Tag: International Development

Mexico’s Rural Migrations

In Mexico, it is calculated that a little over 50% of the population is urban. Since the 1940’s, the urban population began to grow exponentially because of the lack of economic support for the rural population. In the last 50 years there have been important political and economic decisions that have given people large incentives …

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Microfinance Must Return to its Roots

Microfinance has become something of a buzzword in recent years (depending on which circles you run in), and the industry’s increase in popularity has also lead to an increase in criticism.  You may remember my last post about microfinance, as well as the posts written by my colleagues, but for those of you who don’t, …

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Sustainable Stoves

I’ve written a lot about climate change and how future development needs to be sustainable and environmentally friendly. It’s easy to talk about these things like there are simple solutions and unlimited funds to develop sustainable products. In reality, however, it’s an extremely difficult process to create a product that is the perfect intersection between …

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Voluntourism: the Good and the Bad

On Tuesday afternoon I gave a webinar presentation on voluntourism, or volunteer tourism, and though it is now available on the SISGI Group Institute for Social Change website, I thought I would give a quick summary of it for those of you who couldn’t attend (or didn’t know about it).  Voluntourism is the combination of …

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Lebanon’s agricultural challenges

Facing climate change and modernization Lebanon is a relatively resource rich country. It has no deserts, it has good arable land, it has four seasons and it is the most water-gifted country in the Arab world. But despite such natural attributes, Lebanon is a food import dependent country for 70% of its total food consumption. …

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Introducing the MIFFs

There’s a new kind of state (country states, not US states, just so we’re clear) emerging: MIFFs, Middle Income Failed-Fragile states.  These MIFFs are classified as middle-income states in the World Bank list of countries by income category, but they have highly unstable governments and a lot of conflict.  They are—or are close to being—failed …

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Building Back Better in Pakistan

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the opportunity and need for Haiti to redevelop sustainably after the devastating earthquake in 2010. I also discussed how construction in Bihar, India – after a flood completely washed away the area – could be a model for rebuilding homes in Haiti. Unfortunately, like Haiti and India, Pakistan …

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El nuevo FMI

El Fondo Monetario Internacional (FMI)- la organización internacional que supervisa el sistema financiero global- eligió recientemente a un nuevo Director Administrativo (DA), debido a que Dominique Strauss Kahn (antiguo DA) resignó. Los dos candidatos al puesto eran la ministra de ecnonomía de Francia, Christine Lagarde, y el director del Banco Central de México, Agustín Carstens. …

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A Plan for Dadaab Refugee Camp – Foundations

The overcrowded Dadaab camp in Kenya is struggling to provide for the continual stream of starving Somali refugees Much has been written on this blog and others about the dire situation currently being faced in the Horn of Africa. The countries in this region are facing their worst drought in 60 years. A famine has …

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Encouraging Ecotourism in China

When you think “ecotourism” China is probably not the first place that comes to mind.  No, China brings up images of massive crowds of people and heavy smog clouds, not things that are very compatible with environmentally and economically friendly ecotourism.  However, with 41 UNESCO World Heritage Sites and 28 UNESCO Biosphere Reserves, the ecotourism …

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