Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

Obama Visits Senegalese Slave Quarters

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Four centuries after the first African slaves were shipped from Africa to the Americas, Barack Obama, the first African American U.S. President, visited one of the major slave shipping points of the triangular trade: Goree Island.

Obama started off his week-long trip through Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania with a private tour of the Goree Island Slave House. Built in 1776 by the Dutch on Goree Island off the Senegal coast, it is contested whether the ‘House of Slaves’ (Maison des Esclaves) was really a major slave-trading point; some historians suggest that the island was more of a merchant port, and the slave house a merchant’s home. However, despite the controversy over its effective role in the slave trade, there is no doubt that slaves walked through the “door of no return,” never to come back.

Now turned into a museum and classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage site, the House of Slaves reminds all its visitors of the brutality and cruelty inflicted upon other human beings during the slave trade.

“It’s a very powerful moment… to be able to come here and to fully appreciate the magnitude of the slave trade, to get a sense in a very intimate way of the incredible inhumanity and hardship that people faced”, stated Obama, who is believed to have at least one enslaved ancestor. First Lady Michelle Obama, a descendant of slaves, did not wish to comment on their visit to the House of Slaves.

More than just diplomatic, Obama’s visit to the Slave House is highly significant for many, both African and American. It is an acknowledgment of the dark history of slavery of the United States, a reminder of the considerable transformation that American society has undergone in the past decades.

The desegregation of American society and the election of the first African American  President in the history of the U.S. has made Africans very supportive and proud, although there is some disappointment that the President seems less involved with the continent than his predecessors Georges W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Moved by the living testimony of the slave trade evoked by the Goree Island Slave House, Obama emphasized the importance of the defense of human rights and praised the U.S. Supreme Court for the same-sex marriage ruling. He was accompanied by Senegalese President Macky Sall, who paradoxically declared that Senegal was “still not ready to decriminalize homosexuality”.

Obama’s visit to Goree Island and then to South Africa raises the question of the place of aid to Africa in American foreign policy priorities. That question has yet to be answered.

– Lauren Yeh

Source: Yahoo! News, PolicyMic, LA Times
Photo: Washington Post

The Brookings Institute Analyzes the Post-2015 High Level Panel Report

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As the expiration date for the Millennium Development Goals nears there is much discussion and debate surrounding the post-2015 agenda. With the release of the High Level Panel Report there has been commentary galore about the nature of the new framework and the goals it encompasses. The Brookings Institution, a research institution focused on innovative policy solutions, provided a comprehensive analysis of the Report.

In brief the High Level Panel Report established the purpose of the post-2015 agenda being, “to end extreme poverty in all its forms in the context of sustainable development and to have in place the building blocks of sustained prosperity for all.” The Report concludes that the post-2015 agenda must focus on five main issues: Leave no one behind, put sustainable development at the core, transform economies for jobs and inclusive growth, build peace and effective, open and accountable institutions for all, and forge a new global partnership. The Panel believes these five elements are the key to ending poverty sustainably in the very near future.

The Brookings Institution has a cautiously positive and optimistic analysis of the High Level Panel Report. The focus on not only educational access but the substantive learning process is welcomed. Despite not directly articulating a strategy for combating inequality Brookings acknowledges the first prong “Leave no one behind” as a potentially effective method of encompassing this issue.

Brookings Institute also applauds the emphasis on data and measurement as a good lesson learned from the MDGs. Having definite goals and timelines is key to success. As the analysis says there is still a long way to go in defining the post-2015 agenda but the comprehensive and inclusive focus of the High Level Panel Report is a very encouraging step towards a poverty free future.

