Poverty-stricken Areas Research Articles

Feeding practices of caregivers with children attending early childhood development centres in Xhariep, South Africa.

In low- to middle-income countries, malnutrition is a major contributing factor in children failing to achieve their developmental potential. The prevention of malnutrition requires, among others, nutritious, diverse and safe foods in early childhood. The study aimed to determine primary caregivers' choices and motivation for the foods they fed their children. The study was conducted among early childhood development centres in the Xhariep District, Free State. A qualitative study was undertaken. Twelve participants who met the inclusion criteria were conveniently sampled. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to find out the primary caregivers' choices and motivation for foods they fed their children until data saturation was reached. The mean age of the participants was 31 years. Nine of the participants relied on social grants as a source of income. The participants reported feeding their children mainly maize porridge, milk, juice, and water. Vegetables and meat were fed to the children once a week. Fruits were fed to the children at the beginning of the month. The level of education, employment status, and community support influenced the primary caregivers' feeding practices. The content of the diets of their children was insufficient in vegetables and fruit, not only placing the children at risk of undernutrition but also at risk of obesity and micronutrient deficiencies. Primary caregivers ensured their children were fed, although limited foods were offered. This research creates awareness of the level of social progress and access to resources within rural communities in the Xhariep district, and gives the opportunity to extend this research to confirm these findings in other poverty-stricken areas.

Emprego fora da fazenda e pobreza multidimensional: evidências empíricas da bacia do rio Amarelo na China

ABSTRACT: As an essential way to enhance farmers’ self-development ability, off-farm employment plays an indispensable role in farmers’ multidimensional poverty reduction in many countries. Employing a survey of 1926 farmers in five provinces of the Yellow River Basin in China, this paper examined the multi-dimensional poverty reduction effect of off-farm employment and the heterogeneous influence of different dimensions of off-farm employment (modes, levels, distances and frequency). The results showed that (1) although absolute poverty in the income dimension was largely eliminated in the Yellow River Basin, the poverty in social resources, transportation facilities, employment security were the key bottlenecks restricting farmers’ self-development. (2) The province with the best multidimensional poverty reduction effect for non-farm employment was Shaanxi, with the largest contribution to employment security. (3) Improving off-farm employment level, distance and time can significantly alleviate the multi-dimensional poverty of farmers. Therefore, to lessen the multi-dimensional poverty of farmers in the Yellow River Basin, it is necessary to focus on the governance of multi-dimensional key poverty-stricken areas, such as the middle and upper courses of the Yellow River, adopting multidimensional poverty alleviation strategy of off-farm employment according to local conditions, working on the farmers’ deficiencies in social resources, mobility, employment security, and deepening the effect of off-farm employment on benefiting farmers and helping the poor.

Research on the Development Path of Realizing Internationalization of Education

With the development of society, the issue of internationalization of education has gradually attracted people's attention. Economic globalization has increased exchanges between different countries, and the development of the Internet has made more people know about the internationalization of education. Both of these have brought new opportunities to the internationalization of education. While broadening personal horizons, it has also increased communication between countries. However, there are still problems in the development process of internationalization of education. This article analyzes the development path of educational internationalization and finds that there are regional, economic, and cultural background issues in educational internationalization through research on the current situation. Based on this, this article proposes the following suggestions: provide support to poverty-stricken areas and narrow the gap between regions. At the same time, if necessary, provide some economic assistance to students participating in the internationalization of education. In terms of cultural differences, engage in international communication and spread culture to other countries.

Effect of poverty alleviation relocation on non-farm employment of household labor force and its mechanism:Based on the analysis of 7th-phase tracking data of 857 farmers in the poverty-stricken areas of Wuling Mountain

Effect of poverty alleviation relocation on non-farm employment of household labor force and its mechanism:Based on the analysis of 7th-phase tracking data of 857 farmers in the poverty-stricken areas of Wuling Mountain

Enhancing adaptation to climate change by fostering collective action groups among smallholders in Punjab, Pakistan

Climate change adaptation is increasingly recognized by subsistence farmers in Pakistan. The problem of climate change is severe, and smallholders are often resource constrained when it comes to adapting to it. However, such constraints can be overcome through collective responses. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the impact of collective action among smallholder farmers to determine how it influences local adaptation processes. This study explores the impact of farmer’s collective action groups (CAGs) on adopting climate-smart agricultural (CSA) practices in poverty-stricken areas of rural Punjab, Pakistan. The data was collected through a cross-sectional survey, and for the analysis purpose, the Recursive bivariate probit regression (RBP) model was employed. The first stage estimates of RBP models suggest that the farmer’s decision to participate in CAGs is mainly influenced by factors such as education, credit access, climate change risk perception, and peer influence. The second stage estimates showed a positive and significant impact of farmers’ participation in collective action groups on adopting climate change adaptation strategies across all three models. The study concludes that the farmers participating in collective action groups have a higher climate change adaptation level. It is recommended that the pro-poor policies be designed to negate the entry barriers, facilitate the inclusion of the farmers in the collective action groups, and enhance climate change adaptation among smallholders.

