Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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The Vulnerabilities of Afro-Colombian Women

Afro-Colombian WomenAs a marginalized group, Afro-Colombian women are more vulnerable to experiencing racism, discrimination, violence and poverty. For decades, these issues have led to the disempowerment and marginalization of these women. Afro-Colombian women are especially vulnerable to experiencing human rights violations, particularly sexual violence, due to multiple forms of discrimination based on their race, gender and low social ranking. Government estimates indicate that “72% of the Afro-Colombian population is in the country’s two lowest socio-economic strata.”

Poverty and Inequalities Impacting Afro-Colombian Women

According to a 2020 report issued by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Afro-Colombians, in general, inordinately lack access to food, health care, education, economic opportunities and other resources necessary to escape poverty and live an improved quality of life. Factors including civil armed conflict and gender inequality have compounded with racism to exacerbate the injustices that Afro-Colombian women, specifically, face.

Between 1958 and 2015, Colombia’s ongoing conflict internally displaced more than 5.8 million people, with women accounting for about 58% of these displacements. Women, in general, not only face higher risks of displacement and poverty but also of abuse and exploitation. These risks increase among Afro-Colombian women and women belonging to other marginalized groups.

Colombia is one of the most monetarily unequal countries in the world and 19.6 million people in Colombia (about 39% of the population) lived in poverty at $6.85 or less per day in 2021. While the overall rate of poverty in Colombia has fluctuated throughout the years and the country has noted poverty declines, marginalized groups did not experience this relief and some faced an increase in poverty. Rural populations, which consist of many Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities, had an increase in poverty from 2020 to 2021 (42.9% to 44.6%) while an estimated 1.4 million people “working in urban services and commerce” rose out of poverty in 2021 due to Colombia’s economic recovery.

In 2015, approximately 41% of the Afro-Colombian population lived in poverty in comparison to 27% of non-Afro-Colombian or non-Indigenous Colombians.

Lack of Access to Resources and Services

Certain factors, such as gender and racial discrimination, contribute to a greater risk of poverty among Afro-Colombians and exacerbate existing conditions of poverty. The racism that Afro-Colombian women face impacts every aspect of their lives and keeps them from accessing resources that would place them in positions of economic and social advancement. Research shows that nations can raise their GDP by US$2.1 trillion annually by dissolving racial income gaps.

When speaking with the United Nations Rapporteur in 2001, groups of Afro-Colombian women stated that they had little access to many basic resources, such as work and income, as a result of racism.

“Groups of women in Quibdó, where 85% of the population is Afro-descendent, indicated that most of the population lives in extreme poverty. Quibdó is the locality with the least water supply coverage in the country, 81% of homes have no sewage, illiteracy is up to 19% and maternal mortality rates are high,” according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

This lack of accessibility that is caused by internal national racism leads to the perpetual disenfranchisement of this community and causes them to live in the most impoverished cities. For example, the Choco region of Colombia is the most impoverished area of the country and approximately 85% of its population is Afro-Colombian.

Indigenous Peoples and Afro-Colombian Empowerment Activity (IPACE)

Several organizations and activist movements work toward empowering and helping Afro-Colombian communities. Among these is the United States Agency for International Development through its most recent plan: Indigenous Peoples and Afro-Colombian Empowerment Activity (IPACE).

Beginning in 2011, USAID has worked closely with Colombia’s Afro-Colombian population to promote inclusion and empowerment. In December 2021, USAID implemented IPACE, which is a $60 million initiative that connects with locally-led organizations to further their goals and elevate their voices on the national scale. IPACE’s mission is to help implement and uphold the 2016 Peace Accord in Colombia, specifically focusing on peacebuilding and inclusivity.

IPACE also aims to sustainably help economic development by providing training and job placements, risk management through emergency preparedness and services and diversity and inclusion support through acknowledging ancestral practices and building awareness of cultural differences. What sets IPACE apart from other initiatives is the commitment to a locally-led approach through an alliance of 10 partner organizations, all of which are either indigenous or Afro-Colombian. These organizations help IPACE lead and make decisions that are in the best interest of these populations.

Looking Ahead

Afro-Colombian women face multiple vulnerabilities as a result of marginalization and discrimination, which keeps them stuck in the depths of impoverishment. The intersection of racism, poverty and violence creates a cycle of inequality that the government and organizations must address at the root. Fortunately, organizations such as USAID and other locally-led groups are committed to changing the narrative and upholding the rights of Afro-Colombian women.

