Education as a breaker of poverty: a critical perspective

Extending the Benefits: Gender-Equitable, ICT-Enabled Agricultural Development

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to extend a theoretical model due to Ljungqvist and data from a sample of 19 developing economies to empirically test it.Design/methodology/approachData for all variables are from the 2005 Human Development Report and the 2006 World Development Report. The author applies the least‐squares estimation technique in a multivariate linear regression.FindingsBased on data from the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme, the paper uses a sample of 19 developing economies and finds that cross‐country variations in income/consumption inequality may be explained by inequality of investment in human capital as measured by inequalities in child health as well as inequality in education and by inequality in the distribution of land as measured by the land Gini index.Practical implicationsAssuming a population consisting of skilled laborers, unskilled laborers, educators/health care personnel, and farmers, the paper shows that starting from an initial distribution of assets and in the absence of a perfect capital market along with human capital exhibiting increasing returns it is possible to have persistent inequality in the distribution of income or consumption. Regression results also are consistent with the theoretical implication of the model as the extent of inequality in land distribution and in access to education as well as inequalities in child health do linearly influence income or consumption inequality as measured by the ratio of the share of income or consumption accounted for by the richest quintile to that of the poorest quintile. As a result, if governments in developing countries aim to reduce inequality, they need to implement programs designed to reduce inequalities in child health by allowing children from the poorest of the poor to get fully immunized, which in turn would lead to a reduction in infant and child mortality and in education by providing low‐income families with means so that their children have better access to education. Government land policies, on the other hand, that succeed in reducing inequality in land distribution in developing countries, may be beneficial in terms of lessening income/expenditure inequality. Finally, while the present model does not test for the impact that improving capital markets would have, it stands to reason that improving capital markets could also have an impact on decreasing inequality.Originality/valueIn this paper the author uses a model due to Ljungqvist to show that individuals are relatively wealthy because they either own a fixed input such as land or they are able to invest in human capital, which in turn allow them to earn sufficient rent or labor income to remain wealthy. On the other hand, poor people either do not own land or are not capable of investing in human capital, and, as a result, earn low incomes and remain poor. This joint causation of factor endowment or human capital investment and income helps explain income distribution. Using data from the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank for a sample of 19 developing economies, it is found that cross‐country variations in income/consumption inequality may be explained by inequality of investment in human capital as measured by inequalities in child health as well as well as inequality in education and by inequality in the distribution of land as measured by the land Gini index. These results will help governments in developing countries identify areas that need to be improved upon in order to reduce income/consumption inequality.

The objective was to characterize the medical, social, and psychiatric correlates of frequent emergency department (ED) use among released prisoners with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Data on all ED visits by 151 released prisoners with HIV on antiretroviral therapy (ART) were prospectively collected for 12 months. Correlates of frequent ED use, defined as having two or more ED visits postrelease, were described using univariate and multivariate models and generated medical, psychiatric, and social multimorbidity indices. Forty-four (29%) of the 151 participants were defined as frequent ED users, accounting for 81% of the 227 ED visits. Frequent ED users were more likely than infrequent or nonusers to be female; have chronic medical illnesses that included seizures, asthma, and migraines; and have worse physical health-related quality of life (HRQoL). In multivariate Poisson regression models, frequent ED use was associated with lower physical HRQoL (odds ratio [OR] = 0.95, p = 0.02) and having not had prerelease discharge planning (OR = 3.16, p = 0.04). Frequent ED use was positively correlated with increasing psychiatric multimorbidity index values. Among released prisoners with HIV, frequent ED use is driven primarily by extensive comorbid medical and psychiatric illness. Frequent ED users were also less likely to have received prerelease discharge planning, suggesting missed opportunities for seamless linkages to care.