Mosquito-borne diseases in Pakistan: challenges, strategies, and future prospects

Mosquito-borne diseases, notably malaria and dengue, present substantial health concerns in Pakistan, necessitating urgent and evidence-based strategies for prevention. The epidemiology of these diseases is influenced by climate change, inadequate vector control, and socioeconomic factors. Aedes mosquitoes are the primary vectors for dengue, while Anopheles mosquitoes transmit malaria. Vulnerable populations, including those in poverty-stricken areas, face higher risks. Prevention strategies encompass vector control, vaccinations, health education, and community engagement. Government initiatives emphasize healthcare infrastructure, community involvement, and inter-departmental coordination. However, challenges such as climate impact, urbanization, and public awareness gaps persist. Overcoming these challenges requires a multidimensional approach and sustained efforts to curb the spread of mosquito-borne diseases in Pakistan.

Poverty Alleviation Pattern: Top Down or Bottom Up Approach? (Indonesia and Malaysia Benchmarking)

Based on the previous research by Aspiranti et al. (2021), it was found that Indonesia and Malaysia still have impoverished communities that urgently need to improve their welfare. In the poorest areas of Malaysia, the majority of households from each ethnic group (on average, 55%) are vulnerable to poverty, while the core poor group comprises the lowest share (on average, 4%). Among household heads at different education levels, the core poor group represents the lowest share (average 4.5%), while the largest share (average 48%) is vulnerable to poverty. In Indonesia, the percentage of poor people in the poorest areas reached 9.27% in 2018, which is already below the national poverty rate of 9.82%. However, during the period of 2014-2018, the poverty line in Indonesia’s poorest areas continued to increase each year, with a 20.46% increase compared to 2014. The Indonesia Poverty Depth Index (P1) decreased from 1.72 to 1.49, indicating that the average expenditure of the poor is getting closer to the poverty line. Empirical findings from a study conducted in 2021 demonstrate that Indonesia’s poverty rate has shown improvement compared to 20 years ago. However, extreme poverty levels still persist, with income levels below $1.9 per day. In Malaysia, there are no longer people categorized as extremely poor. Based on secondary data published by the ASEAN Secretary Data, Malaysia’s high economic growth is accompanied by high per capita income, reaching $9,000 per year. As a result, Malaysians have a longer life expectancy of 78 years compared to Indonesians (68 years). However, despite Malaysia’s success in bringing prosperity to the population on an aggregate basis, there are still pockets of ethnic Malays experiencing poverty. The Malaysian government has made various efforts to alleviate poverty in these regions, but the poverty rate remains. Both Indonesia and Malaysia continue to implement poverty alleviation measures through top-down and bottom-up approaches. The study aims to benchmark the poverty alleviation models of both countries by conducting surveys in poverty-stricken areas of Indonesia (focused on Garut Regency) and Malaysia (focused on Kelantan). The research findings indicate that Malaysia’s poverty alleviation efforts are more top-down, initiated by the government through macroeconomic instruments. In West Java, the Provincial Government adopts a top-down approach by coordinating with various stakeholders to ensure program and activity synergy. Efforts to accelerate poverty reduction in West Java include the establishment of social protection, public health services, and direct financial support for families, encompassing both non-agricultural and agricultural sectors, to enhance community welfare.
 Keywords: benchmarking, poverty alleviation

Can poverty alleviation policy enhance ecosystem service value? Evidence from poverty-stricken regions in China

Existing literature indicates that poverty-stricken regions often exhibit characteristics such as poor resource endowment and weak environmental carrying capacity, which can lead to excessive exploitation of natural resources and degradation of the ecological environment in pursuit of economic development. However, previous research has primarily focused on the economic benefits of development in impoverished areas, overlooking the importance of ecosystem services. This study aims to fill this research gap by examining the impact of China's Poverty Alleviation Policy on ecosystem service values in 51 impoverished counties from 2011 to 2019. Our analysis reveals that the Poverty Alleviation Policy effectively enhances ecosystem service values in poverty-stricken areas, and the fiscal pressure faced by local governments significantly influences the policy's effectiveness in boosting ecosystem service values. Notably, we also find that environmental management policies demonstrate a greater capacity to enhance ecosystem service values in poverty-stricken regions compared to industrial development-led poverty-reduction policies.