– Kellyjohana Ahumada
Photo: Unsplash

Fighting Period Poverty in Colombia 

Period Poverty in ColombiaAround 500 million women and girls worldwide face period poverty, where the lack of access to menstrual products due to financial constraints and inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities is a common issue, hindering girls and young women from attending school.

Colombia, a South American country, is making strides toward addressing period poverty. In 2018, it became the “first country in the region to eliminate the tax on tampons and menstrual towels.” International organizations such as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) are working to combat period poverty in Colombia by providing education and financial aid for menstrual products.

Period Poverty in Colombia

Menstruation, a normal bodily function for half the world’s population, is still considered a taboo topic in many conservative societies. As a result, young people often lack access to proper education regarding period health and management. According to a survey by UNICEF, 34.8% of girls in rural Colombia had no prior knowledge of menstruation before experiencing it.

Financial constraints reportedly prevented more than 683,000 women in Colombia from accessing menstrual products, according to a 2021 report by El Pais. On average, towels and tampons cost Colombian women 180,000 pesos or $45, which accounts for a fifth of the country’s minimum wage. The report also revealed that 312,000 Colombians struggle to access clean and private toilets, further complicating the challenges of managing menstrual health and hygiene.

Period poverty poses challenges beyond economic, health and hygiene issues. According to the World Bank, in “developing countries, two of five girls who have reached menstruation age miss an average of five school days per month due to a lack of access to necessary facilities.” Unfortunately, this can lead to widening the gender gaps in the affected communities by slowing educational progress for girls.

In recent years, there has been a rise in open discussions regarding menstrual health and education, exemplified by the passing of the 2018 bill that eliminated the tax on period products. This move towards greater affordability of such products is a step towards ending period poverty in Colombia.

SRH Efforts

Since 1974, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has been operating in Colombia, where it has helped local governments manage reproductive health and gender equity issues. In 2020, the UNFPA provided Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services to 4,473 women of reproductive age. Additionally, the organization distributed dignity kits to approximately 1,200 women, offering essential menstrual products at no cost. In 2021, it spent $2,449,976 solely on SRH services. Moreover, it has been assisting national women’s organizations in advocating for women’s rights concerning SRH.

There has been a surge of national organizations fighting period poverty in Colombia. One such organization is Princesas Menstruantes, based in Medellin. It aims to transform the conversation around menstruation by providing workshops and education to young girls. The group has become a prominent player in Colombia’s political landscape, facilitating research and discussions on menstrual health. Through donations, the organization is expanding beyond Medellin to reach rural and urban areas. In 2019, Princesas Menstruantes reached 3,532 people, including men who were included in the dialogue.

Moving Forward

The issue of period poverty continues to gain attention in international conversations, thereby altering the political landscape for good. Organizations tackling the issue are pushing for a world where girls and women have access to menstrual products and as a result, pursue educational and career success without limitations. And with more Latin American countries like Colombia taking action against period poverty, the world continues moving closer in that direction.

– Eva Cairns O’Donovan
Photo: Flickr

Open Defecation in Sub-Saharan Africa

Open Defecation in Sub-Saharan AfricaThe United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 6 calls for the elimination of open defecation practices by 2030, and sub-Saharan Africa remains the greatest challenge in achieving this objective. With this goal in mind, concerted global efforts are being made to ensure success.

Open Defecation

According to the U.N., open defecation is the practice of excreting in an open space such as a field, river, or street, rather than using a toilet. The U.N. also reports that in 2017, despite open defecation rates nearly halving since the turn of the century, around 670 million people still practiced open defecation.

Two main issues surround the practice. Firstly, open defecation leads to the spread of diarrheal diseases, through the contamination of drinking water and crops. Diarrheal diseases are the leading global cause of child deaths, leading to around 800 children under the age of 5 dying each day.

Secondly, the practice leads to an increased risk of sexual violence against women. In 2016, UNICEF estimated that 50% of rapes that took place in India happened whilst women were defecating in the open.

Successes in India

India has been the focus of efforts to end open defecation for many years, due to the proportion of the large population that were practicing it. Between 2000 and 2017, the number of people practicing open defecation in India fell by 55%. While many question the government’s claim that India became “open-defecation-free” in 2019, there have undoubtedly been huge successes in reducing the rates of this practice across the country.

