[Repost] Is ‘Patient Capitalism’ The Answer To Poverty?

From the 18 October 2013 NPR story

Part 5 of the TED Radio Hour episode Haves And Have-Nots.

About Jacqueline Novogratz’s TEDTalk

Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO of Acumen Fund, shares stories of how “patient capitalism” can bring sustainable jobs, goods, services and dignity to the world’s poor.

About Jacqueline Novogratz

Jacqueline Novogratz is redefining the way problems of poverty can be solved around the world.

She is a leading proponent of financing enterprises that can bring affordable clean water, housing and health care to poor people so that they no longer depend on traditional charity and aid.

The Acumen Fund, which she founded in 2001, has an ambitious plan: to create a blueprint for alleviating poverty using market-oriented approaches.

Rather than handing out grants, Acumen invests in fledgling companies and organizations that bring products and services to the world’s poor.

Novogratz places a great deal of importance on identifying solutions from within communities rather than imposing them from the outside.

In her book, The Blue Sweater, she tells stories which emphasize sustainable bottom-up solutions over traditional top-down aid.

http://www.ted.com/talks/jacqueline_novogratz_on_patient_capitalism.html

Related articles

• Is ‘Patient Capitalism’ The Answer To Poverty? (wnyc.org)
• Dignity, not dependence (aiddebate.wordpress.com)
• Acumen’s Jacqueline Novogratz: making sustainability profitable (theguardian.com)
• Haves And Have-Nots (wnyc.org)
• Book Giveaway: The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz (beth.typepad.com)
• Inspiring a life of immersion: Jacqueline Novogratz on TED.com (ted.com)
• The Blue Sweater 500 (bethkanter.org)

 

Child malnutrition caused by more than lack of food

Image via Wikipedia

From the 1 May 2011 Science News Daily article

ScienceDaily (May 1, 2011) — Giving poor families land on which to grow crops has been shown to improve child nutrition. New research also shows that giving families non-agricultural land and better housing also is beneficial for children’s growth and nutrition…

…”Malnutrition is a major problem for the health of children under 5 years of age in rural Mayan Guatemalan villages,” said Dr. Agulnik, lead author of the study and a resident at Children’s Hospital Boston. “This study demonstrates that in areas where land scarcity is a major problem, land distributions supporting improved housing and community organization can improve child nutrition without changing a family’s income. It also suggests that in our population, living conditions, sanitation, crowding and community organization play a major role in causing child malnutrition.”

The study underscores the fact that childhood malnutrition is not only about food, said study co-author Paul Wise, MD, MPH, FAAP, who created a program at Stanford University in California called Children in Crisis to improve health care to children living in politically unstable regions. “While this study documents the terrible toll of poverty on child health, it also emphasizes the interaction between the child, infections, community life and the exercise of political power.”

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by American Academy of Pediatrics, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Related Articles

• Persistent child malnutrition in Tanzania: Risks associated with traditional complementary foods (A review (foodhygiene2010.wordpress.com)
• Making a Business of Fighting Child Malnutrition (blogs.forbes.com)
• India’s child malnutrition puzzle (palakmathur.wordpress.com)
• Risk factors for the development of persistent diarrhoea and malnutrition in Burmese children (foodhygiene2010.wordpress.com)
• DJIBOUTI: Challenges remain, despite nutrition gains (goubet2day.wordpress.com)
• Dying hungry (bbc.co.uk)

Better Sanitation Could Save 2 Million Lives a Year

Nearly 20 percent of the world’s population still defecates in the open, and action to improve hygiene, sanitation and water supply could prevent more than 2 million child deaths a year, health experts said Monday.

[Editor Flahiff’s note — I went to Liberia, West Africa last year for 3 weeks of service projects with members of Friends of Liberia ( pics and info about the trip at http://www.fol.org)