– Zoë Meroney

Sources: Brookings Institution, post2015hlp
Photo: Interaction

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World Bank Admits Poverty and Climate Change Link

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Poverty and climate change are related problems, says World Bank president Jim Yong Kim. The World Bank has doubled its spending on researching adaptation to climate change to $4.6 billion, but it is also calling for the world’s wealthier countries to invest in similar research. The organization also recently released a report on the subject, which presents some shocking scenarios that the organization feels are likely to occur if global temperatures continue to increase. The Thai capital of Bangkok, for example, could experience floods in as much as forty percent of the city if temperatures rise by just 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, which is expected to happen within the next three decades. Those who live in slums, the report suggests, will be the most affected by a natural disaster. But this hypothesis has implications not just for the poor or for the people of Thailand, but for the world over. Jim Yong Kim, the president of World Bank has said that it is “impossible to tackle poverty without dealing with the effects of a warmer world” for the following reasons:

1. Access to food. Many crops have a difficult time thriving in extremely hot conditions. While agricultural scientists are working, sometimes controversially, to create versions of popular crops that can adapt to such climates, the World Bank’s report estimates that as many as ninety percent of people in Sub-Saharan Africa could be malnourished by 2050.

2. Access to clean water. The report also suggests that extreme heat may lead to droughts throughout South Asia, reducing the availability of clean drinking water in places like India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

In addition to research, the World Bank spends $7 billion per year (not including the $20 billion received from other banks and partners dedicated to this issue) in helping developing countries cut their greenhouse gas emissions.

– Samantha Mauney

Sources: The Saudi Gazette, Counter Currents
Photo: IFAD

The Rwandan Genocide 101

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On April 6, 1994, Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana — an ethnic Hutu — was returning from Tanzania when his plane was shot down over the Rwandan capital of Kigali. Whether his assassination was carried out by the Tutsi-led Rwanda Patriotic Front or Hutus searching for a reason to wipe out the Tutsi minority remains a mystery. In the 100 days following, over 800,000 Tutsis were slaughtered largely at the hands of Hutu extremists.

A History of Ethnic Conflict
For hundreds of years the African country of Rwanda has been composed of three main ethnic groups: the Hutus, who made up a majority of the population; the minority Tutsis; and a very small population of hunter-gathers, the Twa. The Hutus and the Tutsis have had a long history of conflict, beginning with the colonization of Rwanda by European powers. The Germans were the first to colonize the country and believed the minority Tutsi to be superior to the majority Hutu as they were believe to have more “European characteristics” such as lighter skin and taller stature. In 1916, Belgium took control of Rwanda and solidified this divide by issuing identity cards based on ethnicity. For the next 20 years, the Tutsis were privilege to better jobs, better educational opportunities and better all around treatment by the Belgian colonists despite their making up only around 10% of the total population.

By 1959, the Hutus had had enough. Riots ensued and over 20,000 Tutsis were killed while others fled for neighboring Uganda, Burundi and Tanzania. When Rwanda was eventually granted independence from Belgium in 1962, the tables were turned and the Hutus gained control. In the decades to come, the Tutsis would be blamed for every ill facing the country.

The Rwandan Genocide
Fast forward to April 6, 1994. Within twenty-four hours of the attack on president Habyarimana’s plane, Hutu extremists had taken over the Rwandan government, blamed the Tutsis for the attack, and begun the killing campaign. Starting in Kigali and quickly spreading to the rest of the country, Hutu extremists began slaughtering Tutsis in droves. Soldiers and police encouraged civilians to kill their Tutsi neighbors, often offering incentives like food or access to the land of those they killed. No Tutsi was safe from those who wanted them dead. Men, women and children were tortured and killed, mostly with machetes due to the expensive nature of bullets. Thousands of women were raped and tortured before being killed. To make matters worse, the Hutu extremists refused to allow the bodies of those they killed to be buried. Instead, they were left to rot where they were killed or thrown into rivers and streams. In all, over 800,000 Rwandans were brutally murdered between April 7 and mid July 1994. Only when the Rwandan Patriotic Front captured Kigali and declared a ceasefire did the killings end.

