Thursday, January 31, 2013

allAfrica.com: Africa: Supporting Women in Agriculture for a 'Prosperous' Africa

allAfrica.com: Africa: Supporting Women in Agriculture for a 'Prosperous' Africa: "In Africa, women play a vital role in agriculture and nutrition, but they face significant challenges. LĂ©autier believes there are three key rights the GIMAC network needs to address if it aims to transform the role women play in agriculture: land rights; the right to conduct of cross-border trade without harassment; and the right to own businesses and conduct business across borders."

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Some Types of Foreign Investment Are Better Than Others: A Look at Factors That Help FDI Boost the Local Economy | Making international trade work for development

Some Types of Foreign Investment Are Better Than Others: A Look at Factors That Help FDI Boost the Local Economy | Making international trade work for development: "But in the long run, the most important benefit FDI can bring is not through things so easily observable like jobs and taxes, but through the “spillover” of technology and knowledge (such as management and organizational practices) to local firms and workers. Such spillovers can help transform local economies by raising the level of productivity. But spillovers are not guaranteed. In too many countries, Lesotho and Swaziland included, FDI operates as an enclave, with few links to the domestic economy. Indeed, foreign investments may even have negative impacts on domestic competitiveness, at least in the short run; it might crowd out local investment, out-compete domestic firms, or corner the market for skilled workers. It turns out that foreign investment is not unambiguously good. Rather, how advantageous it is depends on a number of conditions."

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Feed the Future Groundnut Grants Improve Local Value Chains at the Grassroots Level | Feed the Future

Feed the Future Groundnut Grants Improve Local Value Chains at the Grassroots Level | Feed the Future: "1,800 smallholder farmers in Zambia’s Eastern Province are strengthening their capacity to supply groundnuts to oil and nut butter processors, translating into improved food security, nutrition and economic opportunities.

The grants are helping to increase the capacity of both the farmers and processing groups in one of Zambia’s poorest provinces, where the oilseed and legume value chains are instrumental not only to food security but empowering local women, who play a prominent role in production, marketing and trade of oils and butters. Now local associations, such as the Petauke District Farmers Association, support farmers with quality control training, agricultural extension services, improved seeds, and a guaranteed market for their nutritious crop."

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International Development - A global supply chain that's fair to workers

International Development - A global supply chain that's fair to workers: "The U.K. aid agency has launched an initiative to meant to ensure fair labor conditions for farmers and other workers in the developing world who are increasingly being plugged into global supply chains by large international corporations.

The Trade and Global Value Chains initiative, launched Jan. 29 by the Department for International Development, is expected to forge partnerships with “food and clothing retailers, local charities and governments to help farmers and workers employed by suppliers that operate in global supply chains.”"

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Monday, January 28, 2013

Confessions of a Liberal Gun Owner - NYTimes.com

Confessions of a Liberal Gun Owner - NYTimes.com:


I AM a New England liberal, born and bred. I have lived most of my life in the Northeast — Boston, New York and Philadelphia — and my politics are devoutly Democratic. In three decades, I have voted for a Republican exactly once, holding my nose, in a mayoral election in which the Democratic candidate seemed mentally unbalanced.
I am also a Texas resident and a gun owner. I have half a dozen pistols in my safe, all semiautomatics, the largest capable of holding 20 rounds. I go to the range at least once a week, have applied for a concealed carry license and am planning to take a tactical training course in the spring. I’m currently shopping for a shotgun, either a Remington 870 Express Tactical or a Mossberg 500 Flex with a pistol grip and adjustable stock.


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Friday, January 25, 2013

BBC News - Why did men stop wearing high heels?

BBC News - Why did men stop wearing high heels?: ""They would smoke pipes, they would wear hats that were very masculine. And this is why women adopted the heel - it was in an effort to masculinise their outfits.""

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Thursday, January 24, 2013

Panetta to lift ban on women in combat - CBS News

Panetta to lift ban on women in combat - CBS News: "the Defense Department is lifting its ban on women serving in combat. The official announcement will come Wednesday from Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.