The purpose of this essay is to show how the United Nations system including the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and such specialized agencies as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), UNESCO, and the International Labour Organization (ILO), etc. has been incorporated into the international network of aid agencies and to discuss some of the consequences for host countries. Specifically the UN development system has been coopted into providing what is known as preinvestment which paves the way for investors of all kinds, generally foreign investors. Preinvestment is a kind of technical which consists of sending ''experts (generally from the specialized agencies) and equipment to a host country and financing fellowship trainees from the country. Preinvestment projects were designed especially to identify and prepare projects for investors, particularly the World Bank and other international financial institutions. In this way the UNDP joins the other agencies in financing the infrastructure necessary for further productive investment, public and private, local and foreign. I show how this occurs in Colombia by describing the country programing exercise of 1971. Country programing is the process by which the resident representative of UNDP and the host government agree upon a list of technical projects that UNDP will finance over a five-year period. Colombia provides an excellent case study. A prime example of an open or outward-looking economy, Colombia has been selected by many international aid agencies as a testing ground for their various programs. In 1948-1949 it was the first nation to be surveyed by an economic mission of the World Bank. In the 1960s it was one of the first four nations to have a consultative group organized by the World Bank. In 1969-1970 it was chosen to be a test case for comprehensive preinvestment planning by the Bank. In 1969 the ILO selected Colombia as the first nation to study under its World Employment Program (International Labour Organization, 1970). It hoped to convince the Colombian government to try ILO strategies for coping with employment problems. In 1971 Colombia became one of the original eighteen nations to undertake country programing with the UNDP. Colombia was also one of the original Latin American nations to receive assistance from the Alliance for Progress. According to the study prepared

This study explores ways to effectively and efficiently finance Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) activities to enhance climate change adaptation and biodiversity conservation by drawing on lessons from the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The study analyzed trends in the focal areas of GEF forest-related projects, the executing and implementing agencies involved in GEF forest-related multi-focal area projects, and the cofundraisers’ trends in GEF forest-related multi-focal area projects. The analysis of GEF forest-related projects identified ways to finance REDD+ mobilization and distribution to enhance its multiple benefits. The key agencies that support REDD+ activities and enhance these co-benefits are the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the World Bank, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), and the national governments of developing countries. GEF and the co-fundraisers—multilateral aid agencies, such as UNDP, the World Bank, FAO, the Asian Development Bank, and UNEP, bilateral aid agencies, such as Germany, the United States and the European Union, the private sector and nongovernmental organizations—all work to enhance REDD+ co-benefits. Because private contributions to the GEF are limited, it is important to design a scheme to mobilize more private financing for REDD+.

The United Nations has had an economic role to play from its inception although this was not seen as its primary responsibility. Through the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, as well as various specialized agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) or the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) the United Nations has undertaken to assist economies in trouble (through the IMF), to channel development funds including special concessionary funds (through the World Bank and its soft arm, the International Development Association or IDA) and technical assistance (through the UNDP), or to provide relief assistance through such agencies as the FAO (and its subsidiary the World Food Programme or WFP) and the UNHCR.KeywordsInternational Monetary FundSecurity CouncilAdvanced EconomyUnited Nations Development ProgrammeWorld Food ProgrammeThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

Food security extends beyond a population’s immediate nutritional intake. It is not only an essential pillar of the nation concept, but has far-reaching implications that extend beyond national borders in today’s globalized trading of agricultural commodities. The Global Hunger Index (GHI), an established metric for measuring food insecurity in developing countries, can be used to measure the overall impact of agricultural economic policies. Multiple regression and ANOVA tests were implemented to examine the significance a range of predictors had on determining GHI in India, Nigeria, and Brazil. Each country has a major impact on food security for their region, along with global economic policies. The predictors encompass a variety of factors including basic, political, economic, and infrastructural needs. The data for the research was acquired from The Food Agricultural Organization Food Security Report and the International Food Policy Research Institute for 1995-2011. The study finds that the GHI in India and Nigeria was significantly affected by gross domestic product per capita (GDPC) and water access, while only water was significant in determining Brazil’s GHI. With this research as a template, policy makers can better tailor aide programs to optimize the global decrease of the GHI and improve global food security.

