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Poverty and Hunger
by the Numbers Alleviating
Poverty and Hunger in the World |
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There is always a risk in posting links to external websites. Some of the following links may possibly
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to alleviate some of the oppressive poverty in the world, you may choose to
support the efforts of one or more organizations mentioned on this page
either financially or through active participation. Always research an organization and solicit
advice from friends or colleagues before sending money. What’s the best way to help extremely poor
people? After 20 years, the evidence is in Is it really useful to “teach a person to
fish” or should you just give them the damn fish already? Sigal Samuel, Vox Media Inc., 24 June 2022 www.vox.com/future-perfect/23152657/poverty-cash-graduation-ultra-poor-brac [accessed 1 July 2022] The BRAC team
decided they needed to try something new if they wanted to lastingly improve
life for the worst-off — the “ultra-poor,” as they put it. So in the early
2000s, they went into village after village in Bangladesh, deliberately
looked for the poorest people, and talked to them. And what they realized was
that the ultra-poor aren’t only poor in terms of cash — they also lack
knowledge about how to invest cash, lack confidence in themselves, and lack
social ties to the broader community. “We started
realizing that it’s not going to be a simple sort of solution,” Abed said.
“It’s going to have to be a package of things, because it has to address
multiple vulnerabilities. So then there was this idea of a ‘big push’
investment.” That “big push” is the
idea that offering a combo of assets and training and cash — instead of just,
say, cash — can trigger a virtuous cycle that ultimately helps ultra-poor
people escape poverty. For example, you can offer people livestock plus
training on how to make money off that livestock plus a bit of cash to
sustain them while they get things up and running. This premise became the
bedrock of what BRAC called the “ultra-poor graduation program,” which aims
to “graduate” recipients out of extreme poverty. Pathways out of extreme poverty and hunger Frank Bliss & Karin Gaesing,
Development and Cooperatopm D+C, 24 February 2021 [Long
URL] [accessed 24 February 2021] The success of
support for agriculture can hinge crucially on infrastructure development,
for example construction of roads to permit access to markets or connection
to power and water-supply systems to facilitate product processing. The
thrust of strategy should be generally towards integrated rural development. 10 Ways to Reduce Poverty in the World The Borgen
Project, 29 April 2017 [Long
URL] [accessed 23 November 2020] Develop and
implement rapid and sustained economic growth policies and programs, in areas
such as health, education, nutrition and sanitation, allowing the poor to
participate and contribute to the growth. Studies show that a 10 percent
increase in a country’s average income reduces poverty by as much as 20-30
percent. Improve management
of water and other natural resources. Most of the rural poor depend on
agriculture or other natural resources for their livelihood. Consequently, it
is necessary that they have more equitable access to those resources so they
are better able to manage their resources. Invest in and
implement agricultural programs. China has helped 800 million people out of
poverty since 1978. As a part of its strategy to eradicate poverty by 2020,
the Agricultural Bank of China will lend more than $400 billion to help
develop rural areas, fund education, infrastructure, and crop production. Encourage countries
to engage in trade as a path out of poverty. Trade is the key to growth and
prosperity. Some of the world’s poorest countries including Indonesia,
Botswana and Brazil have traded their way out of poverty. Create and improve
access to jobs and income and develop entrepreneurial talent. Providing all
people with access to basic social services including education, health care,
adequate food, sanitation, shelter and clean water. Progressively developing
social protection systems to support those who cannot support themselves. Empower people
living in poverty by involving them in the development and implementation of
plans and programs to reduce and eradicate poverty. Their involvement ensures
that programs reflect those things that are important to them. Remove barriers to
equal access to resources and services. Provide access to
technology and innovation including internet access and affordable energy. In
Bangladesh, only 40 percent of the rural poor have access to grid
electricity. Those that do have access endure frequent power outages. The
Second Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Development Project plans
to increase access to electricity in rural areas via renewable energy
sources. PM proposes five-point agenda to end
poverty, hunger APP, Pakistan Today, Islamabad, 17 February
2021 www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2021/02/17/pm-proposes-five-point-agenda-to-end-poverty-hunger/ [accessed 17 February 2021] Prime Minister
Imran Khan on Wednesday, describing agriculture as “central to human
survival”, proposed a five-point agenda to end poverty and hunger from the
world. The world needs to
install sustainable agricultural infrastructure to facilitate transport,
production and distribution of agricultural products — the green lanes set up
by China are a good example. Governments, more
actively, need to ensure adequate and fair prices for agricultural and food
products. The so-called magic of the marketplace should be balanced with the
help of the state. Farmers should not be left to the mercy of the cooperations, and at the same time, international
agricultural trade must be rationalised. Breakthrough
technologies must be consciously applied to enhance food production, ensure
efficient usage of water and land, and above all, improve seed quality. The adoption of
digital technologies is as vital in agriculture as in other economic sectors.