Panetta's order will make women eligible to serve as infantrymen on combat patrol and even in elite special operations units like the Navy SEALS. However, women will have to meet strength standards that could keep them out of units where the physical demands are especially grueling."

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Wednesday, January 23, 2013

'Third gender' identity | The Stream - Al Jazeera English

'Third gender' identity | The Stream - Al Jazeera English: "More than five years after Nepal's Supreme Court ruled that citizenship certificates should include a "third gender" category for those who do not wish to identify themselves as male or female, the decision is now being implemented."

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Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Women need more adaptation funding, activists charge - AlertNet

Women need more adaptation funding, activists charge - AlertNet: "DHAKA, Bangladesh (AlertNet) - Despite being disproportionately affected by climate change, women and girls are getting relatively little attention and money in Bangladesh’s climate adaptation initiatives, activists and negotiators say.

The Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund, financed with Tk 25 billion ($305 million) from the national budget, has financed only one project focused on women out of 109 climate adaptation and mitigation projects, they say."

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Unctad must be led by charismatic innovator, supporters tell Ban Ki-moon | Global development | guardian.co.uk

Unctad must be led by charismatic innovator, supporters tell Ban Ki-moon | Global development | guardian.co.uk: "In an open letter to Ban last week, Unctad's supporters said:

"The world clamours for innovative economic thinking that charts a sustainable way out of the current crisis and that contributes to development and poverty reduction. We would regard the capacity to stimulate such thinking and to articulate the resulting policy approaches in the relevant forums as the single most important consideration when sifting among possible candidates in the requisite consultations with member states. The growing weight of developing countries in global matters requires an intellectually outstanding personality as the new leader of Unctad."
The letter has been signed by more than 140 academics, public officials, and former senior staff of international organisations, the UN and Unctad. They include Dame Margaret Joan Anstee, former UN under-secretary general, Sir Richard Jolly, deputy executive director of the UN agency for children, Unicef (1982-96), Carlos Fortin, deputy secretary general of Unctad (1990-2005), and Ha-Joon Chang, professor of economics at Cambridge University."

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Thursday, January 17, 2013

Jerry Brown Creates California Surplus Miracle, But Can It Last? - The Daily Beast

Jerry Brown Creates California Surplus Miracle, But Can It Last? - The Daily Beast: "But Gov. Jerry Brown announced that his state has suddenly projected a surplus of $851 million. Two years ago, when Brown came back into office, the state had a $25.4 billion deficit, a Sisyphean problem Governor Arnold struggled with unsuccessfully all last decade."

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FAO Media Centre: Sowing the seeds of food security in South Sudan

FAO Media Centre: Sowing the seeds of food security in South Sudan: "The project, valued at more than  $612 000 (EUR 500 000), will help to train farmers in the production, storage and marketing of quality seeds and cuttings for staple crops like sorghum, maize, cassava and cowpeas. It will also increase the availability of seeds to South Sudan's most vulnerable farmers."

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Cash vs. Food: Measuring the Effectiveness of Food Assistance | Food Security Portal

Cash vs. Food: Measuring the Effectiveness of Food Assistance | Food Security Portal:


Differences were also found regarding how each type of program benefited poor households compared to more well-off households. Food transfers, by generating higher food consumption and caloric intake, led to significantly larger impacts for the poorest households. Food vouchers and cash transfers had generally similar impacts across all households.
Finally, significant differences were found in the cost of implementing all three programs. The authors found that that the marginal cost of each program was $11.50 for a food transfer, $3.03 for a cash transfer, and $3.30 for a voucher. Looking at both the costs and impacts, food transfers appear to be the least cost-effective way of improving food consumption levels and dietary diversity across the board. The cost-effectiveness of cash transfers and food vouchers, however, is not as straightforward and ultimately depends on the specific goal of the program. If the desired outcome is an improvement in food consumption, then there is no significant difference between cash transfers and food vouchers. Food vouchers, on the other hand, may be better for achieving improved dietary diversity. Finally, if the goal is to improve overall welfare, cash transfers may be the most effective. The report found that, in addition to being the cheapest means of providing assistance, cash transfer programs are also generally more preferred by recipients; this preference may be due to the increased freedom felt by recipients of cash transfers, as well as the potential for cash transfers to generate household savings and improve overall welfare.


