The Independent, 28 March, 2018, Bangladesh SarminAkther In order to reduce poverty, rather than attempting to change the “culture of poverty” “structural trap” should be removed   In a recent article published in the World Journal of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development, Dr. KhurshedAlam of Bangladesh argued that the universal approaches in poverty reduction may not be applicable rather country-specific approach needs to be evolved and followed. Scholars from both developed and developing nations paid high attention to understand the reasons of prevailing poverty for poverty reduction. Two explanations of poverty were highlighted, one being the “poverty trap theory” covering “structural trap” and “kinship trap theory,” and the other being the “culture of poverty theory.” The structural poverty trap theory blames the rich, where the kinship trap and culture of poverty theory blames the poor. Hence, the two major grand theories contradict each other and none of the theories give any solution to the problem of poverty. In addition to these, colonialism, new-colonial society, dependency theory, and world system are some other theoretical stands which did not get much attention from mainstream scholars. Scholars have considered their theories sufficient to explain the poverty condition. His paper argues that the two theories mentioned above are not necessarily applicable in each country. This idea goes hand in hand with the statement of Nobel Laureate Douglas North that economies that adopt the formal rules of another economy will have different performance characteristics than the first economy because of different informal norms and enforcement. In order to reduce poverty, rather than attempting to change the “culture of poverty,” remove the “structural trap,” or “kin system as poverty trap” it can be achieved through harnessing the enabling factors of poverty reduction. Every country has its enabling factors that contribute the most to reduce poverty, despite the existence of hindrances. Thus a country needs to focus on its ‘potential’ factors of poverty reduction, rather than focusing on “barriers” to poverty reduction. Instruments of poverty reduction have revealed in his paper where a usual practice is to identify the barrier to development and to suggest the means of overcoming those barriers. A means of poverty reduction also being suggested where country-specific strategy or home-grown model can be drawn out based on the identification of potential factors. It suggests how to look into the issue from another way round; instead of identifying the barrier attempt should be made to identify the enabling factors and to harness those enabling factors. He has identified the factors which are instrumental to poverty reduction opposed to many factors that are considered as impediments to poverty reduction in a poor country like Bangladesh. Bangladesh could substantially move forward in the case of overall poverty reduction. The Household Income and Expenditure Surveys conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (2011) gives the statistics of the incidence of poverty faced by Bangladeshi people using the poverty headcount ratio method. The report shows that under the Pakistani rule, the national poverty rate in 1963-1964 was 33.1 percent, which sincreased to 46.4 percent right after liberation in 1973-1974. The trend of poverty has been increasing since then, reaching the highest rate of 71.2 percent in 1981-1982. Poverty rate was 56.6 percent in 1991-1992. Since then, the rate has been declining, reaching 31.5 percent in 2010, and is estimated to be 26 percent in 2014. Population suffering from extreme poverty in 2014 was 10.64 percent whereas it was 17.6 percent in 2010. He further mentioned that out of 64 districts, 12 (18.75 percent) had less than 10 percent of it’s population suffering from the extreme poverty whereas four (6.25 percent) had less than only 5 percent. Though the rate of decline in the poverty level is quite high in the urban areas compared to that of the rural areas, it is quite clear that at the national level, poverty is dominated more by the rural areas. This can be explained by the fact that despite the growing urbanization, around 67 percent of the population lives in the rural areas. Therefore, in order to have a stronger impact on poverty eradication at the national level, it is important to take poverty reduction measures targeting the rural population. In Bangladesh, poverty reduction would be possible through agricultural development and remittance. The utilization of land and labor could bring a transformation in the rural economy of Bangladesh which is essential to poverty reduction. Individuals here can escape poverty largely through their own effort where a proper policy support from the government is needed. The state needs to play the facilitating role rather than the instrumental in the case of poverty reduction. Thus the statement of Former US Ambassador in Bangladesh Dan Mozena, “Bangladesh would transform from the ‘bottomless basket’ to an ‘overflowing basket’ very soon” would turn into a reality.   The writer is a Research Officer of Bangladesh Institute of Social Research Trust. Email akther.sarmin101@gmail.com