Economic sanctions are imposed by senders to create the maximum economic damage in order to coerce the target to change its objectionable policy, however its impact may have varying and unintended consequences for targets. One of such possible consequences could be sanctions exacerbating the state of food insecurity in targeted states. In this chapter, we analyze whether the imposition of sanctions adversely affects food security in targeted states by looking at its impact on different measures of food security from both Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Our results show the imposition of sanctions has deleterious effect on food security. Sanctions significantly increases the composite index of global hunger index (GHI), and also adversely affect the availability and stability dimensions of food security. In addition, we find that employing financial and trade sanctions simultaneously have a more pronounced adverse impact on food security compared to when they are used separately. Our results are robust to different empirical approaches (fixed effects and entropy balancing) as well as to different data sources (FAO and IFPRI).

The study of the behavior of domestic animals: From aristotle through darwin to today

Social stress as a cause of diseases in farm animals: Current knowledge and future directions

ABSTRACTBackground: An emerging body of Physical Education scholarship is addressing the challenge of preparing Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) students to enact a socio-critically informed Health Education [Leahy, D., and L. McCuaig. 2014. “Disrupting the Field: Teacher Education in Health Education.” In Health Education: Critical Perspectives, edited by K. Fitzpatrick, and R. Tinning, 220–232. Oxon: Routledge]. Researchers have identified the tensions faced by PETE educators whose students typically adopt an uncritical acceptance of socially unjust practices concerning the ‘healthy body’ [Tinning, R., and T. Glasby. 2002. “Pedagogical Work and the ‘Cult of the Body’: Considering the Role of HPE in the Context of the ‘New Public Health’.” Sport, Education and Society 7 (2): 109–119]. Although scholars have advocated the usefulness of critical pedagogies as a means of inspiring PETE students’ capacities to question ‘taken-for-granteds’ circulating within HPE, others such as Gore [1998. “On the Limits to Empowerment through Critical and Feminist Pedagogies.” In Power/Knowledge/Pedagogy, edited by D. Carlson, and M. Apple, 271–288. Westview], have argued that radical pedagogues have failed to name the specific alternative practices they employ. Indeed, little has changed since Gore (1998) challenged the profession to ‘translate their visions into practice’ (274). Purpose: In response to Gore’s challenge, this paper presents one contemporary PETE educator’s proclaimed use of critical pedagogy as a strategy to confront social justice and socio-cultural issues within an Australian HPETE programme. This analysis exposes the ‘hidden’ curriculum and pedagogy of higher education classrooms where practice is not routinely revealed, let alone shared. Following this, the authors explore the extent to which these pedagogical approaches were enacted as intended, in accordance with the tenets of critical pedagogy and, importantly, what students made of these endeavours. Design and analysis: The ethnographic doctoral study took place within the context of a PETE programme delivered at a large, prestigious Australian university. The participating group of 44 specialist PETE students were enrolled in EDU39 Educating for Better Health, and were commencing the third year of their teacher training course. Drawing on qualitative interview data and student assessment tasks, this paper documents the rationale behind, and enactment of, four pedagogical strategies delivered within the health education courses of this PETE programme. Comparison of pre-teaching interview data with the researcher's observation notes, revealed the compromises that ensued within the realities of a complex teacher education learning space. Conclusion: In seeking to make sense of this ‘pedagogical soup’ [Tinning, R. 1995. “We Have Ways of Making You Think, or Do We? Reflection on ‘Training’ in Reflective Teaching.” In Better Teaching in P. E.?: Think About It! Proceedings of the International Seminar on Training of Teachers in Reflective Practice in Physical Education, edited by C. Pare’. Quebec: Department des science de l'activite’ physique, Universite’ du Quebec a Trois-Rivieres], the paper argues that the approaches of social justice pedagogy offer a more nuanced rationale for, and appropriate alignment with, the pedagogical strategies employed. In light of this analysis, the authors suggest that challenging and disrupting PETE students’ values and knowledges through critical pedagogies continues to be an unpredictable and dangerous project, but still poses a valuable strategy for productive, albeit it modest, pedagogical work.

As many of the world’s poor and food-insecure people live in mountain regions, sustainable mountain development is an important part of the work of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN). Over the years, FAO has played the leading role in sustainable mountain development within the UN system; it was appointed task manager for chapter 13 of agenda 21 in 1992 and acted as the lead agency for the International Year of Mountains in 2002. From 2003 onward, FAO was also mandated by the UN General Assembly to lead the annual observance of International Mountain Day on 11 December. Every 2 years, FAO prepares the secretary general’s report to the UN General Assembly, which describes the status and progress of sustainable mountain development at the national and international levels and provides suggestions for consideration by the Assembly. FAO is a member of the Mountain Partnership and hosts its secretariat.This review of the latest actions of FAO’s program on sustainable mountai...