The influence of the immediate environment on parolee rehabilitation

In democratic South Africa, there has been a shift from the punishment of offenders to the rehabilitation approach and a change from prisons to correctional centres. Once someone becomes an offender, the person goes through rehabilitation and not punishment. This paper discusses the influence of the immediate environment on the rehabilitation of paroles in Brits area of North-West Province in South Africa, a poverty-stricken area with limited resources. A qualitative approach and an exploratory descriptive design were utilised to describe the parolees’ experiences of parole in a low-resourced community. One-on-one in-depth interviews were used to collect data which were then analysed thematically and backed by existing literature. The findings of the study showed that environmental factors play a role in offending and rehabilitation of offenders in low-resourced areas. The paper makes critical recommendations for consideration by parole officials and researchers to facilitate the effective rehabilitation of offenders in low-resourced areas.

Why Have China’s Poverty Eradication Policy Resulted in the Decline of Arable Land in Poverty-Stricken Areas?

Arable land resources are the basic livelihood security for people in poverty-stricken areas, and poor people are prone to uncontrolled expansion of arable land and exogenous ecological damage to secure their livelihoods. To avoid this vicious cycle, China’s poverty eradication policy requires greater management and restoration of arable land in poverty-stricken areas, but it is unknown what impacts it may bring. Therefore, this study examines the impact of policy implementation on arable land by the Difference-in-Differences (DID) model and uses the mediating and moderating models to test the policy’s mechanism on arable land. The results reveal that the policy significantly reduces the arable land, and the results remain robust, controlling for potential endogeneity variables and robustness tests. What’s more, the results of the mediating and moderating effect models indicate that the reduction of arable land is mainly due to the increase of unit yield, guiding the local people to abandon degraded land and to carry out ecological restoration, thus reducing the arable land area and achieving sustainable development. Finally, recommendations are proposed from the perspective of human-land coordination.

Biosensor-Based Multiple Cross Displacement Amplification for the Rapid Detection of Mycobacterium leprae.

Leprosy is an ancient disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae (ML) that remains a public health problem in poverty-stricken areas worldwide. Although many ML detection techniques have been used, a rapid and sensitive tool is essential for the early detection and treatment of leprosy. Herein, we developed a rapid ML detection technique by combining multiple cross displacement amplification (MCDA) with a nanoparticle-based lateral flow biosensor (LFB), termed ML-MCDA-LFB. MCDA induced a rapid isothermal reaction using specific primers targeting the RLEP gene, and the LFB enabled instant visual amplicon detection. The pure genomic DNA of ML and nucleic acids from various pathogens were employed to evaluate and optimize the ML-MCDA-LFB assay. The optimal conditions for ML-MCDA-LFB were 68 °C and 35 min, respectively. The limit of detection for pure ML genomic DNA was 150 fg per vessel, and the specificity of detection was 100% for the experimental strains. Additionally, the entire detection process could be performed within 40 min, including the isothermal amplification (35 min) and result confirmation (1-2 min). Hence, the ML-MCDA-LFB assay was shown to be a rapid, sensitive, and visual method for detecting ML and could be used as a potential tool for early clinical diagnosis and field screening of leprosy.

The influencing factors underlying the vicious ecological vulnerability-low productivity-poverty cycle in China and overcoming its related policies

There is often a vicious cycle that occurs in China encompassing ecological vulnerability, low productivity, and poverty. Existing research has not applied multiagent modelling and simulation (MAMS), which is a method suitable for analysing such complex systems. Therefore, the MAMS is here used to explore potential strategies for breaking this cycle. The MAMS method is based on complex adaptive systems and computer programs, and it includes both theoretical and simulation models, which can be used to simulate different scenarios and obtain visualized results. To sample representative poverty-stricken areas in China, the authors designed five breakthrough policy scenarios. The simulation results of these scenarios indicate that increasing the amount of arable land decreases the number of poor people. However, increasing the direct interventions of government does not reduce the number of the poor, nor does it change the Gini coefficient. On the other hand, increasing the number and variety of poverty alleviation opportunities available to the poor leads to a decrease in both the number of poor people and the Gini coefficient. These results of our five scenarios indicate that the optimal policy portfolio could be obtained by increasing the amount of arable land and providing more varied opportunities to help the poor participate in market activities while reducing direct government intervention. The combined design of these policies is conducive to breaking the vicious cycle of poverty.