Fiji Sun. 22-03-2018. Fiji From left: Outgoing Chair, Bhutan Ministrty of Agriculture and Forest ChenchoDupka, Ministry of Agriculture PS David Kolitagane, Minister for Industry, Trade, Tourism, Lands and Mineral Resources FaiyazKoya, Assistant Minister for Agriculture ViamPillay, FAO chief statistician PietroGennari, and APCAS secretary MukeshSrivastava at the opening ceremony of the 27th Session of Asia and Pacific Commission on Agricultural Statistics (APCAS) at the Sheraton Resort, Denarau, Nadi, on March 19, 2018. Photo: WaiseaNasokia   There is a need to build a sus­tainable agricultural statis­tics system, says the Minister for Industry, Trade, Tourism, Land and Mineral Resources, FaiyazKoya. With close to three quarters of the population of Pacific countries liv­ing in rural areas who depend on agriculture and fisheries for surviv­al, MrKoya said such a system was needed. “This system will not only help in targeted policy making but also monitor the progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals [SDG] in the region,” the minister said yesterday while opening the 27th Session of Asia-Pacific Com­mission on Agriculture Statistics (APCAS) at the Sheraton Fiji Resort in Denarau, Nadi.   There are more than 100 partici­pants from 30 countries attending the forum, which includes delegates from Asia Pacific on Agriculture Statistics (APCAS) member coun­tries, observers from non-member countries, international organisa­tions and technical experts from FAO Regional Office and headquar­ters. The forum aims to identify the needs and priorities of member countries to develop sound statisti­cal systems capable of providing data for planning and policy-making in the food and agriculture sector. MrKoya said the aim was to raise people’s living standards and nutri­tional status, especially rural dwell­ers. “This underlying principle has made Fiji very proud of our mem­bership and of what we have been able to achieve alongside our AP­CAS partners,” he said. “Over the last decade, Fiji has em­barked on a progressive path that has seen our standing in the world and our integration with the region, grow exponentially.” MrKoya said the occasion was his­torical as this was the first time that all Pacific countries were represent­ed in the history of APCAS. With Papua New Guinea and Ton­ga being new members, MrKoya hopes other Pacific countries will join APCAS and help gather greater attention to their problems and seek harmonised solutions. “In the Asia-Pacific region, gaps exist in agriculture data at national and regional levels,” the minister said. “However, the data situation for ag­riculture has eroded in recent dec­ades to the point where, many coun­tries lack the capacity to produce and report even the minimum set of data to monitor national trends or guide the international develop­ment debate. “The changing face of agriculture in the twenty-first century has in­creased requirements for agricul­tural statistics beyond traditional data about production, which is used to monitor the status of food availability and food security. “In addition, one must not forget that new data requirements are emerging and we therefore need to understand how population growth, demand for natural resources, use of food products to produce biofuels, and the effects of extreme weather and climate change, affect food secu­rity, poverty and well-being.” MrKoya said efforts to improve the awareness on SDG indicators and development of a harmonised approach to the collection and use of agricultural and rural statistics in the Asia and Pacific region would be achieved through provision of information on the programme for the World Census of Agriculture 2020. Tied to the principle of ‘leaving no one behind’, driven by means of partnerships, accountability and underpinned by communication, FAO’s broad priorities in the 2030 Agenda are to: End poverty, hunger and malnu­trition Enable sustainable development in agriculture, fisheries and for­estry Combat and adapt to climate change.

