Here is a very encouraging story from Newsweek about social entrepreneurship and the kind of change that is possible when thinking outside of the box. The story highlights the innovative work of José Roberto Fonseca that is revitalizing the agricultural sector in one of the poorest districts in Brazil. Using a combination of solar energy and a process known as hydroponics, José has been able to create sustainable solutions for agricultural problems that inundate this arid region of Brazil.

But where others saw privation, Fonseca saw opportunity. "Poor people in the sertão have been farming beans, manioc and corn the same way they have since Brazil was discovered, and poverty is as bad as ever," he says, waving at the monotonous expanse of balding scrub and cactus. "It's time they tried something different."

When we hear about the Middle East in the news we mostly hear about oil and conflict, but this article brings to light a new trend when it comes to the Arab world-philanthropy. However, the BBC reports that the Middle East needs to overcome several obstacles before becoming truly philanthropic, including the laws governing charities and nonprofits and American Policy.

Last month, while much of the globe watched the oft-hyped World Economic Forum, a first-of-its-kind summit of Arab philanthropists was held in this Persian Gulf city. Middle East royalty and Egyptian businessmen mixed with Lebanese activists and other humanitarian do-gooders to find ways to aid their troubled region. And they carried a pointed message to the Bush administration: Stop making the war on terror a war on Arab goodwill.

The Center for Global Development released a great report last week on practical ways the international community can support democracy in transitioning states.

In terms of practical policy recommendations, the authors outline that the aid community must try to eliminate huge economic disparities within countries. They also point out that the international aid community must support increased checks and balances against executive figures in new democracies. Third, the authors stress not just the importance of aid but also the role of opening our own borders to trade and cultural exchange programs with transitioning countries.

As many countries across the globe struggle with democratic transitions, this is a relevant publication for anyone interested in economic development and democracy.

In a land where three farmers commit suicide per day, microfinance is making positive difference in Vidarbha- India's primary cotton growing region. Over 500,000 female small entrepreneurs there are determined to lift their families from the burden of debt by forming microfinance groups and finding alternative ways to make an income.

The micro credit banks urges them to save with them, with each member depositing money, ranging from 50 rupees to 1,000 rupees every month. The bank in turn provides credit to the group, whose members borrow money from the group depending on their needs.

Thatcher Cook for Mercy Corps

Finally, there is an upbeat news piece about Africa. The BBC released a brief story on Jan. 31st about the opening of a stock market in Rwanda. For a country that has known its share of sorrow, this is one more element that can direct Rwanda toward a more hopeful future.

Upon opening the Rwanda Capital Market, President Paul Kagame described it as a milestone for the nation. The hope is that the exchange will aid the economy, which has yet to bounce back after the 1994 genocide.

Wangari Maathai is the 2004 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, and founder of the Greenbelt Movement. She has spent her life as an activist promoting women’s rights, civil society and environmental protection. The international arm of the Greenbelt Movement focuses on empowering African women and girls, especially nurturing their leadership and entrepreneurial skills.

Ms. Maathi has said that ‘‘Africa is not poor. But the people of Africa are poor. They do not have the skills to use the resources they have in abundance. There can be no development in Africa if the continent does not use its resources effectively.''
In this short film, Ms. Maathai discusses the value of human rights and politics in creating a just society.

The New York Times reported yesterday on India's primary school shortage. Recent changes to admissions rules intended to be more fair and transparent, are giving parents anxiety attacks as they try and secure placement in a reputable school for their prekindergarten-aged children.

Photo: Thatcher Cook for Mercy Corps

Can poor countries afford to be green?

A new report, the annually released Environmental Performance Index suggests that poor countries have been justified to disagree with blocs who demand environmental and other green protections even to the opposition of economic growth, according to the Economist. The connection between economic growth and the environment is not entirely clear, the study finds.

“Economic growth, coupled with good governance, may yet prove to be a source of solutions rather than problems. At the moment, perhaps 2 billion people have no formal access to modern energy—they make do with cow dung, agricultural residue and other solid fuels which are far from healthy. Unless foresight and intelligence are applied to the satisfaction of these people's needs, they may embrace the filthiest and most carbon-emitting forms of fossil-fuel energy as soon as they get the chance.”

The report concludes that a combination of growth and transparent government may be the only solution to avoiding this potential disaster. In fact, if developing countries were able to bypass the most polluting stages of their economic development, all parties would be better off.

A Brazilian anti-poverty program known as Bolsa Familia ("Family Fund") is getting attention from governments around the world, writes the Economist. Modeled on a similar program in Mexico, this conditional cash transfer program has been tested successfully in several other Latin American countries, and the World Bank is now looking to start similar programs in Eastern Europe.

In the Brazilian version of the program, poor families with children receive direct transfers of around 70 reals (about $35) a month, on the condition that their children stay in school and have regular health checkups. According to the World Bank, this relatively simple and modest program is unique in that it can help reduce both current and future poverty and inequality in Brazil.

According to the Christian Science Monitor's January 30 article, Namibia's rug-weaving industry can provide us with a lesson on globalization.

Biofuel production. Photo: Benjamin Weller (flickr)

Jacques Diouf made a compelling argument last fall. The chief of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN stated that it is absolutely the responsibility of wealthy countries to ensure that a significant part of the emerging biofuel market is produced by the developing world. Right now, the U.S., European Union and Brazil are the leading producers and consumers of biofuels. If this situation remains into the future Diouf says,

“It will mean that we had a chance to honour all our solemn pledges to banish hunger and poverty but chose to look the other way.

If we get it right, bioenergy provides us with a historic chance to fast-forward growth in many of the world’s poorest countries, to bring about an agricultural renaissance and to supply modern energy to a third of the world’s population.

To focus debate exclusively on bio¬fuels for transport is therefore to miss much of the point about bioenergy’s potential for poverty reduction. This lies more in helping 2bn people to produce their own electricity and other energy needs than in keeping 800m cars and trucks on the road.”

Mr. Diouf has called for a world summit on food security, to be held in Rome in June this year. We will be watching for what decisions come out of this meeting, which will be discussing the challenges faced by the food and agricultural sectors from climate change and bioenergy. An interview with the agriculture head on the subject of food security and rising food prices can be viewed here.

While the immigration debate in the United States is largely focused on the U.S.-Mexico border, an article from National Geographic looks a bit farther to the south. An estimated 400,000 migrants from Central America cross the border into Mexico every year, and though some stay to work in Mexico, most are headed for the U.S.

The economic prosperity of the U.S. has a strong pull effect on the Latin American poor, and the money that migrant workers send home to their families is having an increasingly large impact on their national economies. In Honduras, for example, remittances sent home from the U.S. made up one-fifth of the country’s gross national income in 2006.

“There is no solution to this,” a former Chiapas state official said wearily, after ticking off a list of southern border upgrade programs that have fizzled into ineffectiveness over the past decade. “You can put all the control measures down there that you want, but it’s not going to be fixed. The solution is to eliminate poverty.”