Rwanda Today
In 2000, Paul Kigame, former Tutsi leader of the RPF, became president and remains in power today. The Kigame government has invaded the Democratic Republic of the Congo twice with the intention of destroying the some two million Hutus who have lived in hiding there since 1994. While the genocide has ended, tension between the two groups still runs deep and simmers just below the surface.

In 1979, president Jimmy Carter declared, “Out of our memory … of the Holocaust we must forge an unshakeable oath with all civilized people that never again will the world stand silent, never again will the world … fail to act in time to prevent this terrible crime of genocide.” Yet just 15 years later, the Rwandan genocide unfolded on television screens while some of the most powerful nations on earth stood by and watched. What will it take to create a world where “never again” doesn’t so quickly become “never again unless”?

In the words of the philosopher Hannah Arendt: “The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.”

– Erin Ponsonby

Source: BBC, United Human Rights Counsel
Photo: Guardian

Youth Needed to Boost Agriculture in Nigeria

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In Nigeria, over 70 percent of the population lives on the equivalent of $0.07 or less. This is a sad and startling fact considering that the country has the third largest economy in all of Africa, that it has plentiful oil resources, and that, in 1980 less than thirty percent of people there were living in poverty. Thus, in a time where we are making such strides toward reducing poverty around the world, it is unsettling when a country with so much potential begins to regress.

Some believe that the government should take a more active role in assuring that such resources are used wisely and to the benefit of the citizens of the country. Concerning agriculture, one of the largest industries in Nigeria, however, many are suggesting that the government take a smaller role. Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, the Minister of Agriculture in Nigeria, is trying to get Nigerians to see the industry as a business in which government should have a minimal role. This is an especially welcomed opinion for those who have criticized the government’s handling of the sector.

Innovation is sorely needed. Emmanuel Omole, the CEO of an agricultural development company in Lagos, is insisting that the main way such innovation can take hold is for youth to be attracted to the industry. Youth must feel that the sector is a lucrative one. Negative connotations associated with the industry (that it is “dirty,” for instance) must also die.

Not only are many Nigerians ready to welcome youth input, but their presence is also sorely needed. Present agriculturalists are aging out of the industry, leaving a labor void that, if addressed properly, could help improve the lives of the nation’s young people, or could severely affect the economy if left unfilled.

Despite the fact that food production is such a large part of the Nigerian economy, because most of the farming there is done on a small scale without much large-scale manufacturing, the country still spends a great deal of money to bring international food into the country. From 2007 through 2010, Nigeria spent the equivalent of $628 billion USD importing food alone. Even though it is one of the African countries most blessed with fresh water, the nation spent 97 billion naira on importing fish.

– Samantha Mauney

Sources:  NGR Guardian News, All Africa, poverties.org
Photo: WordPress

Cashew Smuggling and the Funding Gap

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For arable countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the money made on agricultural exports is often invaluable. It can strengthen a government’s budget, benefit farmers who harvest the crops, and improve the overall the standard of living. When this source of money is removed, however, development can slow down for lack of funds.

In Cote d’Ivoire, the increasing importance of cashew exports is undermined by rampant smuggling. A United Nations panel estimated that in 2011, 150,000 tons of cashews were smuggled from Côte d’Ivoire, a trend that is unlikely to change unless foreign purchasers of the nuts crack down on smuggling practices.

Why do Ivorian cashew farmers smuggle cashews? Farmers are often unable to find desirable export prices on raw, unprocessed cashews, and instead sell to neighboring Ghana. Cashews are usually smuggled alongside cocoa, cotton, and coffee on an elaborate smuggling route through the northern and southern borders.

The export loss is staggering. The U.N. estimated that in 2011 alone Côte d’Ivoire lost US $130 million from its national economy and $3 million in fiscal revenue. The U.N. Panel asserted that the money gained from smuggling practices may be used by groups to purchase weaponry illegally, and stated that it was aware that the smuggling of cocoa to Ghana was in a number of cases escorted directly by Ivorian military forces.