An app called SmartGaon has transformed a small hamlet in Uttar Pradesh to a tech-saavy village that boasts of a Wi-Fi zone, CCTV cameras and online listing of farm produce. A Maharashtra village is next in line.   By: BV Mahalakshmi | New Delhi | Published: March 19, 2018. The Indian Express   In Uttar Pradesh, two IT professionals, with a dream to transform the lives of thousands in rural India, have developed an app called ‘SmartGaon’. Indian villages moving along the IT stream using mobile apps for rural development is a reality now. ‘Smart’ is part of their lexicon now, with each letter denoting new aspirations: ‘S’ for social security schemes, ‘M’ for modern urban amenities, ‘A’ for adoption of smart agriculture practices, ‘R’ for roads infrastructure and transportation and ‘T’ for tech-savvy, and the smartphone is helping bridge the rural-urban divide. Due to it, mobile apps are acting as platforms for social and behavioral changes among the rural population. Be it agriculture, health, education or availing any government services, mobile apps have touched almost every aspect of rural development and continue to be the harbringer of change in rural India. In Uttar Pradesh, two IT professionals, with a dream to transform the lives of thousands in rural India, have developed an app called ‘SmartGaon’, that not only connects an entire village population internally and with the developed world, but also serves as a knowledge and information centre, a marketplace, a helpline and a holistic development tool to make their village a smart village. Yogesh Sahu, a Mumbai-based young entrepreneur delivering IT solutions to small and medium businesses, along with his friend Rajnish Bajpai, a software professional working abroad, had together envisaged creating a transformation in rural India, using mobile technology and Internet of Things. And the results are visible. Taudhakpur, a remote village with limited amenities in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh, is now developing at the speed of light. Within a span of 48 hours, the village has built 242 toilets, the highest in the state of UP. From setting up CCTV cameras, public address systems, dustbins and streetlights at various junctions, this village is getting smarter by the day. The village has a Wi-Fi zone in addition to 18-20 hours of power supply. All of this has been achieved due to a vision, which transcended into a mobile app called SmartGaon, wherein all initiatives undertaken are updated, recorded, tracked and monitored, ensuring free flow of information and community well-being. “SmartGaon is a non-profit app built for the betterment of quality of life of the people living in the rural areas. It is a B2C model where the business is only for the consumer,” says Sahu, who received a letter of appreciation from the gram panchayat and the Gram Pradhan of Taudhakpur. “The USP of the app is that it covers all the aspects of developing a village, from setting up school infrastructure, digitalisation, helping farmers list their produce cutting out the middlemen, to building toilets and setting up CCTV cameras in the village.” Although rural India faces innumerable challenges—frequent power outages, scarcity of safe drinking water, poor farm productivity, difficulty in transporting farm produce to the markets and poor education facilities, et al, digital technology coupled with a vision can engineer a revolution. Developing mobile apps for start-ups and SMEs, Sahu evaluated the power that the mobile phone gave ordinary citizens, especially rural Indians. Incorporating these learnings in the SmartGaon app, he ensured that the app had key features like the villagers’ directory, news and events calendar, health centre, information centre, etc., in English as well as Hindi. The goal was to reconstruct Indian villages such that people can lead a invigorating and fulfilling life in them, as in the cities. Sahu says that the main trigger for developing the app was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech at San Jose SAP centre where he spoke on how to stop brain drain in the country and bring brain gain leading to brain deposit. Enthused by the speech, Sahu and Bajpai brainstormed on various social improvement ideas and then came up with the SmartGaon idea. “We wish to transform 10 more villages in the next two years. We already have one village where activities have been initiated. The next step is to spread awareness amongst urban citizens, NRIs and corporates to come forward and support this cause,” says Sahu, adding that the next stop for the SmartGaon app is Maharashtra.

