The World Bank - Working for a world free of poverty

Views menu

Syndicate content
Turning Ideas into Action

About us

Welcome

This blog is hosted by the Development Marketplace. It is a platform for debate and knowledge sharing on early stage development, innovation and social entrepreneurship. More »

Latin America & Caribbean

High and Low, Climate Change Imperils Latin America and Caribbean

Submitted by Tom Grubisich on Thu, 11/12/2009 - 15:19

From mangrove forests to the Amazon Basin to the High Andes, Latin America and the Caribbean are threatened by climate change.  And so are Indigenous Peoples who live in these sensitive environments.Katrina Quisumbing King and Alejandro Argumedo

So it's not that surprising, perhaps, that of the 100 finalists in DM2009, 39 come from Latin American and Caribbean countries -- 12 from Peru alone.

One of the Peru projects seeks to "blend Western science and indigenous knowledge systems [and] know-how" to help bring buen vivir (good living) to the indigenous community of Potato Park in the High Andes through the development of new tuber varieties resistant to extreme climate conditions.

"Extreme conditions are showing up more often with more force throughout the region," said Alejandro Argumedo, director of the Association ANDES project (in photo at left above with researcher Katrina Quisumbing King).  "With global warming we are seeing the emergence of a new climate, and it's coming very fast."

In Belize, "the impact of climate change is exacerbated by a combination of deforestation and tourism that is shrinking the mangrove forests that act as a sponge against storm-caused flooding," said Gregory Ch'oc, executive director of Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management (in photo at right above with technical coordinator Lynette Gomez).  The indigenous communities of this ecoystem are heavily impacted by the natural and manmade forces of destruction. Ch'oc's group seeks to help one hard hit indigenous district with community-based solutions for forest management that would begin with an inventory of the flora at risk.

Extreme Weather Snarls Some DM2009 Finalists' Trips

Submitted by Tom Grubisich on Mon, 11/09/2009 - 17:05

Hurricanes, typhoons, and flooding -- some of the extreme weather conditions that the finalists tackled in their projects -- upset the plans of several international competitors to come to the DM2009 competition in Washington.

The longest delay was encountered by Nidia Matamoros (photo at left), a member of the Miskito indigenous group in Nicaragua, whose home was flooded by Hurricane Ida.  From start to finish, Matamoros logged 102 hours from the time the first leg of her flight was originally scheduled to leave Managua's airport -- Nov. 5 -- to her arrival at Reagan Washington National Airport at 1 a.m. Monday morning, Nov. 9.

'I'm proud, I'm excited, I'm happy," Matamoros said at the orientation session that opened the four-day DM2009 program Monday afternoon.  "This is the first time the Miskito communities have participated so fully in such an event."

Summing up her marathon journey, Matamoros said, "It's too much.  I need a siesta."

The project she's working would would establish Maya Nut "food forests" in Miskito communities to produce up to 5 million pounds of food worth US$3 million to improve the nutrition of as many as 2,500 Miskito children.  It would also restore wild game, including deer and fish, and protect 30 miles of rivers from flooding and erosion.

* * *

Philippines finalist Eugenio Manalo decided not to accompany his project's team to Washington so he could stay behind and work on relief for those hit by four typhoons in the late summer and early fall that caused extensive flooding and loss of life.

Belize finalist Lisel Alamilla, facing poor road conditions in the southern part of her country, had to arrange for a flight via a chartered single-engine Cessna from Punta Gorda to Belize City's airport to get her connecting flight to Miami.  She produced a handwritten receipt for reimbursement.

 

Latin Indigenous Peoples Hard Hit by Climate Change

Submitted by Tom Grubisich on Sat, 11/07/2009 - 08:19

Some 28 million members of Indigenous Peoples live in Latin America, many of them in poverty and prone to flooding and other weather extremes caused or exacerbated by climate change.  A number of finalist projects aim to give Indigenous Peoples in Latin America a cushion against weather extremes.

Here's a sampling of the projects:

In Mexico, ITESM at Tecnologico de Monterrey seeks "to help people from Tutuaca, Otachique, and Conoachi communities in Chihuahua through a biocultural rescuing program to maintain native maize genetic diversity facing climate change needs, including validation and verification mechanisms to preserve their diverse maize races."

In Peru, an organization of women from four communities in the High Andean region proposes "to recover ancestral knowledge and techniques to mitigate the effects of cold spells, reducing the vulnerability of 2,758 comuneros belonging to 551 families in the district of Palca."

In El Savador, Instituto para en Rescate Ancestral Indigena Salvadoreno  (RAIS) seeks to "recover, divulge, and make people aware of the knowledge of 100 wise indigenous women regarding the properties and interpretation of the language of both climate and earth as a support tool to prevent climate-change risks."

Inside the Development Marketplace - World Bank

Submitted by Aaron Leonard on Fri, 10/10/2008 - 00:00

Social entrepreneurs from 42 countries bring their ideas for low-cost agricultural development to the annual Global Development Marketplace competition at the World Bank this week.

The three-day event, held almost every year since 1998, showcases promising solutions to development problems. This year, 100 finalists were selected from 1,800 proposals for grassroots initiatives to help communities struggling with the current food crisis.

The 25 winners of the 2008 Global Development Marketplace on Sustainable Agriculture will receive up to US$200,000 each for innovative projects linking farmers to markets, improving access to land and tenure, and addressing climate change and biodiversity.

Development Marketplace Ecuador: Farmers Adapting to Climate Change

Submitted by Aaron Leonard on Thu, 01/10/2008 - 00:00

Chris Sacco of World Neighbors speaks of this project to develop the program Katalysis, a knowledge-based, people centered approach to increase on farm sustainable production, overall food security, and mitigate climate change through improved water efficiency.

Development Marketplace 2008 - Colombia: Composting of Urban Waste Using Beetles

Submitted by Aaron Leonard on Thu, 01/10/2008 - 00:00

Antione Santiago Criniere of Semillas y Raices discusses this project to implement an integrated and sustainable waste management program using beetles to collect organic waste and transform it into a highly enriched organic soil fertilizer.