Economists pinpoint the reason for low export prices as the low processing capacity for the six main nut processing factories. Less than one percent of the country’s cashews are processed, meaning shelled and sometimes roasted, in-country. Raw cashews net a lower market price. When farmers are unable to legally export their crop for the price they want, they turn to buyers in Ghana. Ultimately, this practice widens the funding gap for Ivorian infrastructure and development projects, growing obstacles to a more stable economy. Ultimately, for this country plagued with political instability and an unstable economy, the revenue created by legal cashew exports could help the country address its biggest challenges.

– Naomi Doraisamy

Source: African Development Bank Group, IRIN News, IRIN News
Photo: Jerry’s Nut House

Poverty and Overpopulation

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Early this year the 7 billionth baby was born on Earth, thereby sparking a new round of discussion about the need to implement measures to control population growth.

Developing countries have the highest fertility rates worldwide, with women often having 6-7 children. Bill Gates noted that areas with the highest reproductive rates also have the worst health conditions. Thus, he explains, in order to guarantee that they have 2 children survive into adulthood, women in areas with poor health conditions have more children since only 80-90% of their babies will make it to school age.

The answer to the population problem, Gates says, is to improve global health. If health demographics improve because of better access to vaccines, healthcare, affordable drugs, and hospitals, more children will reach school age. Thus, families will not need to have as many children in order to ensure that some of them survive and, with the institution of family planning programs, fertility rates will drop.

However, in between the improvement in global health and the reduction in fertility rates there is a “demographic transition” in the population. With better health, more children will survive and live longer. However, before women start utilizing family planning programs, there is a sort of ‘lag time’ where both birth and survival rates are high. Thus there forms a bulge in the population that does not decrease until women stop having as many children. This means that even after there are improvements in global health, population may increase before it begins to steadily decline as a result direct result of lower fertility rates.

Hans Rosling says that in order to create a sustainable population for the future, there must be improvements in global health today that ensure that 90% of children everywhere in the world make it to their 5th birthday. Not implementing these measures today could mean the difference between 8.3 billion people and 9.3 billion people living on Earth in the near future.

– KC Harris

Source: The Borgen Project Slate TED
Source: A Matter of Instinct

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Japan’s Foreign Aid Efforts in Africa

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In the past, Japan has mostly focused its foreign aid budget on areas in East Asia and Southeast Asia. However, this trend is changing as the country has turned its attention to Africa. Japan altered its foreign assistance policies after creating the Tokyo International Conference on African Development in 1993 and slowly began to increase aid to the region.

Japan’s foreign assistance to Africa has now reached an annual contribution of $400 million in “technical cooperation” and $800 million in “concessionary loans,” an amount that accounts for 40% of Japan’s total aid budget.

The concessionary loans are given for African countries to improve their infrastructure by building new ports, railways and other power stations. Japan also emphasizes health and education. The recipient countries must build schools, vocational school and teacher training programs as well as new hospitals with the grant money.

These grants and loan vary between countries. Many South African countries are ineligible, but those that do meet Japan’s criteria are giving aid based on individual needs and circumstances. Some countries struggle more agriculturally, while others may need advanced assistance in infrastructure, health or education sectors.

The recipient African countries are given concessionary loans at interest rates as low as 0.1% and have a ten year grace period followed by a 40-year time frame to re-pay the loans. The concessionary loans are mainly offered for large, high budget projects while the grants are given for smaller development projects.

So far, Japan’s foreign aid money has trained 800,000 math and science teachers as well as 220,000 healthcare workers in Africa. Japanese companies located in Africa have created about 150,000 jobs for local people. These numbers will continue to increase as Japan sends more money to the region. Japan’s foreign aid budget for Africa has doubled in the past five years, reaching $1.8 billion annually. By focusing on “development, energy production, good governance and human security,” Japan hopes to turn Africa into a flourishing trade partner while improving the lives of thousands of people.

