Category: Poverty / Economic Development

Finding Solutions to Environmental Conflict: Q&A With Josh Fisher

by | 6.18.2013 at 11:34am
Photo: Josh Fisher

In a rapidly warming world, conflicts inevitably arise between those affected by dwindling resources and changing climate conditions. Josh Fisher’s work centers on trying to avert conflict and provide opportunities for cooperation through understanding the relationships between conflict, environment and development.

Making the First 1,000 Days Count: EI Partners with TABLE FOR TWO

by | 6.4.2013 at 9:33am
A community health worker and child in Ruhiira, Uganda. Credit: Genevieve Barnard

With generous support from TABLE FOR TWO, Earth Institute scientists have begun a research study in the Millennium Villages Project (MVP) in Ruhiira, Uganda, to evaluate different methods for delivering nutrition to young children in rural, low-income settings.

Farmers in Senegal Use Forecasts to Combat Climate Risks

by | 5.21.2013 at 10:22am
Participants in the December 2012 Scaling Up Climate Services for Farmers in Africa and South Asia workshop in Senegal visit farmers in Kaffrine that received climate forecasts for the first time in 2011. Photo by Alexa Jay, CCAFS

Recent trainings in Senegal have improved trust between farmers and researchers, leading to increased use of climate forecasts and other information.

Of Cow Dung, Cook Stoves and Sustainability in Practice

by | 5.15.2013 at 11:35am
biogas stoves, India

When the Environmental Defense Fund asked me to measure how biogas cook stoves were changing the lives of farmers in rural India, there wasn’t a word in that question with which I was comfortable. Having just graduated from the Undergraduate Program in Sustainable Development, I had never done fieldwork; and the concept of a biogas digester, which turns cow dung into natural gas through anaerobic digestion, was itself a mystery. I had no idea that this was the beginning of a steep learning curve into low-carbon development at a large scale. But even more, that it would provide a window into the lives of families whose existences have permanently improved thanks to the clean cooking stoves.

Seeking Solutions for Haiti’s Primary Education Challenges

by | 5.9.2013 at 12:03pm
Digicel Foundation Haiti CEP Sophia Stransky (second from right) discusses primary education programs and monitoring impacts with Haiti Research and Policy Program Director Tatiana Wah, CGSD Education Program Director Radhika Iyengar, Haiti Research and Policy Program Associate Director Alex Fischer and CGSD Education Researcher Sarah Muffly. Photo Credit: Dhiya Kuriakose.

Haiti faces ongoing pressures of high population growth, high illiteracy rates and low primary education completion rates. On April 30, the Haiti Research and Policy Program’s Dialogue Series welcomed Sophia Stranksy, CEO of the Digicel Haiti Foundation, to discuss the foundation’s primary education and youth programs and Haiti’s challenges.

The Sahel Is Getting Wetter, But Will It Last?

by | 5.9.2013 at 7:58am
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New research gives a unifying explanation of the Sahel’s past, present and future climate patterns.

A Sustainable Strategy to Deal with Urban Poverty

by | 5.3.2013 at 5:10pm
Photo credit: Fernando Arias

When architect Fernando Arias first arrived in Kumasi, Ghana last year, he saw unpaved roads, trash burning, garbage everywhere, and shoeless children running all around. He knew he needed to act on their behalf.

With 1,000 Days Left to Reach MDGs, a Look Back and Forward

by | 4.10.2013 at 3:50pm
MVP blog

The 1,000-day milestone to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) gathered professors Jeffrey Sachs, Prabhjot Singh, and Vijay Modi on April 4 for the Sustainable Development Seminar Series to take a critical look at how far the Millennium Villages Project (MVP) has come in the eight years since its founding and analyze what still needs to be accomplished.

Bright Lights, Big City?

Map showing population density and nighttime lights in South and North Korea

Researchers using nighttime lights data to ask questions about economic development in sub-Saharan Africa have findings counter to expectation.

Water Security: Finding Solutions for a World at Risk

by | 3.28.2013 at 6:24pm
Groundwater pumping accounts for as much as one-fifth of India's electricity consumption.

“This is a mess, and it is a mess that we have not attended to yet,” Earth Institute Director Jeffrey Sachs said at a conference on water security held today at Columbia University. “Humanity is the driver, but we don’t have our hands on the steering wheel very much.”