Global support and government funding under Prime Minister Narendra Modi led to a rapid and widespread rollout of toilets across India. Modi’s “Clean India” campaign began in 2014 and led to the building of 110 million toilets; one initiative led by LIXIL built 47,000 toilets each day.

Despite the successful roll-out of toilets across India, open defecation remains a common practice. Many researchers put this down to cultural barriers; rather than being the result of a lack of toilet, open defecation is most commonly an “ingrained cultural norm,” according to the U.N. Consequently, any long-term solution requires a focus on community perception and behavior alongside the construction and maintenance of proper toilets and sanitation services.

A 2020 study highlighted the successes of a community-based information campaign in Uttar Pradesh, India, aimed at rebranding the use of toilets and instilling new beliefs around the importance of sanitation. The social beliefs that are behind the persistent open defecation in India are twofold: beliefs that no one in the community uses toilets, and beliefs about rituals of purity and cleanliness. By directly tackling these social beliefs, the information campaign saw an increase of 11% in toilet use in villages across Uttar Pradesh.

Applying These Lessons in Africa

Open defecation in sub-Saharan Africa has become an increasingly significant focus in global health efforts. Based on the most recent data available, nine of the 10 countries with the highest percentage of the population practicing open defecation were in sub-Saharan Africa.

Furthermore, between 2015 and 2018, most of the countries with the highest proportion of the population exposed to community open defecation and its impacts were found in Africa, reaching a high of around 90% of the population in Benin and Ethiopia.

As in India, many of the reasons for open defecation in sub-Saharan African nations surround socio-cultural beliefs and values. Therefore, the successes and limitations of the approach taken in India have the potential to inform more effective practices across this region.

In Niger, 68% of the population was practicing open defecating as of 2020, according to the World Bank and only 13% of the population had access to basic sanitation services such as a toilet. Therefore a rapid and widespread roll-out of these sanitation services, as seen in India, has the potential to drastically change open defecation rates in Niger.

Practical and Cultural Approach

There are some examples of practical and cultural approaches to reducing open defecation rates. Between 2017 and 2018, UNICEF partnered with the Government of Niger to develop a plan to end open defecation by 2030. In 2020, the Bagaroua commune became the first Open-Defecation-Free community in Niger. The community chief put the success down to the roll-out of toilets in the region, which saw access to latrines increase from 10.3% to 100%, as well as the “sensitization” program which promoted behavior change. As a result of the work done by UNICEF and the Government of Niger, many parents in the Bagaroua commune reported that they realized the need to change their behaviors to keep their children safe.

Armed with lessons from India and other countries paired with a practical roll-out of sanitation facilities with a culturally-sensitive education initiative, the international community could more effectively work towards ending open defecation in sub-Saharan Africa.
– Polly Walton
Photo: Flickr

 

State of Health care in Vietnam

Health care in VietnamVietnam’s public health system has faced significant challenges in recent years, from diseases including tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and COVID-19. With the help of organizations including USAID and the CDC, however, Vietnam has also achieved a great deal of success in addressing these issues. Here are some important things to know about health care in Vietnam, and how foreign aid programs have contributed to its development.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

The CDC’s partnership with the Vietnamese government celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2023. Since 1998, the CDC has supported Vietnam in establishing programs to improve the treatment of diseases including TB, HIV and influenza. The number of HIV sentinel surveillance sites, for instance, which help Vietnam detect and monitor patterns of infection have doubled since 2003. Furthermore, a clinical trial for a new TB treatment conducted by the CDC in Vietnam reduced the length of treatment from six months to only four; it was the first new treatment regimen, in any country, for the disease in three decades. The CDC has also aided in the creation of five emergency operations centers to support the country’s health care system in times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The World Bank

In 2013, the World Bank funded a $126 million project to protect and improve the public hospital system in 13 provinces in North Vietnam. The North East and Red River Delta Regional Health System Support Project aimed to solve the overcrowding problem that many Vietnamese hospitals were experiencing. It was a success — nearly half of the 74 hospitals included in the program were awarded the Vietnamese Ministry of Health’s upper hospital classification, and patient satisfaction rates experienced a marked increase, reaching 88.5% at the district level. Almost 5,000 local doctors received training from Vietnam’s top medical specialists, learning around 3,000 new techniques to use in their own communities.

USAID

In an effort to ensure an effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic, USAID provided Vietnam with $12 million in aid in 2020. This included $4.7 million in funding for laboratory systems, public health screenings, infection prevention in health care settings and 100 ventilators. USAID also provided $5 million in support of the country’s economic recovery.

