeptics criticize the economic definition of poverty because it fails to factor in quality of life. Rather than focusing on pure economic data, most agree that the definition of poverty must also include political and cultural factors and access to opportunities, education, and healthcare. If there’s one thing that can be agreed on, it would be that poverty is a real problem affecting millions of people around the world today, and poverty is a complex issue with multiple layers.

– Allison Meade

Sources: United Nations, World Health Organization, Global Issues, World Bank, ASCD

The Difference Between a Famine and a Drought?

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Famine and drought are often considered one and the same. It is easy to think that where there is drought, there is certainly famine or that where there is famine, there must be drought. The truth of the matter is that the difference between a famine and a drought is huge. Famines and droughts are caused by various conditions and factors that sometimes have nothing to do with the other.

Drought may be defined in three ways. That is to say, there are three kinds of drought. Meteorological drought is a reduction in rainfall below a certain level that is scientifically considered to be a drought. This kind of drought may occur in the course of a season, month, or even day. If it rains less than a specific amount, over the specified amount of time, you have meteorological drought.

Hydrological drought may be caused by meteorological drought, but it need not necessarily be so. This kind of drought occurs when a body of water, such as a stream or lake, falls below a certain amount. For example, in a dry year, meteorological drought may lead to hydrological drought in a stream, when the stream runs much lower than it usually does. Likewise, hydrological drought may exist when the source of a stream is blocked or severed.

Agricultural drought occurs when there is a significant reduction in crop yield, such that it may fall to a certain level considered to be a drought. This kind of drought may be caused by meteorological and/or hydrological drought, but may just as easily stem from insufficient access to fertilizer or some other necessary ingredient to produce yield.

Famine, on the other hand, is caused by a decline in availability of and/or access to food often caused by one of the three kinds of drought. Where there is insufficient water to produce a staple crop, for example, or where there is insufficient fertilizer to produce the standard yield for a crop, drought may lead to and certainly cause famine. Yet, it is not necessarily the drought that causes such a famine.

For famine to occur, there must be insufficient availability of or access to food. Though there may be some kind of drought one year, adequate food management of the available crops may effectively prevent famine. This point highlights the importance of access to food. On that note, inadequate management of a drought may lead to famine because families with less purchasing power, say, are unable to gain access to the available foodstuffs.

Though famine often does follow drought, it is not necessarily a cause and effect relationship. Rather the difference between famine and drought lies in the complexity of this relationship and the conditions and factors that surround local circumstances, as well as government and community responses to drought. The difference between famine and drought is therefore dependent on what causes the drought and how communities handle their food supplies.

– Herman Watson

Sources: Preserve Articles, The Borgen Project, World Vision, Edward Carr
Photo: Business Insider

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McDonald’s as a Poverty Indicator?

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Today the fast food giant McDonald’s is so ubiquitous in the United States that it is hard to imagine a world where it doesn’t exist. McDonald’s has 34,480 restaurants in 119 countries. The fast food chain even has restaurants in Cuba. Despite vast numbers, 105 nations still do not have a McDonalds. These McDonald’s free nations include Ghana, Jamaica, Yemen and Tajikistan.

What is the significance of the spread of McDonald’s? The spread of McDonald’s Big Macs and French fries across the world is a clear  indicator of globalization. What started off as an American fast food restaurant has slowly but surely reached every continent. In a study by Princeton University, entitled “The Fries that Bind Us”, globalization is mapped by the concentration of McDonald’s restaurants in various countries. The map clearly reveals McDonald’s restaurants congregated around the U.S, Europe and part of China.

Most importantly, the distribution of McDonald’s restaurants can work as an indicator of the relative wealth of a nation. Michael Centeno, sociologist at Princeton University has stated “If you want a definition of what the rich world and the poor world are, well, if you can get a McDonald’s, you are in the rich world.” According to Centeno wealth and the number of McDonalds are directly correlated. Thus poorer nations in sub-Saharan African and poor and central Asia have far fewer opened McDonalds restaurants.