PRATIK CHHETRI AND NEHA MALLA.The Himalayan Times .March 13, 2018 . Nepal   Despite making strides towards gender equality, Nepali women still do not have equal status as their male counterparts. This inequality can be ended by implementing fair, inclusive and evidence-driven policies Photo: RatnaSagarShrestha/THT Between October 2015 and June 2016, Nepal received its first women in powerful positions—the President, the Speaker of Parliament, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. This was momentous for women’s rights movement in Nepal, and around the world. The new constitution of Nepal has reserved 33 per cent seats for women in federal and provincial parliaments. The results of local elections also brought a wave of women leadership in politics and governance, electing over 14,000 women leaders throughout the country. However, Nepali women largely still do not have equal status as their male counterparts. There is still a double standard while claiming citizenship by birth through mothers versus it being done through fathers. Disparities among Nepali women in health and education outcomes further paint a gloomy picture. The adult female literacy rate in Nepal is just 49 per cent while that for Nepali men is 72 per cent. About 28 per cent of Nepali women are reported to have faced sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). The maternal mortality rate (MMR) of Nepali women is 258 per 100,000 live births—quite high compared to neighbouring India’s 174. Abortion was legalised in 2002, and yet the most recent study in Nepal found out that nearly 60 per cent of all abortions that occurred were clandestine, thereby increasing risks to women’s mortality and morbidity. These are clear indications for the need of great deal of progress in reducing gender-based disparities. Overall, the 2016 Global Gender Inequality Index (GII) list produced by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ranks Nepal 144th among 188 countries reported. We believe that the answer to these issues lie in the 2014 Nepal Human Development Report published by the government of Nepal and the UNDP. The report used the Human Development Index (HDI) values to represent the state of human development in various districts, and other geographically distinguished regions of Nepal. We turned to the 2016 global reports on HDI and GII published by the UNDP, and not surprisingly, found those indices too have a clear linear relationship, such that less developed regions have higher gender inequality. According to the 2014 report, 10 districts—Bajura, Bajhang, Kalikot, Humla, Achham, Rautahat, Mahottari, Jajarkot, Rolpa and Mugu—have HDI values less than 0.400 while 16 districts—Dolpa , Sarlahi, Doti, Siraha, Jumla, Pyuthan, Baitadi, Dailekh, Rukum, Dhanusha, Kapilvastu, Darchula, Saptari, Sindhuli, Salyan and Dadeldhura—have HDI values between 0.400 and 0.449. HDI values and GII are separately calculated for each province as well. Provinces 6, 7, 2 and 5 have HDI values less than 0.449. The HDI value and GII for Province 6 are 0.412 and 0.68092; for Province 7, they are 0.4158 and 0.676778; for Province 2, they are 0.4216 and 0.670456; and for Province 5, the HDI and GII values are 0.4612 and 0.627292 respectively. For Provinces 3, 1 and 4, the HDI and GII values are 0.496 and 0.58936; 0.4996 and 0.585436; and 0.513 and 0.57083 respectively. The HDI values have been obtained by adding 1.13 to the product of GII value and -1.09. This list can be used as an estimation of gender inequality in these districts. Based in these calculations and estimations, it can be suggested that the newly formed governments should prioritise gender equality measures on these districts and geographical regions. According to the report, Provinces 6, 7, 2 and 5 should be on the priority list for the federal government, given their higher estimated gender inequality index values, compared to the rest of the other provinces. This is also consistent with the recommendations provided by the 2018 Multidimensional Poverty (MPI) report recently published by the National Planning Commission Nepal. The districts with the lowest HDI values, hence the lowest estimated GII values, in each of the provinces are Okhaldhunga (Province  1), Rautahat (Province  2), Sindhuli (Province  3), Baglung (Province  4), Rolpa (Province  5), Kalikot (Province  6), and Bajura (Province 7). It can be argued that each of the newly formed provincial governments should prioritise their gender equality measures and interventions in the districts with lowest estimated GII values. Additionally, respective provinces should also put all the 26 districts on their high priority list for gender equality measures. We believe these newly formed decentralised government structures will consider women empowerment a priority in increasing Nepal’s overall human development. It can be done by implementing fair and inclusive and evidence-driven policies. Human life is sacred. Poverty, oppression and illiteracy, however, are not sacred, and can be changed with evidence-based policies. Let us remember that women’s lives are not only sacred but equal to those of men. So we must give them equal opportunity. Women’s Day should be a reminder of the fact that we need to work every day, round the year, to give equal opportunity to women. Chhetri is pursuing Master of Public Health at University of California, Berkeley and Malla is pursuing Master in Food and Nutrition