Impact of Microfinance on Women’s Entrepreneurship

Microfinance (MF) and its institution’s contribution to poverty reduction, alleviation, and eradication through entrepreneurship has been a debatable issue until now. Especially some controversial roles of the traditional microfinance institutions in different ‘global south’ countries made the situation even more complicated and problematic. Some recent scientific studies and global media reports against the role of microfinance in reducing poverty have given us some space for thoughts on the role of traditional microfinance institutions in entrepreneurship development among rural women. However, many scientific studies and media reports have claimed that microfinance contributes to a reduction in poverty through entrepreneurship by traditional microfinance institutions or commercial banks. However, it is unclear if MF is the most efficient way to reduce poverty without the help of other additional procedures among the poverty-stricken people or areas such as education, politics, health, infrastructure, etc. In the current paper, a critical observation has been made on the roles of microfinance in entrepreneurship development among poor, marginalized women. A literature survey has been made using different sources, such as academic databases, media reports, I/NGO reports, etc. It was found that some of the women who have received loans through microcredit or microfinance institutions used the money for consumption; however, most of the women recipients used the loan for their entrepreneurial activities or businesses to change their financial condition and have successfully brought financial sustainability.

Research on Information Poverty in Ethnic Border Regions

The information revolution has ushered in a new era of information and economy, with information resources becoming a key resource for regional economic strength and core competitiveness. In the process of informatization in China, there is a significant gap between the central and western regions and the eastern regions in terms of information infrastructure, information resource transmission and acquisition capabilities, information resource utilization and development potential, and information industry development. Therefore, information differentiation and the digital divide have also become important factors leading to the wealth gap in the information age. Against the backdrop of promoting the development of poverty-stricken areas and rural revitalization strategies, the issue of information poverty among the vast rural population in the western region, especially in ethnic border areas, cannot be ignored. To solve the problem of information poverty in ethnic border areas, it is necessary to strengthen the construction of rural information environment, improve farmers’ information literacy, strengthen the construction of information service talent team, and improve the effectiveness of information services.

Analysis of the contribution of land consolidation to sustainable poverty alleviation under various natural conditions

Land consolidation plays a vital role in addressing the global poverty issue. Nevertheless, the factors and mechanisms contributing to the disparities in the impacts of land consolidation on poverty alleviation (LCPA) remain inadequately analyzed. This study aimed to explore how natural conditions influence the effectiveness of LCPA in contiguous impoverished mountainous regions. The structural equation model (SEM), questionnaire and interviews were used to analyze whether natural conditions will affect the effectiveness of LCPA in Wumeng Mountain contiguous poverty-stricken area. The results showed that under the influence of natural conditions, the direct benefits of LCPA decreased by 31.3%, while the indirect benefits decreased by 56.1%. Natural factors have a negative impact on the direct benefits of LCPA, as evidenced by a path coefficient of − 0.39. However, they exhibit a positive influence on the indirect benefits, with a coefficient of 0.57. Specifically, topography and soil have a negative effect on LCPA, but the characteristic hydrological and temperature conditions facilitate the cultivation of specialty crop, such as strawberries and blueberries. The impact of different natural factors on the benefits of LCPA exhibits significant variations. Elevation and precipitation have a pronounced impact on the benefits of LCPA, with path coefficients of 1.01 and 0.99, respectively, while the influence of soil and temperature is relatively limited. While adverse natural conditions are one of the significant factors contributing to poverty, the combination of characteristic climatic conditions and LCPA projects has jointly facilitated the development of agricultural enterprises. Policymakers should pay attention to the multidimensional role of natural factors in land consolidation and poverty alleviation and strengthen the sustainability of land consolidation in poverty alleviation.

Sustainable poverty reduction models for the coordinated development of the social economy and environment in China

Sustainable development in impoverished areas is still a global challenge owing to trade-offs between development and conservation. There are large poverty-stricken areas (PSAs) in China, which overlap highly with ecologically sensitive areas. China has made great efforts to alleviate poverty over the years. The coordinated relationship between the social economy and the environment in PSAs, however, remains under-recognized. This study developed a county-level index system encompassing the socioeconomic and environmental sectors of China’s PSAs. The integrated indexes of the two sectors were developed to reveal the spatial–temporal socioeconomic and environmental patterns and coupling coordination degree (CCD) levels were calculated to assess the coordinated relationships between them. The CCD indicated the increasingly coordinated development of socioeconomic and environmental conditions in China’s PSAs from 2000 to 2020. Meanwhile, although the socioeconomic index achieved considerable growth with a growth rate of 58.4%, the environmental index was mildly improved with a growth rate of 19.6%, instead of a reduction. PSAs still have a large gap in socioeconomic development compared to non-poor areas; however, PSAs perform better in environmental index. Overall, the increased coordinated development between the social economy and the environment from 2000 to 2020 can be attributed to China’s long-term, large-scale, and targeted interventions in poverty reduction and environmental conservation. Further, benefiting from the geodiversity of China, we identified four poverty reduction models which include advantageously, sustained, periodic, and limited effective models, on the basis of CCD change patterns. The four models can provide valuable experience for the rest of the world in tackling similar trade-offs of poverty reduction and environmental challenges.

