Category: Poverty & Disease

Poverty causes and effects

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Gullies of Poverty; Baringo and Kerio valleys

Soil erosion, environmental degradation, desertification, climate change all sound synonymous. But are they? Not really, but they are all parasites that feed almost the same way.

Exposed roots due to extensive erosion
Exposed roots due to extensive erosion

I’ll let pictures speak for Baringo and Elgeyo Marakwet counties. Degradation there, and particularly soil erosion, is at massive scales. The rills have turned into death traps for livestock and the larger gullies highways for the nutrient rich top soil that ends up in the Kerio River and the Lake Kamnarok. Poverty level continues to rise in Kerio Valley.

Deep gullies are highways to the Rivers and Lakes
Deep gullies are highways to the Rivers and Lakes

 

 

The results? Siltation and the subsequent effects. As we speak the lake is becoming smaller, and a less favorite spot for the wildlife (elephants especially) that loved to quench their thirst there for fear of getting stuck in the muddy shores.

 

High siltation in Kerio River
High siltation in Kerio River

Is hope really lost here? Is this place damaged beyond repair? Really? The degradation has been going on for years, but no one seems to notice. I see people run to rehabilitate other places that aren’t really bad and I’m left wondering why they keep neglecting this. UNCCD has it’s focus on prevention of land degradation and desertification. World Agroforestry Center is a close partner. We have the Vetiver Network in our midst. The UNEP headquarters is in our city? Let us pool resources and convert this place into one breathtaking sight of nature.

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THE GREEN STORE CHALLENGE FELLOWSHIP

WHAT’S THE CHALLENGE ABOUT?

The goal of this DO School Challenge is for the selected Fellows to create a Green Store prototype in ten weeks.
This prototype must be sustainable in terms of materials, construction, energy, operation and other aspects and will be realized in Germany. It should be scalable to H&M stores worldwide, be economically beneficial and make the idea of sustainability tangible for customers and employees.

 

By answering to the Challenge, you will have learned hands-on how to turn an idea into action during the ten-week Incubation Phase. This process is supported by participation in Challenge Lab, a course which offers the knowledge, skills, and tools necessary to successfully solve the Challenge.

Successful candidates may come from, but are not restricted to the fields of engineering, architecture, fashion and design, as well as environmental activism, retail and human resource management.

 

While solving the Challenge, you work on turning your own venture idea into a viable social venture plan which will be ready for implementation during the following ten-month Implementation Phase.

WHAT’S THE PROGRAM ABOUT?

The DO School offers offers a unique one-year fellowship program for emerging social entrepreneurs who look for training, mentoring and empowerment to start their own ventures. Selected Fellows receive a full scholarship covering the tuition fee for the year.

From September 2013 to January 2014 the DO School invites applications from motivated individuals aged 18 to 28 from around the world to participate in the DO School Green Store Challenge. Successful applicants will show exceptional motivation to contribute to solving the Challenge and developing and starting their own social venture.

Selected Fellows will spend the first ten weeks of their one-year program on the DO School campus in Hamburg from April to June 2014, and the following ten months in their home countries implementing their own ventures.

THE DO SCHOOL

The DO School is an innovative educational institution. We offer a unique one-year program enabling talented emerging social entrepreneurs to launch their own innovative and sustainable ventures. The program allows its participants – our Fellows – to learn from passionate peers, engage with current leaders and experts, and create change by implementing their social start-ups in their home countries.

Learn more about the DO School here.

WEBSITE

Please click here to find out more about the Green Store Challenge  on our website and to apply!

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Getting the right product to the right people: Base of the pyramid consumers

Stoves, water purifiers, off-grid power, nutritious foods – so many innovative products and services are being developed for Base of Pyramid markets. But companies developing these products have to be innovative and creative in the face of several challenges: low purchasing power, traditional consumer preferences and logistical problems, such as inadequate infrastructure that hamper market growth.

So what are companies doing? How are they innovating? Business Innovation Facility and Business Fights Poverty are hosting a panel discussion in the evening on 19th June 2013 in London. This discussion event will bring news and analysis from the ground. The speakers will be

  • Nisha Dutt, Country Manager, India, Business Innovation Facility and VP, Intellecap Consulting
  • Soji Apampa, Country Manager, Nigeria, Business Innovation Facility, Founder and Director of the Convention on Business Integrity in Nigeria

and the session will be chaired by Simon Maxwell, Senior Research Associate, Overseas Development Institute. To attend, visit Business Fights Poverty for further information.

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“Business Leadership to Fight Poverty” – London Conference

As a business or professional person, your skills can have an impact of the neediest areas of the world. By mentoring and training emerging entrepreneurs, helping establish a business or investing, you can bring transformation and combat poverty.
Our London conference is set for the 25th of May so book the date in your diary now. The conference will be held at the Congress Centre and  we are putting together an exciting programme for the day.

The day provides the ideal environment to:

Become informed on the current issues and opportunities;

  • Become engaged as part of a movement that is motivated by a passion for social justice and has the means to have a concrete, sustainable and scalable impact.
  • Hear inspiring case studies and keynote speakers, receive practical guidance, network with business leaders and learn how your skills and resources can bring transformation to the poor.

Book now

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The Economics of Poverty – the Top 10 Books

Amy Lockwood, the Deputy Director of the Center for Innovation in Global Health at Stanford’s School of Medicine, has drawn up a suggested reading list for those wanting to start understanding development, aid, and poverty. Here are her suggestions:

The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good (2006)
by William Easterly

The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time (2006)
by Jeffrey Sachs

The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It (2007)
by Paul Collier

The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits (2009)
by C.K. Prahalad

Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism (2009)
by Muhammad Yunus

Out of Poverty: What Works When Traditional Approaches Fail (2009)
by Paul Polak

Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa (2009)
by Dambisa Moyo

Poor Economics A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty (2011)
by Abhijit Banerjee & Esther Duflo

Development As Freedom (2000)
by Amartya Sen

Good to Great and the Social Sectors (2005)
by Jim Collins

To read the reasoning and short introductions to each, go to the original article at http://www.ssireview.org/blog/entry/the_top_10_books_on_the_economics_of_poverty

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