Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

New Strategy to test Tuberculosis in Asia

tuberculosis

Over 600 million people in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India are infected with the tuberculosis bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Each year, at least three million people reach the potentially deadly staged called active TB. The disease is still treatable at this stage with antibiotics, but traditional tests miss more than one out of three active cases. An average of 400,000 people die from the disease in South Asia every year.

For the first time, thanks to a new strategy developed at University of California, Davis (UC Davis) Health System, the disease can be effectively detected in children. Over 20,000 people in Pakistan will now be tested for the dangerous stage using the scientific breakthrough.

In traditional screening, a laboratory worker must identify the bacterium in a sputum sample observed under a microscope. Unfortunately, this test rarely picks up more than 50 percent of active cases of lung TB. The new TB screening looks for antibodies in the blood that are found only when a person is fighting off active TB. This new test is expected to detect 80 percent of active cases.

Another advantage to the new strategy is the speed of the screening. While the sputum microscopy test requires three sputum samples collected over a three-day period, the new test requires only a few drops of a blood sample and results are provided in two hours. According to researchers, because it takes such little time, millions more people can be screened worldwide per year.

An additional limitation of conventional screening comes from the very use of sputum samples. Children often have trouble providing a sputum sample, and are often missed in TB screening. TB can also be inactive in the lungs but active in other organs and tissues, cases that are missed by sputum screening. These two undetectable groups account for over 20 percent of all active TB cases.

The new strategy is based on an FDA-approved diagnostic instrument and was developed by UC Davis Medical Center scientists along with colleagues in Pakistan. Preliminary trials were funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and were reported in the journal Clinical and Vaccine Immunology. USAID and the World Health Organization (WHO) fund today’s large-scale research. An additional grant was awarded in July 2013 from the U.S. State Department and USAID, which will focus on developing and commercializing the TB test in partnership with the Forman Christian College in Pakistan.

“The fast turn-around time of the new antibody diagnostic test, in combination with high number of patients who can be tested, should enable millions of more TB patients to be screened,” said Imran Khan, assistant professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Center for Comparative Medicine at the UC David Medical Center. “As a result, effective treatment can be provided in a more timely fashion to reduce the spread of this deadly disease.”

– Ali Warlich

Sources: UC Davis Health System, WHO
Photo: News Medical

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Tax on Carbon Dioxide Emissions to Potentially Help South Africa’s Poor

Tax on South Africa Emissions
This year, South Africa has launched a new tax on carbon dioxide emissions in an effort to create a lower carbon future and a greener economy.

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has announced a Carbon Tax Policy White Paper that will describe the placement of taxes based on pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. Currently, South Africans already pay some unofficial carbon emission taxes, such as taxes on automobile emissions and electricity. However, the new carbon tax policy would introduce a new tax of 120 rands, or about 12 dollars, per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent.

The tax will be effective in 2015 and increase 10 percent between 2015 and 2020.

South Africa is one of the 20 nations that produce the most carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Increasing use of fossil fuels in recent years has led to rapid climate change. For developing or poor nations, the warming climate means that people are losing the ability to grow enough food.

In other places, environmental disasters bring ruin to land. Drying water sources means that women and children will have to walk farther and farther to find water. As carbon emissions increase, inequality and poverty only grow. Thus, it is imperative for nations such as South Africa to make a difference by reducing their carbon footprint.

The creation of a stricter carbon emissions tax means that the government, businesses, civil society and other stakeholders must have the same understanding of carbon emissions: it is something that needs to be eliminated progressively.

By enforcing taxes, the government of South Africa provides an incentive for companies and organizations to take up greener technologies. This would help to shift production from a high emissions approach to a new standard of a green technology.

Though the carbon tax sounds like a good way to fight environmental degradation, the tax could still negatively affect poorer households. The poor of South Africa spend significantly more of their income on food and energy. In some instances, these poor will eventually spend up to 40 percent more of their income on such basic necessities.

Furthermore rising coal-based electricity prices have increased more and more in recent years. This has put enormous pressure on low-income households. For these households that don’t have the luxury of spending freely on energy, a tax on carbon dioxide producing energy sources could be a great burden.

Moreover, there is also a worry that the carbon tax won’t be strict enough due to the possibility of exemptions. The proposed carbon tax provides a tax-free exemption threshold of 60 percent. When such exemptions exist, it is easy for carbon emissions to simply be ignored as groups or companies vie for exemptions. Exemptions mean that the people may be tempted to prioritize money over truly reducing the carbon footprint.

Perhaps the best way to think about this potential carbon dioxide tax is to consider poverty first. While the tax helps to reduce emissions, it can also generate billions of rands in revenue.