Other programs financed by USAID that support health care in Vietnam include Erase TB. This initiative has improved the country’s ability to detect and treat tuberculosis, contributing to a decline in cases of the disease in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Additionally, USAID’s Local Assistance to Develop and Deliver Excellence, Resilience and Sustainability in Vietnam (LADDERS) program helps high-risk people living with HIV, often living in remote areas, to access testing and treatment services.

The World Health Organization (WHO)

The WHO has supported Vietnam with the goals set out at the ninth Global Conference on Health Promotion, held in 2016. These are:

  • Good governance – promotes an approach in which health care is central to government policy and policies that protect citizens’ health and wellbeing are prioritized
  • Health literacy – ensures that citizens have the information they need to make healthy choices and to access health care.
  • Healthy cities – reinforces the need for high-quality health care services and planning at the local level, to improve the state of the country’s overall health care system.

Vietnam’s 1,332 hospitals, alongside its community services and laboratories, have significantly improved patient access to higher quality health care in recent decades. The work done, and aid given, from both American and global organizations has been vital to this record of success and continues to help Vietnam improve the standard of care that its citizens receive. Health care in Vietnam is more effective thanks to the enduring partnerships established between these organizations and the Vietnamese government.

– Martha Probert
Photo: Flickr

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LDC5 Conference Brings Support for the Least Developed Countries

Least Developed Countries
The fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) took place in Doha, Qatar from March 5 to March 9, 2023. It was an amalgamation of political leaders, the business sector, civic organizations and youth. The conference’s main aim was to build a framework of support for the current 46 least developed countries in the world through the Doha Programme of Action (DPoA). Between 2022 and 2031, DPoA will aid LDCs in six key areas, driving investment and innovation in these countries and hopefully leading to their graduation from the LDC status.

LDC Classification

LDC or a least developed country is a U.N. classification of an impoverished country bereft of economic and human resources. The Committee for Development Policy meets every three years to review the LDCs and their inclusion and graduation criteria. These criteria are based on a country’s gross national income, human assets and economic and environmental vulnerability.

There are currently 46 countries on the LDC list, most of which are in Africa. Asia also has a significant number of LDCs. The U.N. put the first group of countries (25 nations) in this category in 1971. Today, the number has risen to 46 countries. However, since 1994, six countries have graduated from the LDC list and seven more are on the path to graduation by 2026, with Bhutan next in line.

Challenges LDCs Face

The combined population of all the world’s least developed countries is 1.1 billion. According to the U.N., “more than 75% of those people still live in poverty.” Due to low economic and human resources, LDCs are more vulnerable to deprivation. Many of the current LDCs are indebted. The U.N. states that out of the 46 countries, “four are classified as in debt distress” and “16 LDCs are at high risk of debt distress.”

The U.N. states that in 2019 “almost half of the children out of school worldwide” lived in LDCs. This shows that children in these countries have a higher chance of growing up without proper education, leaving them more vulnerable to economic instability. Poor enrollment and completion rates along with low education budgets in LDCs leave much to be desired. “Clearly, the education systems in the LDCs require significant development to equip their young people with the skills they need for the future,” said Rabab Fatima, secretary-general of the LDC5 at the conference.

LDCs face a multitude of challenges including “limited fiscal space, high external debt, macroeconomic imbalances, widespread poverty and underdeveloped or no social protection systems,” U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed stated at the LDC5 conference.

LDC5 and DPoA

The LDC5 conference is the U.N.’s effort at uniting people that can make a difference in order to build a strategy for driving positive change in LDCs. This was the fifth such decennial conference, with the first taking place in Paris in 1981. The LDC5 conference hosted 9,000 people, including 46 heads of state and comprised many events and discussions.

The main focus of LDC5, however, was the DPoA. It “manifests a new generation of renewed and strengthened commitments between the least developed countries and their development partners, including the private sector, civil society and the governments at all levels,” the U.N. says. The DPoA provides a framework and guiding principles for LDCs to improve their socioeconomic standing and graduate from the category.

There are six key areas of focus in DPoA, including increased investment in human assets, driving technological advancements and increasing trade. In particular, the DPoA promises “an online university, a graduation support package, a food stock holding solution, an investment support center and a crisis mitigation and resilience building mechanism,” the U.N. reports.