Additionally, the presence of McDonald’s restaurants is correlated with a nation’s economic development and stability. Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam is about to open its first McDonald’s in the next year. What this mean is that Vietnamese consumers now have enough disposable income to indulge in American fast food. At the same time, nations may lose their McDonald’s due to declining economic situations. For example, Iceland has shut down all of its three McDonald’s chains following severe economic down turn and a currency crisis.

Some people may insist that the growth or decline of McDonalds in any region may be mostly related to the culture of the area. While culture does play a role in the spread of fast food, the growth of McDonald’s overseas can truly be a sign of wealth and development. That is to say, as poor or developing countries expand economically, they are able to take part in the luxuries of developed nations. Furthermore, economists have even developed what is known as the Big Mac Index, an informal way to compare currencies across nations. Whether or not more French fries or burgers are truly beneficial for the global poor, the spread of McDonald’s definitely indicates where wealth and poverty tend to linger.

– Grace Zhao

Sources: Princeton University, NPR, The Economist
Photo: 1-800-Politics

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Indigenous Peoples: Poverty and Foreign Aid

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On August 9th, the world celebrated the UN’s International Day of the World’s Indigenous People, an annual event that has been held since 1995. This year’s theme, “honoring treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements,” struck a chord with aboriginal peoples around the globe. With many suffering from poverty and marginalization at the hands of states in power, the indigenous peoples of today are finding a dead end at the intersection of state interests and modern culture. The United Nations adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007 and has been advocating for indigenous peoples’ rights ever since. In a report released in 2009, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs described the state of the world’s indigenous peoples, particularly the impoverishment that most have found themselves in.  The report points out that globalization has given governments a reason to take indigenous lands for use in profitable industries like mineral extraction. Either seized or heavily polluted, these lands and territories of indigenous people have increasingly become their heaviest losses. With unsettling histories marked by colonization, dispossession, and injustice, indigenous peoples have been forced into the lowest echelons of society where they often remain. Research conducted by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has produced statistical figures that characterize the overwhelming poverty felt by these peoples. There are about 370 million indigenous peoples around the globe today, or about 5% of the world population. They make up 15% of the world’s poor and 1/3 of the world’s “extremely poor rural people.” Disparities between countries’ indigenous and nonindigenous populations in education, healthcare, and other basic sectors are substantial. On August 9th, several indigenous populations spoke out against their marginalization.  In the Philippines, the people of Cordillera called on their government to “honor their commitments to [the people of Cordillera].” In the past three years, these people have seen the rise of the state’s mining industry, which has ultimately violated their rights. Given their circumstances, indigenous peoples’ voices are rarely heard. Where foreign aid could be the key to a better world for these peoples, countries continue to allot funds to secure state interests, often leaving aboriginal peoples behind. In a collective effort to shift the tides, indigenous peoples everywhere are calling on donors to consider sending direct donations in support of their development.
– Lina Saud
Sources: Indigenous Day, What Indigenous Peoples Need from Foreign Aid Photo: Indian Country

Attacks on Women in Afghanistan Inhibit Campaign

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A police commander in Afghanistan’s central Ghazni province recently reported that Taliban fighters kidnapped Fariba Ahmadi Kakar, a female parliamentarian, and her three daughters as they traveled by car through the province. This kidnapping marks the latest in a series of highly publicized, violent attacks against women in the country.

Violent and frequently deadly attacks on women in Afghanistan working for state institutions have increased in recent months, raising concerns that U.S. efforts to promote women’s rights are failing. Human rights activists and diplomats alike worry that Afghan women will continue to suffer, especially as the United States plans to withdraw in 2014.

While Kakar’s three daughters were released, her kidnappers demanded that four Taliban prisoners be released before they would let her go.