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Can vegans stomach the unpalatable truth about quinoa? | Joanna Blythman | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Can vegans stomach the unpalatable truth about quinoa? | Joanna Blythman | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk: "in the case of quinoa, there's a ghastly irony when the Andean peasant's staple grain becomes too expensive at home because it has acquired hero product status among affluent foreigners preoccupied with personal health, animal welfare and reducing their carbon "foodprint". Viewed through a lens of food security, our current enthusiasm for quinoa looks increasingly misplaced."

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Friday, January 11, 2013

Defense attorney blames victim in India gang-rape, murder case - World News

Defense attorney blames victim in India gang-rape, murder case - World News:

The attorney representing three men charged with gang rape and murder in India told an interviewer that the woman who died and her male companion were to blame for the attack, which took place on a moving bus in New Delhi, according to a report published Thursday.
"Until today I have not seen a single incident or example of rape with a respected lady," Manohar Lal Sharma said, according to the Bloomberg report. "Even an underworld don would not like to touch a girl with respect."

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Thursday, January 10, 2013

BBC News - Half of all food 'thrown away' claims report

BBC News - Half of all food 'thrown away' claims report: "Dr Fox, head of energy and environment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said: "The amount of food wasted and lost around the world is staggering. This is food that could be used to feed the world's growing population - as well as those in hunger today.

"It is also an unnecessary waste of the land, water and energy resources that were used in the production, processing and distribution of this food."

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Climate change and poverty have not gone away | Joseph Stiglitz | Business | guardian.co.uk

Climate change and poverty have not gone away | Joseph Stiglitz | Business | guardian.co.uk: "The market will not, on its own, solve any of these problems. Global warming is a quintessential "public goods" problem. To make the structural transitions that the world needs we need governments to take a more active role – at a time when demands for cutbacks are increasing in Europe and the US.

As we struggle with today's crises, we should be asking whether we are responding in ways that exacerbate our long-term problems. The path marked out by the deficit hawks and austerity advocates both weakens the economy today and undermines future prospects. The irony is that, with insufficient aggregate demand the major source of global weakness today, there is an alternative: invest in our future, in ways that help us to address simultaneously the problems of global warming, global inequality and poverty, and the necessity of structural change."

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Wednesday, January 9, 2013

BBC News - The girls stolen from the streets of India

BBC News - The girls stolen from the streets of India: "The death of a student who was gang-raped on a Delhi bus has prompted anguished soul-searching about the place of women in Indian society. The widespread killing of female foetuses and infants is well-documented, but less well-known is the trafficking of girls across the country to make up for the resulting shortages.

Rukhsana was sweeping the floor when police broke into the house.

Wide-eyed and thin, she stood in the middle of a room clutching a broom in her hand. Police officers towered above her, shouting questions: "How old are you? "How did you get here?"

"Fourteen," she replied softly. "I was kidnapped.""

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Agriculture and Forestry Key to Mitigating Climate Change

Agriculture and Forestry Key to Mitigating Climate Change: "Deforestation, the turning of forests into non-forest land use, continues to severely impact the livelihoods of those who depend on forests for survival. While deforestation uses the converted land for urban growth, wastelands, logging, and agriculture, it contributes to a significant reduction of biodiversity, as well as climate change. Holmgren noted,

“Deforestation is effectively the expansion of agriculture.  So what needs to happen is to work together between the agriculture and forestry sectors to find solutions at the landscape level.”"

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Monday, January 7, 2013

Africa: India's Shift to Inclusive Innovation Is 'A Model to Follow'


For innovations to work, excluded people must be involved in their development, stressed Fernando Santiago, senior programme at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Canada.
"Rural people are smart and we do not engage them enough," he said.
 
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