Agrifood Systems Transformation Accelerator (ASTA)

The U.N. Industrial Development Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched the Agrifood Systems Transformation Accelerator (ASTA) at LDC5. ASTA aims to revitalize agricultural food production in LDCs by combining investment from the public and private sectors as one of its methods. ASTA had been successfully operating as a pilot scheme in 15 countries since 2018. It predicts more than $300 million in investment from the private sector in the future.

Many countries officially announced support packages at the conference. According to the U.N., Germany pledged €200 million to support LDCs. Qatar pledged $60 million while Canada dedicated $59 million toward ecosystem conservation and delivering vitamin supplements in LDCs.

With a blueprint ready, LDCs have way ahead of making socioeconomic progress and graduating from the category. The LDC5 conference proved that the world is full of people who are committed to improving the situation in these 46 countries and beyond. The U.N. General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi said, “Through science, technology and innovation, we have the tools to build sustainable recoveries.”

– Siddhant Bhatnagar
Photo: Flickr

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How Tackling SDG1 and SDG5 Simultaneously Can Eradicate Poverty

SDG1 and SDG5In 2015, the leaders of 191 United Nations (U.N.) member states came together to develop the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of 17 global objectives that aim to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure peace and prosperity for all by 2030. Among these goals, SDG1 and SDG5 are particularly interrelated and mutually reinforcing. SDG1 focuses on eradicating extreme poverty and reducing inequality, while SDG5 promotes gender equality and women’s empowerment. According to the U.N., by tackling these two goals simultaneously, the world can achieve a more inclusive and sustainable development that benefits everyone, especially the most vulnerable and marginalized groups.

Patterns of Progress 

According to the U.N., global poverty has vastly decreased since the 1990s, with 44% of the population living below the poverty line in 1991 compared to 15% in 2016. However, the pandemic significantly reversed this progress, increasing global poverty by 9% between 2019 and 2020.

The progress of SDG5 mirrors this pattern. The U.N. reports that since 2000, there has also been a vast improvement globally regarding gender equality. For instance, women’s role and representation in parliament have increased from 9.1 % in 2000 to 20.9% in 2020. However, much like with SDG1, the pandemic significantly pushed progress backward. 

To achieve SDG1, U.N. Women emphasizes the importance of working toward a future free of gender inequalities and inequities. Ending poverty “in all its forms everywhere”, requires countries to make efforts towards reaching SDG1 and SDG5 simultaneously.

Country Insight: Bangladesh

According to the World Bank, Bangladesh is a developing country. One of the fastest-growing economies in the world, Bangladesh aims to become an upper-middle-income country by 2031. Regarding SDG1 and SDG5, Bangladesh has “significant challenges” along the way. Whilst encouraging progress has been made to eradicate poverty in the country, progress on achieving gender equality is slower. To achieve SDG1, Bangladesh must improve its score for SDG5. There were 1627 rapes reported throughout the country in 2020 alone, though it is widely known that many instances of assault go unreported.

Links Between SDGs in Bangladesh

Reports suggest that one of the ways that SDG1 and SDG5 can work hand in hand is through the introduction of women into an equitable and inclusive workplace. However, in the context of employment in Bangladesh, there are many instances of gender-based violence in the workplace. For instance, a report detailing the experiences of women working in the Ready-Made Garments sector in Bangladesh reveals that it is an industry rife with “sexual harassment, pay inequity and improper benefits”. Links between poverty reduction and equal opportunities for women are widespread in the literature, and women in Bangladesh have the opportunity to work. This highlights a need for the country to focus on women’s equality of voice and equality under the law.

Looking Ahead

In striving to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the interlinkage between SDG1 and SDG5 is crucial, as emphasized by the United Nations. While progress has been made globally in reducing poverty and promoting gender equality, the COVID-19 pandemic has posed significant setbacks. Bangladesh, a developing country, faces challenges in achieving both goals, with the need to address issues of gender-based violence and empower women in the workplace. Overall, acknowledging how SDG1 and SDG5 synergize could open up the path to a more sustainable and inclusive future.

–        Eloïse Jones

 

Photo: flickr

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How the Arsenal Football Club is Fighting Poverty

Football Club is Fighting Poverty
Arsenal Football Club is currently top of the Premier League, leading English football in points and the number of wins. Perhaps a more important way Arsenal is leading the Premier League is through its contribution to children’s livelihoods in developing nations through Arsenal Foundations’ partnership with Save the Children. Here is how the Arsenal Football Club is fighting poverty.