– Mary Penn

Source: Engineering News
Photo: Bloomberg

Launch of “Feed the Future North” Project in Haiti

Feed the Future North Project in Haiti
USAID has just launched a five year $88 million project dubbed “Feed the Future North” that is anticipated to increase the incomes of over 40,000 farming households in northern Haiti.

In a country where over 80 percent of the population is living under the poverty line, and 60 percent are farmers, the agricultural sector is key to developing the Haitian economy. Agricultural production makes up 25 percent of the country’s GDP, but especially after the tragic earthquake in 2010, farmers are having trouble maintaining sustainable farming practices.

Over the last three decades, flooding of farmlands in Haiti has increased, and water supplies have become scarcer, making it harder to produce crops. Even with the majority of people working in agriculture, Haiti still has to import more than 50 percent of its food.

USAID specifically plans for the project to increase the production of beans, rice, corn, cocoa and plantains, which are all key agricultural products for Haiti. It will help farmers do this by providing support in erosion protection and agricultural infrastructure, expanding financial services to local farming companies, stabilizing watersheds that support farmland, and improving roads that lead to quality farmlands that are difficult to maintain due to their inaccessibility.

Feed the Future North also plans to use new innovative approaches to increase agricultural production and incomes. These include plans for cellphones to make it easier for farmers to receive new information on farming practices, and to implement mobile money, which makes it easier for farmers to manage their transactions through a mobile device instead of with cash or credit cards.

But even with these innovative plans, it is still difficult to create long term, sustainable change in just 5 years. That’s why the project is projected to fund an additional $40 million beyond the original $88 million budget for contracts with local partner companies to continue the project’s work in the years following the project’s completion.

This is not the first of USAID’s “Feed the Future” projects in Haiti. The Feed the Future West project began in 2009, and has helped more than 30,000 farmers improve their seeds and fertilizer, and implement new agricultural technologies. As a result, participating farmers were able to increase their gross incomes from $200 per hectare to more than $1,100 per hectare.

– Emma McKay

Source: CIA World Factbook, USAID, USAID Feed the Future West
Photo: Save the Children

Climate Change in Ethiopia

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Ali Hamandu, a pastoralist in the Afar Region of Ethiopia, knows all too well the destruction a drought can bring. In the past five years of incredible drought in Ethiopia he has lost all of his livestock.

“I was previously a respected figure in my community for my wealth, having nearly a hundred heads of animals, including sheep, goats and cattle. All of a sudden I have nothing,” he explains. He now relies on food aid to support himself and his family.

Almost 14% of Ethiopia is made up of pastoralist communities. However, over the past five years of drought there has been a decline in the number of those who live as pastoralists due to climate change in Ethiopia. Many pastoralists have moved to urban life hoping to find jobs to provide food and water. Because pastoral life is so dependent on weather it is important to find solutions so pastoralists can continue their livelihood even with a changing climate.

The U.N. has been addressing this problem in Ethiopia by using money from the MDG-Fund to promote climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies into the government’s development plans, and policies. The “Enabling Pastoral Communities to Adapt to Climate Change and Restoring Rangeland Environments” is a UN joint program between the UNDP, FAO, and UNEP, has developed water facilities and activities that have helped 32,000 pastoralists in different regions of Ethiopia.

One of these activities is a program called “Jeldi Livestock Marketing Cooperative”, which Ali is now a member of. The Jeldi Cooperative is made up of 172 heads of households, many of whom are women. One of the main activities of the Jeldi Cooperative is buying sheep at low costs and fattening them up to be resold at a better price. Even though the Jeldi Cooperative is only a year old, it is making a profit for its members. It is one of three cooperatives in the area, and one of many in the entire country. Programs like this are what will help Ethiopians overcome climate change.

– Catherine Ulrich

Sources: AllAfrica, UNDP
Photo: UNDP