Ensuring internet and broadband access to rural areas will be vital for their
international and global supply chains. Most importantly,
leaders must rethink the patterns of food consumption and production. 10 things to do to end extreme poverty by
2030 Global citizen, 11 March 2014 www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/10-things-to-do-to-end-extreme-poverty-by-2030/ [accessed 24 November 2020] We know there are
1.2 billion people living in extreme poverty. As global citizens, we want to
make poverty history by 2030, and here are 10 things the world needs to do to
make this happen: Ø
Continue to support the poorest people ... Ø
End all forms of poverty ... Ø
Commit governments to ending poverty ... Ø
Focus aid on economic potential ... Ø
Go country by country ... Ø
Get everyone involved ... Ø
Support national efforts with international aid ... Ø
Get creative with investments ... Ø
Improve data on poverty ... Ø
Demand action as global citizens ... 12 Things You Can Do to Fight Poverty Right
Now Moyers on Democracy, 12 May 2013 --
excerpted from Nation contributor Greg Kaufmann’s “This Week in Poverty”
column billmoyers.com/2013/05/12/twelve-things-you-can-do-to-fight-poverty-now/ [accessed 24 November 2020] There are still
plenty of people and groups fighting for real change, and plenty of ways you
can get involved or stay engaged. I reached out to a handful of folks who
dedicate their lives to fighting poverty in different ways. Here is what they
asked people to do: Ø
From Sister Simone Campbell, Sisters of Social Service,
executive director of NETWORK: “Support an increase in the minimum wage to
more than $11 per hour.” ... Ø
From the Coalition of Immokalee Workers: “Tell Publix:
Help end sexual harassment, wage theft and forced labor in the fields — join
the Fair Food Program today.” ... Ø
From Ralph da Costa Nunez, president and CEO, Institute
for Children, Poverty and Homelessness: “Make a Personal Commitment to
Helping Homeless Families” ... Ø
From Dr. Deborah Frank, founder and principal
investigator, Children’s HealthWatch: “Fund the
federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) at the maximum
authorized level” ... Ø
Sarita Gupta, executive
director, Jobs with Justice/American Rights at Work and co-director, Caring
Across Generations: “Support of a living wage and basic labor protections for
home care workers.” ... Ø
From Judith Lichtman, senior
adviser, National Partnership for Women & Families: “Urge Congress to
pass the Healthy Families Act (H.R. 1286/S.631) and a national paid leave
program” ... Ø
From Tiffany Loftin, president,
United States Student Association (USSA): “Increase regulation of private
student loans and hold Sallie Mae accountable for its role in the student
debt crisis.” ... Ø
From Elizabeth Lower-Basch,
policy coordinator, the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP): “Support
Pathways Back to Work” ... Ø
From Marci Phillips, director of public policy and
advocacy, National Council on Aging: “Invest in the Older Americans Act” ... Ø
From Rebecca Vallas, staff
attorney/policy advocate, Community Legal Services: “Tell Congress NO CUTS to
Social Security and SSI through the Chained CPI” ... Ø
From Jim Weill, president, Food Research and Action
Center: “Tell Congress: Increase, Don’t Cut SNAP (Food Stamp) Benefits” … Ø
From Debbie Weinstein, executive director, Coalition on
Human Needs: “Tell Congress to stop harmful cuts to anti-poverty programs
now” … How to manage the world’s fertilizers to
avoid a prolonged food crisis Juergen Voegele,
World Bank Blogs, JULY 22, 2022 [Long
URL] [accessed 28 July 2022] To ease the current
food crisis, action needs to be taken now to maintain food production by
making fertilizers more accessible and affordable. There are several ways to do this. First, countries
should lift trade restrictions or export bans on fertilizers. Export
restrictions make things worse, putting fertilizers further out of reach of
poorer developing countries who face the highest
levels of food insecurity and hunger. As of early June, there were 310 active
trade measures across 86 countries affecting food and fertilizers, and nearly
40% of these have been restrictive. This number is now approaching levels not
seen since the 2008-2012 global food price crisis.
To facilitate trade, countries can reduce delays and cut compliance costs by
getting rid of unnecessary red tape for importing targeted goods. One of the local
bottlenecks of global fertilizer trade is the financing needs of
manufacturers, traders, and importers. Return of the worm wars Kelsey Piper, VOX Media, 19 Jul 2022 www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/7/19/23268786/deworming-givewell-effective-altruism-michael-hobbes [accessed 19 July 2022] YOU CAN’T DODGE
ACTING UNDER UNCERTAINTY -- I talk to people who are excited about work on global
poverty and health interventions but skeptical about projects like trying to
make the development of artificial intelligence go well or prevent the next
pandemic. This position often gets phrased in terms of wanting to do things
with certain benefits instead of things with uncertain benefits. In other
words, wanting to be sure that you’re actually doing good
in the world. Some interventions
are much more of a sure thing than others. The evidence around malaria
treatments is much less muddled than the evidence around deworming, and if
someone tells me that certainty is very important to them, I recommend they
donate to anti-malaria efforts rather than to deworming. But fundamentally,
I think doing as much good as we can — and tackling the world’s hardest and
most important problems — requires coming to terms with uncertainty and being
willing to act even when our evidence is mixed. Those interventions where all
our research points in the same direction are rare. Despite our best
efforts, uncertainty remains. But it’s not responsible or effective to refuse
to act on your best current understanding until there’s sufficient evidence
to dispel that uncertainty. Instead, you should do what you currently think
is best, taking into account all your uncertainties, and be ready to change
course if you’re wrong. |