How The Arsenal Foundation is Fighting Poverty with Save the Children

Despite having a modest budget compared to other football clubs’ charities, Arsenal spends most of its budget working in developing nations. Specifically, the Arsenal Foundation and Save the Children, a U.K based charity, formed a global partnership in 2011 and have raised more than 3.7 million pounds for Save the Children. The Arsenal Foundation gives year-round support to Save the Children through their shared mission of fighting child poverty, keeping children safe and providing children with a future. This includes providing funding for programs that provide education, food and medicine to children.

Responding to Local and Global Needs

The Arsenal Foundation is efficient and effective at responding to global crises and supporting the global community via Save the Children’s emergency work. Examples are donating in the immediate aftermath of the Ebola Outbreak, the Philippines Typhoon, the Nepal Earthquake, the East Africa Food crisis and the Turkey-Syria Earthquake.

The Arsenal Foundation also engages its north London community, through its support of sports, social and educational programs for young people. The Foundation provides money, time and hard work from the Foundation supporting the local community every day.

Coaching for Life Program

In partnership with Save the Children, in 2018, the Foundation developed the “Coaching for Life Program” a football education program for boys and girls based in the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan and poor children in Jakarta, Indonesia. The program aims to improve children’s mental well-being by teaching innovative coaching techniques to help them build courage and inner strength in some of the most difficult circumstances on the planet.

The Jakarta program has been particularly successful in addressing gender issues in Indonesia, as footballer Leah Williamson’s visit in 2022 highlighted. Poor, young women in Indonesia have to work to support families and are also at a high risk of child marriage. Too many girls in Indonesia miss out on a proper education. Girls from the wealthiest backgrounds in Indonesia are five times more likely to finish secondary school than the poorest, limiting their future potential. The Coaching for Life Program is providing the opportunity to change that outcome.

The Jordan program is particularly unique among international football coaching schemes because it is based in the Za’atari refugee camp near the northern border with Syria. Za’atari opened in 2012 shortly after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war and is the largest camp for Syrian refugees. The U.N. estimated in 2018 that there were nearly eighty thousand refugees in the camp, with nearly 20% of the population under five. The program helps refugee children by giving them a sense of purpose and belief in a community where only 20% of the adult population gains work from the Jordanian government. Prospects for these children are limited, so Coaching for Life uses football to build a sense of belonging and fun to improve their emotional, physical and mental well-being. The interviews and stories from on the ground show how the Arsenal Football Club is fighting poverty.

– John Cordner
Photo: Flickr

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Mitigating Bird Flu Outbreaks in the Americas

Bird Flu Outbreaks
In light of recent outbreaks of avian influenza, or bird flu, in the Americas, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) held a meeting in Rio de Janeiro on March 16, 2023. Organized by PAHO’s Health Emergency Department and the Pan American Center for Foot and Mouth Disease (PANAFTOSA), the meeting gathered health experts from the Americas. They discussed strategies for halting the spread of the disease, which poses great health and economic risks to those dependent upon poultry.

Bird Flu

Bird flu occurs due to a virus of the Orthomyxoviridae family. Although the disease mainly spreads among birds, it can be transmitted to humans through contact with infected animals or contaminated feces. According to PAHO, risk factors include “handling infected poultry carcasses, and preparing poultry for consumption, especially in domestic settings.” Depending upon the severity of the infection, bird flu’s effects on humans can range from mild or asymptomatic to lethal.

Re-emergence

In the recent past, several strains of the virus have spread across the globe. In the last decade alone, Southeast Asia and West Africa saw the disease spread widely, resulting in substantial losses of livestock and income. With more recent outbreaks of a highly pathogenic A(H5) variant in 10 countries of the Americas, PAHO circulated an epidemiological alert on 11 January. By March, the disease had spread to 14 countries across the region, with the first human case reported in Ecuador.

Bird Flu and Poverty

Bird flu can have a detrimental impact on those living in poverty. A research study funded by the U.K. Department for International Development, which explored the relationship between poultry and poverty in Vietnam, found that “poultry is in fact very much a livestock asset of the poor.” In Vietnam, as in other countries, much of the rural population depends upon poultry for sustenance and income. According to the study, poultry is both “an important source of protein” and “an investment” that “yields extremely high returns.”

