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Cooperatives: one solution for agriculture in Haiti

Fritz-Gerald Louis's picture

Available in: français

In my country, Haiti, the agricultural sector represents 25 percent of GDP and accounts for over 50 percent of jobs. However, agricultural occupations are extremely insecure and do not permit farmers and their families to live in a dignified manner. Over two-thirds of the inhabitants of rural regions are poor, and agriculture is their main source of income. (Source in French: Haitian Institute of Statistics and Information Technology)

Interview with Stéphanie Guico, Program Coordinator of the Future Cooperative Leaders Program

Stéphanie Guico's picture

Available in : français | español

cooperatives for development

Youthink! interviewed Stéphanie Guico. Stéphanie is the Program Coordinator of the Future Cooperative Leaders Program, a program created to encourage participation by young cooperative employees and leaders (between the ages of 20 and 35) during the Summit.

Water: A Limited Resource for Kakuma Refugees

Vestine Umubyeyi's picture

Water is the source of life. Everyone depends on it, including the Kakuma refugees. In a desert environment, with no direct water source and reliable rainy season, the residents of Kakuma (locals and refugees) have great difficulty obtaining the water they need to survive.  The United Nations High Commissioner for refugees (UNHCR), in conjunction with the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), is assisting the people by trying to find solutions to create water points and establish proper hygiene and sanitation systems to safeguard the health of the people.

Carbon for (clean) water in Western Kenya

Carmen Elsa Lopez Abramson's picture

Available in: Español 

An hour down a dirt road stands the most beautiful natural treasure in Kenya’s Western Province—the Kakamega Forest. The forest is a fraction of its former size, and it grows smaller every day because of the insatiable demand for firewood.

The Internet: a powerful resource if you know how to use it

Mamata Pokharel's picture

We have all heard the buzz: How the Internet has changed the world; how social networks are allowing young people to voice their aspirations and organize to bring real changes on the ground; and how the developing world is awash in mobile phones and hyper-connected youngsters.

Coping with high food prices in Pakistan

In the last three or four years, there has been a sharp rise in food prices in Gujrat, Pakistan, where I live--especially for commonly needed products such as wheat, sugar, vegetables, fruits, and grains.

My neighbors and friends say their incomes can’t keep up with food and oil prices, so they are reducing their daily food intake.  Before this food price spike, they ate three times a day, now it’s twice.

Taking the Dropout Problem Seriously in Rural Nepal

Last December, I wanted to find out why so many children near my university in rural Nepal dropped out of school . I went to more than 30 homes. Parents gave several reasons, but the main one was that they believed work was more beneficial than education. You can read some of their comments in my blog post.

Inside a School in Nepal’s Mountains

Mamata Pokharel's picture

I am in Phaplu, a small mountain town, which is more developed than most other towns in Solukhumbu. There is an airport, and a road that reaches the town. This is also where Sir Edmund Hillary, who was among the first to reach the summit of Mt. Everest, has set up a hospital.  

My Best Friend Fela - Proves That Having a Disability Is Not an Excuse to Give Up

Ke Rafitoson's picture

For people in Madagascar who live with a disability, life is not easy.  

Disabled people are often pointed at, isolated, separated from their families, or neglected. This is because disability is often considered a curse in a society where superstition is commonplace -- even if we prefer not to admit it ….

My life changed, when I met Fela. Her life story opened my eyes. My main three takeaways from my friendship with Fela are: 

Poverty and the school dropout rate in Nepal

When I started school, my parents earned less than $1 a day. It was hard for them to send their four children, including me, to school. Still, we all went. I’m now 23 and in my last year of a bachelor of science at the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences in Chitwan District in Nepal.

The Afghan Entrepreneurs – complex context, high contacts!

Entrepreneurship is a new ball game in the Afghan context. While some foreign-educated Afghans, especially the post 2000 generation who are endowed with international networks, local contacts and modern communication skills do maximize gains from entrepreneurial ventures, the overwhelming majority of the Afghan entrepreneurs fail to sustain their ventures. The most recurrent reason for the demise of entrepreneurship is that Afghan entrepreneurs fail to learn lessons from failed ventures. Most entrepreneurial ventures in the Afghan context are not stemmed from instinct or built in light of informed decision; rather they are imitations of the profitable trend. Whatever venture has proved to pay dividends, a plethora of the so-called entrepreneurs have jumped to replicate that. Such a scenario may perfectly represent a competitive environment; nonetheless, it also is recognizant of an environment that lacks sophistication and innovation.


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