Among the growing population (136.64 crs as per2019) many people experience scarcity of food and all. In the 2020 Global Hunger Index, India ranks 94th out of the 107 countries with sufficient data to calculate 2020 GHI scores. With a score of 27.2, India has a level of hunger that is serious (www.un.org/). The United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) predicts that the on-going COVID-19 pandemic will increase this number as developing countries are double-hit by disease and hunger (www.fao.org/2019-ncov/q-and-a/) Disruptions in global supply chains, economic consequences (i.e., loss of jobs and incomes), the ban on the export of agricultural commodities, and price increases are the major reasons for this crisis. Although much attention is being given to the development of vaccines, therapeutic molecules, and preventive measures to combat COVID-19, the invisible threat to the lives and livelihoods of marginal populations through hunger and malnutrition remains largely unaddressed. The focus of the 2019 Global hunger index on ‘The Challenge of Hunger and Climate Change’ underlines the impacts of changing climates on agriculture that include crop failures owing to problems such as seasonal fluctuations, increased insect and pest attacks, and broad-spectrum infection by potential pathogens (www.globalhungerindex.org/).Supplying food grains is an immediate measure to aid the affected population, whereas devising long-term plans to prevent such challenges is the need of the hour. That said, the possibility of a second and third wave of COVID-19 in the near future should not be ignored. In such a case, the UN World Food Programme predicts (UN-WFP; https://insight.wfp.org/) that death due to lack of food would outnumber deaths caused by disease infection. The importance of crop diversity and of mainstreaming underutilized crops that could serve as functional foods has been pointed out before; however, identifying the best candidates of underutilized crops and deploying crop improvement strategies to release better varieties is still in a nascent stage. Mayes et al. Other plant species, including tubers, legumes, and leafy vegetables, also fall within the criteria of underutilized species; however, emphasis is given to small millets because they are capable of reducing the overdependence on major cereals. Three major cereals, namely rice, wheat, and maize, cater for up to 60% of the global food requirements, and this is one of the plausible causes of food and nutritional inadequacies in the hunger hotspots where these crops are largely imported for consumption. Millets, although cultivated marginally in those regions, have the potential to address these inadequacies if their area of cultivation is increased and crop improvement strategies are devised and deployed.

Humanitarian crises contribute to underdevelopment, while conflict has a devastating impact on societies in terms of suffering, death and economic damage. This is evident particularly in social institutions that are required to play roles in sustainable development. Conflict leads to greater underdevelopment contributing further to vulnerability and risk, and recurring negative cycles. Humanitarian action is mandated to support the sustainable development. Regarding power and vulnerability, the food-weapon is assessed. Local and national capacity building and empowerment is reviewed during and after crises in order to consolidate the development process. In the overall vision for a sustainable world, and nexus between food, power and hunger, the Global Hunger Index (GHI) remains vital in tracking hunger at different scales throughout the world. The UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has long raised awareness of the link between conflict and hunger, and the food weapon. They and the EU and partners, provides updates on food security to the UN Security Council and annually publishes the Global Report on Food Crises, a crucial source for the humanitarian community. Adverse physical geographical and ecological conditions challenge the development momentum, and the struggle with credible nation-state building continues, especially in the Global South due to lack of good governance and democracy in many cases.

This study examines the relationship between Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita and the Global Hunger Index (GHI) over the past two decades. By analyzing data from various countries across different income levels, the research explores how economic growth intersects with hunger dynamics. The study utilizes reputable sources, including reports from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and the World Bank. The findings highlight that while GDP per capita is an important factor in reducing hunger, other elements such as income inequality, education, health expenditure, agricultural productivity, and governance significantly influence hunger outcomes. The research underscores the necessity for holistic approaches that integrate economic growth with social equity and effective policy interventions to eradicate hunger globally.