Plant-inspired multi-environmentally adaptive, flexible, and washable solar steam generation fabric

Interfacial solar water evaporation has been widely fabricated for water treatment owing to its great promise in harvesting fresh water with clean energy in need for carbon neural target. However, developing an evaporator with recyclability under severe contamination and adaptability for various complex aqueous environments, remains challenging. Herein, inspired by mangrove forest growing in salty shoals, an adaptive tree-like evaporator (ATE) was fabricated by rolling cotton threads and punched (pin-holed) carbon nanotube (CNT) film into modified photothermal bundles and further weaving them into root-leaf like structure, enabling uncoated cotton bundles as dense roots for extracting and transporting water and coated part as leaves with open holes for evaporation. Such a facile ATE showed stable water evaporation rate, and an excellent salt-self-cleaning performance. Importantly, the ATE was also available to extract and evaporate wastewater from some severe environments, such as mud, sand, emulsion and dye solution. The ATEs were scalable, and particularly proved to be flexible and robust for washing and reusing, with evaporation performance almost unchanged after 100 cycles. This work has demonstrated a prototype for an efficient, adaptive and scalable fabric evaporator for solar-driven wastewater treatment, opening the possibility to solve provisional freshwater supply in poverty-stricken or polluted areas.

Research on the Impact of Rural Economic Development on Welfare Policies for Poor Children

Children are the future of our country and the hope of our nation. It is the common aspiration of the entire society to ensure that every child can thrive. With the advancement of urbanization and the continuous increase in the scale of rural young and middle-aged labor entering cities for work, the issue of left-behind children in rural areas has attracted widespread attention from all sectors of society. Due to working outside for a long time, there is less time for communication and communication with children, insufficient care and assistance for children, and omissions in their daily life and psychology, resulting in an increase in welfare issues for left-behind children in rural areas. These left-behind children lack the care and care of their families, which makes their daily life, health, education, safety and other functions unable to be guaranteed, and children's welfare resources cannot be shared. The welfare problems of children are gradually worsening. How to properly take care of this group is a necessary question for achieving rural revitalization and development. In response to the actual situation in poverty-stricken rural areas, child protection should adhere to the principles of seeking truth from facts, long-term effectiveness, systematic organization, multi-party assistance, and carrying out measures according to one's abilities and promoting progress layer by layer. This article takes left-behind children in rural areas as the research object and analyzes the impact of rural economic development on welfare policies for left-behind children.

The capacity of land carbon sinks in poverty-stricken areas in China continues to increase in the process of eradicating extreme poverty: evidence from a study of poverty-stricken counties on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The capacity of land carbon sinks in poverty-stricken areas in China continues to increase in the process of eradicating extreme poverty: evidence from a study of poverty-stricken counties on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Rural Transformation Development and Its Influencing Factors in China’s Poverty-Stricken Areas: A Case Study of Yanshan-Taihang Mountains

Rural China has undergone a rapid transformation in the past few decades, especially the poverty-stricken areas, making a historic leap from inadequate subsistence to full well-off status. Based on rural regional system theory, this study analyzes the connotation of rural transformation development (RTD), explores the spatio-temporal patterns of RTD in the Yanshan-Taihang Mountainous, and diagnoses its influencing factors using a geographically and temporally weighted regression model. The results show that RTD is a dynamic process of qualitative changes in rural regional systems based on the accumulation of quantitative changes of elements, and the key to its measurement lies in analyzing the coupling coordination degree between quantitative changes of elements. From 2000 to 2020, the rapid development of urban population share, non-agricultural industry share, construction land share and NDVI in the Yanshan-Taihang Mountains contributed to a leap in RTD status, and the proportion of counties in a coupling coordination state increased from 24.24% to 96.97%. Spatially, the RTD level in the Taihang Mountains was significantly superior to that in the Yanshan Mountains. Average years of schooling, road density, per capita GDP and urban–rural dual structure were the main influencing factors of RTD, of which the first three were positive factors and the last one presented a negative correlation. To promote RTD to a higher level, it is an urgent matter to boost the high-quality development of county economy and rural education, improve public transportation infrastructure and innovate the policy system.