Bird flu can therefore be devastating for small-scale poultry farmers. They face, not only a higher risk of infection and transmission but also lack the resources needed to prevent and treat infections among their livestock. A report by the World Bank shows that the spread of bird flu could disproportionately impact low- and middle-income countries. The report estimates that if 12% of domestic birds died from bird flu worldwide, low- and middle-income countries would see a GDP reduction of 0.4%, even though global GDP would shrink by just 0.1%. The spread of bird flu would particularly affect Latin America and the Caribbean, causing a cumulative GDP reduction of 0.7%.

Solutions

With attendees from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and the United States, the PAHO-hosted meeting in Rio de Janeiro provided an opportunity to collaborate to protect the region’s most vulnerable. Dr. Manuel Sánchez Vázquez, a Veterinary Epidemiology Advisor at PANAFTOSA, said, “it is crucial that public and animal health sectors carry out joint risk analyses to establish mitigation strategies.” There were several recommendations for reducing the risk of regional bird flu transmission. These included increasing monitoring and surveillance; enforcing proper hygiene standards; and creating “national technical commissions for information exchange and analysis between ministries of health, agriculture and environment.”

PAHO regularly organizes such meetings to strategize plans for responding to zoonotic diseases. The Ministerial Level Inter-American Meeting on Health and Agriculture, for instance, provides an ongoing regional forum to discuss threats such as the bird flu and collaborate in prevention and response planning.

The WHO’s Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) also supports global influenza surveillance and mitigation. With institutions in 125 WHO member states, GISRS provides guidelines, alerts and monitoring mechanisms to ensure a high level of global readiness to respond to threats of influenza.

The WHO also works to ensure that the most vulnerable are protected in times of need. It has secured 10% of the global supply of pandemic flu vaccines for low- and middle-income countries. It is negotiating with manufacturers to secure 20% of the global supply of vaccines for other types of pandemics.

Bird flu is a virus that can be lethal to humans and animals alike. While the threat of bird flu is real, there are proactive measures and cooperative efforts that can be taken to mitigate its effects. With the right strategies in place, more lives and livelihoods can be saved from this potentially deadly virus.

– Siddhant Bhatnagar
Photo: Flickr

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Poverty Reduction in Zimbabwe

Poverty Reduction in Zimbabwe
Extreme poverty in Zimbabwe has gotten worse over the last decade due to agricultural industry failures and changing weather patterns. Still, the government’s strategy of Pfumvudza, introduced in 2020, is helping poverty reduction in Zimbabwe. When set against a background of progress in non-income poverty metrics, indicators show Zimbabwe should progress in the battle against extreme poverty over the next decade.

Agricultural Industry Failures

Due to heavy investment in agriculture during the Mugabe administration, up to two-thirds of Zimbabweans worked in agriculture and many Zimbabweans relied directly on the domestic agriculture industry for food security. Incomes from the agriculture industry are the lowest in the country due to low productivity and changing weather patterns causing long droughts, which have increased in frequency and intensity over the last 20 years. For example, “maize production in 2019 was only 36% of its 2017 level.” These two key factors have resulted in plummeting agricultural output and, therefore, losses in income for two-thirds of Zimbabwe’s workers.

The failing agricultural industry has pushed more Zimbabweans into extreme poverty. The U.N. defines extreme poverty as living on less than $1.90 per day, a rate that has increased in Zimbabwe from 21.4% in 2011 to 39.5% in 2021. This is deeply concerning as the extreme poverty rate for the whole of sub-Saharan Africa stood at 45.8% in 2011 and 39.7% in 2021, according to the World Bank.

Battling Extreme Poverty

The Zimbabwean government has attempted to battle the rise in extreme poverty linked to the agricultural sector by boosting agricultural productivity and reducing climate challenges in farming. To do this, it introduced a program called Pfumvudza, a name derived from the Zimbabwean phrase meaning “the blooming of new leaves during the farming season.”

Pfumvudza is a form of conservation agriculture focused on crop rotation, mulching and minimum tillage, which increased crop yields in areas where it was tried. Before the implementation of Pfumvudza in specific areas, about 92% of households relied on food aid from NGOs and the U.N. In the same areas, after the implementation, this rate fell to 43%.

By improving agricultural output, Pfumvudza helps poverty reduction in Zimbabwe, improving work conditions and pay for workers in the agricultural industry and food security for the whole country. The government has expanded the Pfumvudza scheme to 4.6 million plots in the 2022/23 season. This indicates that Zimbabwe’s extreme poverty rate could fall as the agricultural sector develops under the Pfumvudza strategy.

