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Women and Sustainable Development

Women in many parts of the African continent perform up to 80% of the labor in their respective countries, yet are often denied basic rights, such as the right to own land, to access credit, and to operate their own businesses. They are the fundamental caregivers and providers of their families, yet many of them …

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SMART Aid

In my research on sustainable development programs, I have always been interested in organizations that focus on efficient and effective aid strategies in their work. I was particularly impressed with The ONE Campaign’s clever acronym explaining what “SMART” Aid means to them: S – Sufficient in scale to achieve its intended goals. M -Measurable so …

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What You Don’t Know About U.S. Foreign Aid

This week Congress has been debating the upcoming year’s budget, with the new Republican leadership in the House of Representatives vowing to cut spending as much as possible. Included in those spending cuts is US Foreign Aid, or Official Development Assistance (ODA). House Republicans proposed up to 50% cuts in the funding of critical development …

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“Poverty Trap” or “Dead Aid”?

For decades, economists, historians, scholars and the like have studied economic development on the continent of Africa, seeking to explain what factors account for the region’s slow growth. From my own research, two interesting schools of thought have emerged: the concept of the “Poverty Trap” as purported by venerated economist and director of the UN …

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Subsidizing Poverty (Part Two)

It’s not only poor subsistence farmers in developing countries who pay the price for agricultural subsidies—we all do. Literally. The subsidies paid to the agricultural industries in rich, Western countries are funded by we, the taxpayer. In the United States, this amounts to about $286 billion in taxes under the 2008-2012 Farm Bill, or approximately …

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Farm Subsidies in Africa and USA

Following my previous blog discussing how rich-country agricultural subsidies hurt developing countries in Africa, this video provides a picture of the ways some African farmers are struggling to sustain themselves. While Subsidizing Poverty (Part One) discusses how rich-country subsides contribute to poverty through price depreciation, this video explains how subsidies implemented by poor countries actually …

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Subsidizing Poverty (Part One)

Agricultural subsidies implemented by the developed world are keeping African farmers in poverty. Countries such as the United States, Japan, Australia, and the members of the European Union heavily subsidize their farming industry, resulting in dramatic overproduction and a resultant drop in food prices as the global market becomes flooded with products such as cotton, …

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Making tourism better

“Our everyday life is someone else’s adventure” ~ Greg Richards, Cultural Tourism: Global and Local Perspectives This is the basic foundation for all tourist activities. People leave their homes to travel, and in the process, seek out the opportunity to see and experience life through the eyes of another. Some take that more seriously, working …

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Social Entrepreneur Empowerment Series

January 11 – 20 and February 8-17, 2011 Social Entrepreneurs and those interested in the field of social entrepreneurship can tune into to receive insight and information from the leaders in the field. This global tele-summit event will allow you to learn how some of the world’s leaders in social entrepreneurship work to bring about …

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