A member of the lower house, Kakar was the second parliamentarian to be attacked in the province of Ghazni in less than one week. Though her husband insisted the attack had never taken place, the Kakar tribe’s elder Samad Khan admitted that she had been taken and said the tribe was attempting to reach an agreement with the Taliban.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, reported that he did not know who carried out the kidnapping but that the group is currently investigating it.

During the Taliban’s reign from 1996 to 2001, women were required to wear the burqa, which concealed them completely. They were also restricted from attending school and were prohibited from leaving the house without a male companion.

The western-supported government of President Hamid Karzai has restored women’s right to work and schooling, but these reforms have been met with much resistance. Women who survive Taliban attacks usually flee the country, which is classified as “one of the worst places in the world to be born female,” according to Reuters.

Muzhgan Masoomi, a former government worker who was stabbed 14 times in an attack last year, said she had to leave Afghanistan in order receive treatment for her wounds and proper protection from the Taliban. Though the attack occurred more than a year ago, Masoomi received no assistance from media or humanitarian organizations.

Last week a female senator named Rooh Gul was shot along with her husband and eight-year old daughter. Gul and her husband survived the attack, but their daughter died along with the driver of their car.

In July, Lieutenant Islam Bibi, the highest-ranking policewoman in the southern province of Helmand, was shot to death on her way to work in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah. Bibi herself reported frequent death threats from people inside and outside her family. These high profile attacks of senior female government officials are making headlines, yet honor killings by conservative relatives have occurred for years in Afghanistan.

Human rights groups remain concerned that rules instituted by the Taliban have not yet been defeated in certain areas of the country. Clerics in a region of the Baghlan province banned women from leaving the house without a male chaperone in June and closed all beauty parlors in the area.

According to NBC, Afghanistan’s parliament also voted to strike down a statute requiring females to make up a quarter of all provincial elected officials. Human Rights Watch calls these recent attacks along with parliament’s recent vote “a broad-based attack on women’s rights,” calling for the international community to stand up for Afghan women.

– Katie Bandera

Sources: The Star, NBC
Photo: Indian Express

China’s Increasing Investment in Africa

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Over the last two decades, China has gradually invested in Africa, gaining ownership of more and more resources and growing industries. Recently, China has sharply increased these investments, taking on a much larger role in Africa’s future. China’s increasing investment in Africa may signal that the U.S. needs to similarly increase their investment in the region.

Africa’s biggest creditor is the China Import-Export Bank. Officials are in the process of creating the China-Africa Development Fund, which will pump over $2 billion into the developing continent over the next three years. China has replaced the United Sates as Africa’s largest trading partner, as its trade levels with Africa have shot up from $10 billion to $200 billion, over just thirteen years.

There are mixed feelings over China’s growing presence in Africa. To its credit, China has provided much-needed support, providing funding for expensive infrastructure projects and other developmental plans. Such projects have included building schools and roads, creating opportunities for many people in Africa. Similarly, China’s huge economic growth rates have helped boost Africa’s pace of growth as well. China also aids Africa’s growing consumerism by providing cheap products that improve quality of life for many people across the continent.

Conversely, many critics criticize China for overreaching in regards to Africa and taking advantage of their disorganization and lack of regulations. Others emphasize China’s exploitation of Africa’s natural resources. This has left Africa with very little profit compared with what China has made off of these resources, causing many to draw an eerie comparison to the days of European imperialism and exploitation of the continent. China’s mass manufacturing and distribution network, which makes cheap consumer products available, also has a huge advantage over Africa’s smaller upcoming production facilities. China’s ability to distribute cheap products on a wide scale discourages competition and drives many local start-ups out of business.

More alarming still is China’s focus on acquiring Africa’s natural resources. Raw materials comprise approximately 85 percent of Africa’s exports to China, largely consisting of oil and various minerals. The African Development Bank has voiced complaints over this mass export of natural resources, calling for the resources to be processed and developed within Africa in order to create jobs and profit.