Progress in Non-Income Dimensions of Poverty

Unlike monetary measurements of poverty, Zimbabwe has performed well on the non-income dimensions of poverty. Infant mortality, maternal mortality and life expectancy rates have all improved significantly over the last decade and at a higher rate than the average for sub-Saharan African countries. Infant mortality decreased from 57 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2007 to 36 in 2021. Zimbabwe saw 579 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2000, which reduced to 458 in 2017. Furthermore, life expectancy rose from 45 in 2000 to 61 in 2020.

Education provision quality and quantity have boomed over the 2010s, with spending on primary and secondary education quadrupling between 2009 and 2014. More than 90% of adults are literate and more than 90% of boys and girls finish primary school, according to a World Bank report. Education provision is key to poverty reduction in Zimbabwe because it allows individuals to improve their economic circumstances, so this increase in education provision could lead to poverty reduction in Zimbabwe in the long run.

With continued efforts to reduce conditions of poverty, Zimbabwe will see further progress and improvements on quality of life indicators.

– John Cordner
Photo: Flickr

Uber for Tractors: Transforming the Agricultural Sector in Africa

Agricultural Sector in Africa
Within sub-Saharan Africa, about 220 million smallholder farmers live on $2 per day. As a result of a lack of financing, farmers do not have access to mechanization tools that increase productivity across the agricultural sector in Africa. The majority of the poor earn their source of income on farms and 80% of households in sub-Saharan Africa rely on agriculture to live.

Inadequate Mechanization in the Agriculture Sector in Africa

Since farmers lack the utilities to cultivate their land fully and efficiently, they lose out on potential yields and profit, which detrimentally impacts Africa’s agricultural sector. In fact, about half of Africa’s yield gap arises from a lack of agricultural equipment.

“Less than 1% of commercial lending goes to agriculture in Africa – conveying that this sector is grossly under-invested despite the crucial role that it plays in the long-term development of most African countries,” Hello Tractor says. Reasons include hefty requirements that smallholders simply cannot meet, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, which accounted for two-thirds of the world’s extreme poor in 2018, the World Bank says.

This urgency of strengthening the livelihoods of smallholder farmers submerged in poverty through digital technology has fostered a desire for entrepreneurs to develop innovative methods to boost agricultural mechanization.

What is Hello Tractor?

African American investment banker, founder and CEO, Jehiel Oliver, established Hello Tractor in Nigeria in 2014 to increase access to mechanization. The Hello Tractor platform, nicknamed ‘Uber for Tractors,’ runs a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) program to allow for collaborative consumption, facilitating access for smallholder farmers to rent tractors on demand.

Booking agents receive these rental requests and provide the services smallholder farmers yearn for. Now, farmers are readily equipped with the tools to liberate themselves from poverty because they reap the benefits of accessing low-cost tractors they do not own. The Hello Tractor app acts as a digital hub for business owners, such as tractor owners, to network with farmers in need of their services.

The Uber analogy relates to the fact that farmers can easily book available tractor services near them at the tap of a button. A GPS tracking device is fitted onto equipment and synced to the mobile app, allowing tractor owners to view details about the tractor, such as the distance their tractor has traveled, acres cultivated and fuel levels.

Impacts of Hello Tractor

Smallholder farmers now have access to formerly unattainable agricultural machinery. The cost of tractor access equates to a third of the amount paid for manual labor and can be as much as “40 times more efficient.” By the end of 2020, Hello Tractor had assisted 41,000 farmers in Kenya with these services. The company had fitted its technology in more than 2,500 tractors and assisted more than 500,000 farmers by 2020.

According to a World Food Programme (WFP) article from 2020, Hello Tractor’s strategic objectives in Nigeria within five years will bring 10,000 tractors to the market through a partnership with John Deere, which will result in 9 million hectares of arable land, 37 million metric tons of crops for food and more than 2 million employment opportunities.

The Future of the Agricultural Sector in Africa

Overall, Hello Tractor has drastically transformed the agricultural sector in Africa. The introduction of digital technology is revolutionizing agriculture in Africa. Improvements in productivity, food insecurity and income insecurity improve overall livelihood and provide hope for a promising future. Hello Tractor’s services allow the opportunity for smallholder farmers to break intergenerational cycles of poverty.

Jehiel Oliver has harnessed digital technology to create a model that empowers smallholder farmers with the tools to rise out of poverty. These innovative development projects help to galvanize systemic change and eliminate global poverty overall.

– Dami Kalejaiye
Photo: Flickr