Additionally, it is important to note that greener technology can provide thousands of new employment opportunities for South Africa’s jobless.

– Grace Zhao

Sources: Mail and Guardian, BD Live, Times Live
Photo: The Guardian

Four Facts About India That Will Surprise You

Four Facts About India
What do you really know about India? Maybe that it just celebrated its 66th year of independence from British rule on August 15th. Or that the famed, and often revered, Mahatma Ghandi was Indian. Here are some more facts about India that may really surprise you.

  1. In 1947, the Indian rupee (re) was equal in worth to the American dollar. Sixty-seven years later one dollar is the same as 61.43 rupees. Renting a three bedroom apartment in the middle of a city in India would cost an average of 24,000 Re, or about $390 a month. Comparatively, the median disposable income is listed as 25,000 a month, which is only $400. Simply, the cost of living and the wages people actually make just do not add up.
  2. With over 450,000,000 people living in extreme poverty, or under $1.25 a day, India is home to 42% of the world’s poor. According to the World Bank, even those who have made it out of poverty status are still very likely to fall back into it due to a lack of infrastructure to support the growing population. One in three people living in rural areas lack access to a reliable road and 40% of the world’s malnourished children are living in India. In fact, in many Indian states, infant and maternal mortality rates are on par with the world’s poorest countries despite the World Bank’s official designation of the country as “lower-middle class.”
  3. Up to 25% of the new workers in the world will be Indian. While the percentage of children under 14 is dropping, the number of people within the working ages of 15 and 59 is increasing. It is expected that the work force in India will be 653 million by 2031, a fact about India that may be marred by the problematic education system in the country. The problem becomes not whether they will possess enough people to fill job openings, but one of whether India will be able to use all these people effectively to bring the country out of declining poverty or if it will continue to perpetuate the cycle of poverty.
  4. Around 10 million female births have gone missing in the last twenty years as a result of illegal sex selection. In India only male children are allowed to care for aging parents and must be the ones to perform the last rites at their deaths. They also receive more education and make more money. Daughters must be cared for, given away into marriage, and then a dowry is usually paid to the parents of the groom. Even though sex-selection and dowrys are both illegal, the old customs still prevail. This leaves India with a massive gender ratio problem as well as serious issues with pervasive gender inequality.

While none of these facts about India is pleasant, each reveals the reality of what the people are currently facing and what they might have to deal with in the years to come. A lot of work will have to be put in to effectively change these statistics and realities, but the right focus and effort could make all the difference.

– Chelsea Evans

Sources: Business Insider, World Bank, The Hindu, Boston Globe, PBS, Numbeo, Business Standard

Home Gardens Grow Developing Countries

Home Gardens
Home gardens in developing countries is now being viewed as a key to alleviating hunger and providing a source of nutrition for millions of people in developing countries. The quantity of food that low-income families consume must also be supplemented by adequate nutrition; research conducted by the Lancet earlier this year concluded that malnutrition kills 3.1 million children annually, and caused stunting in 165 million in 2011.

In countries where women are traditionally responsible for providing their families with food, the disparity in access to land between men and women can often cause problems. According to the FAO, women receive only 5% of agricultural extension services globally making it difficult for them to grow food, especially food rich in essential micronutrients such as vitamin A, iron, and zinc. Therefore, several development organizations have taken the step to help women make better use of the space they can control–their home gardens.

In 2009, Care International launched the EU-funded Food Security for the Ultra-Poor (FSUP), which aimed to support 55,000 women living in the northeast region of Bangladesh in providing food. The project addresses the underlying causes of social and economic exclusion and seasonal imbalances in food availability and affordability in order to achieve sustainable improvement in food access and utilization. One element of the program included homestead gardening.

Women were taught to grow crops such as cucumber, gourds, red amaranth, spinach, papaya, carrots, tomatoes, and beans. The program taught women how to use various gardening tools and how to identify space in their houses that could be utilized for growing vegetables. They were then provided with vegetable seed packets to start their own gardens. While these harvests were not huge, they did provide families with crucial nutrients in regions where people would otherwise rely heavily on rice.

For these women, and for their families in Bangladesh, access to vegetables and fruits has not only increased but has also given them a surplus of produce which they are then able to sell to the community. A sample of 1,614 families participating in FSUP showed that between December 2012 and March 2013, households produced an average of 53kg of vegetables and fruits of which they consumed an average of 36kg and sold an average of 18kg.