Many African governments have started demanding China offer up a greater number of jobs to the African population. As Africa’s population continues to grow, the need for more jobs simultaneously increases. However, China’s established investment patterns tend to bring in their own Chinese workforce, leading to an influx of an estimated one million Chinese migrants to Africa throughout the last twenty years.

China’s soft power investment in Africa will surely lead to greatly increased Chinese influence throughout the developing continent. The question remains whether this will propel Africa to new levels or simply act as a crutch for Africa’s struggle for healthy development and economic growth.

– Allison Meade

Sources: Forbes, Reuters, International Business Times
Photo: USC Dornsife

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5 Global Poverty Solutions

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You’ve heard about the problems, but what are global poverty solutions? In fact, there are many:

1. Clean Water and Sanitation

A lot of people in the developed world take clean water and sanitation for granted. We do not realize at times how lucky we are that we don’t have to travel miles to get access to clean water, or drink seemingly safe water only to later find out it was contaminated. Improving water quality and overall sanitation are steps already being taken by non-profit and non-governmental organizations like UNICEF, etc. In fact, UNICEF’s Clean Water Campaign is attempting to do just this: help bring clean and safe tap water to people in developing and third world nations. The potential for a high impact is definitely present: just 5 U.S. dollars can provide clean tap water for one child for 200 days. Cleaner water and safer sanitation lead to healthy and fit children who are able to learn and go to school.

2. Healthcare and the Elimination and Prevention of Diseases

Similar to clean water and sanitation, proper healthcare can also help children and adults be vigorous enough to better take care of their families and work, or pursue education. Many potentially deadly diseases can be averted very simply: for example, one can greatly increase one’s chances of avoiding malaria simply by sleeping inside a mosquito net. Many charities are actively trying to save lives simply by sending nets to poverty stricken families in Africa. Vaccinations and inoculations prevent children from getting easily treatable diseases. Some very treatable diseases go unnoticed and/or untreated in families living in extreme poverty because they are often ignored, not recognized as illnesses, or treatments can’t be afforded. By eliminating and preventing easily treatable diseases, we give a chance to millions of children who otherwise might die of easily treatable maladies.

3. Education

Again, access to basic education is also perhaps something those in developed nations take for granted. Young children living in extreme poverty often have no choice but to seek employment when they reach a certain age in order to help the family financially. They often forgo an education for many reasons: for some, it’s a lack of nearby schools, for others, it’s simple economic necessity, and then there are some who cannot attend school because a lack of proper sanitation and clean water has left them with health problems; these children are unable to learn and perform well in school. Education is a positive feedback cycle in which children who receive an education are able to bring more money home for their families, thereby allowing other children to go to school rather than work. Education empowers people not only economically, but also spiritually and intellectually, potentially leading to a cyclical liberation of the poor.

4. Encouraging Local Innovation

Encouraging local innovation is a great solution to poverty because it stimulates the economy of poverty struck areas as well as supporting self-sufficiency. Some great inventions are currently coming out of Africa; some of them are simple solutions to problems only those living in extreme poverty face. Regardless, this is an eventual result of education, and if encouraged and fostered, it will result in a brighter future for those actively fighting poverty. Organizations like the African Innovation Foundation take it upon themselves to release the potential of individuals in poor African nations who would otherwise go unnoticed.

5. Eliminate Corruption

Eliminating corruption is an extremely significant move in the fight against global poverty. If it’s the higher up officials who hoard money, and prevent aid from going where it is most needed, it will hold back individual countries from eliminating diseases, educating the young, and making clean water accessible to the general population. Additionally, corruption can often result in lax law enforcement, which allows poor nations to become breeding grounds for extremist, sometimes terrorist groups. Eliminating corruption, therefore, would be taking a very big step towards eliminating poverty in general.

– Aalekhya Malladi

Sources: Clean Water Campaign, Netting Nations, Nets for Life Africa, Nothing But Nets, African Innovation Foundation
Photo: The Guardian