As women begin to make an income they are able to make financial choices that positively impact their families. Larissa Pelham, food security adviser at Care International UK, said “when women have control over household resources, they are likely to spend it on the wellbeing of the household overall.” Other organizations have built on the success of this program and have included the additional element of combining gardening training with support in maternal health, nutrition, immunization, and financial services to women. This holistic approach is empowering women in developing countries, allowing them to use the land they own to build a better future for themselves and for their families.

– Chloe Isacke

Sources: The Guardian, Care

Will Botswana Be Africa’s Success Story For Long?

botswana_africa
For a sparsely populated and landlocked nation in the middle of the Kalahari Desert, Botswana has achieved much in terms of social and economic development. The country has experienced stable economic growth since claiming independence in 1966. Unlike many other African nations, Botswana is not frustrated by political instability and widespread corruption. In addition, the government has long championed environmental stewardship and sustainable tourism. For now, Botswana remains one of Africa’s success stories.

But the nation is confronting a range of near and long-term problems that will require innovative solutions. First, Botswana is struggling to diversify its economy. Diamond exports comprise nearly 50 percent of government revenues and more than 70 percent of the nation’s export earnings. In last year’s State of the Nation address, President Ian Khama said, “Dependency on anything is never healthy.”

Sensing the consequences of this dependency, the government is initiating programs to bolster other industries such as agriculture, tourism and textile manufacturing. They have also created the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency, which provides low-cost financing and mentoring programs for aspiring business owners. To date, there is little evidence that these programs are stimulating Botswana’s economy. Many economists believe that its proximity to South Africa will make it difficult for Botswana to successfully compete in global markets.

For years, Botswana’s unemployment rate has exceeded 15 percent. Even graduates of Botswana University have had trouble finding jobs that are commensurate with their skills and education. Many well-qualified young people are competing for a small pool of jobs. This dilemma contributes to Botswana’s growing poverty rate, which is currently just above 20 percent. To combat the problem, the government has increased expenditures on social programs, which more than doubled between 1997 and 2005.

Increased funding of social programs is the natural result of an expanding government. In 2005, the average wage of government workers exceeded those in the private sector by more than 40 percent. This disparity between the public wage and private wage has created a wage reservation, whereby people in the private sector believe they should be paid the same as public sector employees. For this reason, many Batswana refuse to seek employment and instead rely solely on the government’s social programs.

Botswana has achieved exceptional economic improvement since 1966. But reliance on diamond mining and government social programs is undermining the country’s ability to sustain economic growth. Appropriate policies should be implemented to diversify revenues, increase private participation in the labor force and reduce dependency on social programs. Otherwise, Botswana’s success could be in jeopardy.

– Daniel Bonass

Sources: Council on Foreign Relations, African Economic Outlook, International Monetary Fund
Photo: Telegraph

Top Five Bill Gates Quotes

Bill Gates Quotes
This past May, Bill Gates made headlines again when he reclaimed the title of “World’s Richest Man.” According to the Bloomsberg Billionaires Index, Gates had a net worth of nearly $73 billion. Gates’ groundbreaking advancement of computer technology has long established him and his company, Microsoft, as household names during the last three decades.

Unlike his contemporaries, Gates is not one to lavishly spend his money. Instead he and his wife, Melinda Gates, are fervent believers of the mantra, “with wealth comes responsibility.” The power couple established the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 1997 to address the issues of global poverty and disease, as well as those of domestic education and systemic inequality. For nearly two decades the foundation has worked to eradicate everything from malaria to the recreational use of tobacco. To date, Gates has donated almost $30 billion to the foundation.

Gates, however, is not only a man of great action but also of sound philosophy. His belief in a harmonious balance between philanthropy and capitalism, as well as his faith in government action and public policy as ideal agents for social change, are awe-inspiring. Hopefully, with Gates’ continued success as both a business mogul and humanitarian leader, more elite members of America’s top 1 percent will learn to share the wealth.

1. “I believe that if you show people the problems and you show them the solutions they will be moved to act.”

2. “People always fear change. People feared electricity when it was invented, didn’t they? People feared coal, they feared gas-powered engines. There will always be ignorance, and ignorance leads to fear.”

3. “You know capitalism is this wonderful thing that motivates people, it causes wonderful inventions to be done. But in this area of diseases of the world at large, it’s really let us down.”

4. “The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow.”

5. “Governments will always play a huge part in solving big problems. They set public policy and are uniquely able to provide the resources to make sure solutions reach everyone who needs them. They also fund basic research, which is a crucial component of the innovation that improves life for everyone.”

– Melrose Huang

 

Read quotes about global poverty.

Read humanitarian quotes.

Sources: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USA Today, BrainyQuote
Photo: Techno Crates

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?

what is global poverty?
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