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Economic justice If you want to find out how a country is faring economically, don’t just look at the domestic product or currency exchange rate. Look at how the children are doing. Fair economic practices, at both national/international (macro) and community or family (micro) level, contribute to the health, education and future income opportunities of children. In contrast, if a country is kept poor through lack of trade, or if a government’s wealth is not passed on to its people, the children suffer. Lack of healthcare and knowledge means that child mortality is high. Families struggle to feed their children and keep them at school. Their communities have limited opportunities for employment or self-sufficiency, and the cycle of poverty continues. Macro or micro? International economic policy has traditionally not shown much interest in improving the lives of the world’s poorest people. Trade agreements between wealthy countries can push struggling nations out of the competition through their system of tariffs and subsidies. Large global corporations, often operating in more than one country, have the power to drive hard bargains on raw goods and labour. Pushing the price down on manufacturing increases the net profit, which is removed from the local economy into private pockets. While poor governments complain that they are powerless against multinational economic decisions, they don’t always take the needs of their people into consideration either. When improved economic opportunities are not passed on to all, through better education, healthcare and social services, the division between rich and poor actually grows. Economic Justice - The Facts Through subsidies, cows in Europe earn over US $2 per day - that's more than half the world's people do. Out of a US $2 cup of coffee, the grower receives as little as two cents. Emerging economic empires India and China have between them 2.3 billion people. Around 1.5 bilion of them live below the poverty line (World Bank). Opportunities for children are closely linked to their country's finances - the 1998 economic crisis in Southeast Asia saw school attendance plummet and a marked increase in child labour. |
Both India and China, touted as the new economic empires of Asia, are facing major challenges in sharing fairly the benefits of their new-found riches. It’s vital for poor communities to have involvement in their own financial stability, and this can be made possible through micro-economics, including micro-enterprise development, or MED. A small loan and some training can help a family to start a successful small business in a commodity or service that is needed locally. Farming or handcraft co-operatives can build the power to trade at competitive prices, while retaining the profits for the benefit of their local community. As well as advocating at government and international level for greater and fairer spending on programmes to alleviate poverty, World Vision works with communities throughout Asia to assist them towards economic self-sufficiency.
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Friday, 30 November 2007 |
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 Farmers in East Nusa Tenggara are cashing in on a lucrative new crop, with World Vision’s farming and trade support.
Urgent issues: Economic justice
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Read more...
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Friday, 27 January 2006 |
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VisionFund Cambodia was established as a limited liability micro-finance institution (MFI) in 2004, following the success of World Vision's micro-enterprise development (MED) program.
Almost simultaneously, VisionFund International, a global micro-finance capital fund, was established to allow World Vision to expand micro-lending to poor people who have good business ideas but no capital to see them through.
 VisionFund Cambodia is a separate, World Vision owned, governed and managed micro-finance institution that provides small loans to the 'entrepreneurial poor'. Operating since early 2001 (initially through MED programs), it is predominantly a rural micro-finance provider but is beginning to provide micro-finance to the poor who live and work around the Phnom Penh metropolitan dump.
All VisionFund Cambodia clients are based in communities where sponsorship also exists. Here they are already benefiting from clean water, healthcare, primary education, agricultural training for secure food production, vocational skills training and infrastructure development. These are the macro-foundations on which micro-businesses begin to flourish.
Thanks to international investment, VisionFund Cambodia is able to provide loans which range between US$20 and US$250, therefore enhancing the sources of affordable, convenient and accessible finance.
Through activities including noodle-making, water jar production, pig-raising, vegetable gardening and village shop management, people, and especially women, are breaking the hand-to-mouth cycle of poverty.
VisionFund Cambodia’s main lending methodology is Community Bank loans. It also offers smaller group lending (Solidarity Groups) for clients with increased capitalisation needs (US$125 – US$1000) and Individual Lending.
As of December 2006, VisionFund Cambodia has over 35,000 active clients. Our average loan size per client is around US$170.
VFC measures its success in social terms. This includes moving clients to the next economic tier. These tiers are categorized as: the poorest of the poor, poor, and the not-so-poor. VFC loans positively impacting 240,000 dependent children in 31 of the poorest districts in Cambodia. Women comprise over 81% of VFC’s clients and this has led to positive social changes, such as a reduction in domestic violence, an increase in women’s rights and improvements in food supply and quality.
VisionFund Cambodia is a financially sustainable organisation and is focused on continuing to expand and deliver affordable financial services to Cambodia’s poor.
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Thursday, 19 January 2006 |
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East Timorese farmers gave themselves a holiday bonus recently, when they were able to increase their market income by a factor of 12.
A fairer price for crops will help this community give their children the things they need, like education and healthcare |
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Learn More:
> Economic Justice
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Using traditional agricultural practices, the farmers from Aileu district had been selling grain for US$5 per bundle. Their grain was then transported to the capital city Dili where it was sold at much higher prices to market vendors.
World Vision believed that these farmers were not getting a fair deal. They invited them to attend training on marketing and negotiation skills so they could take a greater role in pricing their produce.
Then, accompanied by project leader Edi Chandra, the farmers set out on their first trip to Dili to test their newly-acquired techniques.
“Previously, the farmers in Aileu were selling to buyers coming up from Dili who were quite clearly giving them misinformation about the value of their produce,” says Edi. “With bargaining skills and awareness of Dili prices and demand, the farmers have now gained market access and understand how to increase their income with current yields.”
The farmers discovered that they were able to sell their produce for a remarkable US$60 a bundle, not the US $5 they were accustomed to.
There were great celebrations in the World Vision office compound in Dili as the farmers raced back to share the news with the staff.
“It is so great to see the control they now have over their own income!” says Edi proudly. “They are aware of what they can achieve. They have decided to sell their produce by kilos, not bundles, and to invest in transportation from Aileu down to Dili."
As well as continuing this training with other farmers in the district, World Vision has started a system of market price boards in rural markets to update farmers on fair prices based on Dili fluctuations.
“They are already producing good quality and adequate yields to provide for their families,” explains Edi. “Their food crops are entirely organic - they just needed support to empower their choices and decisions.”
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Wednesday, 18 January 2006 |
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For many coffee growers, the inability to trade successfully is leaving a bitter after-taste.
Since 1997, the price of raw goods, like sugar, tea and coffee, has crashed.
Of course, we’re still paying the same price – up to US$30 per kilo for high quality coffee beans.
But for a US$2 cup of coffee we may buy in a café, it’s estimated that only two cents returns to the farmer who grew the beans. The grower is missing out.
Small farmers in developing countries are the most affected. In the past, they have been encouraged to grow cash crops on their tiny plots of land.
But they have not had direct access to markets for their products, and are reliant on middlemen and second-hand price information.
In the hills of Papua New Guinea, Abuso and his family tend their small farm of 1,000 arabica coffee trees each day.
They harvest, split and dry the beans themselves by hand, then take the beans to a market where they will sell to an exporter for around US$1.15 per kilo.
It’s not enough. Abuso’s neighbour has had to take his children out of school because he can’t afford the fees.
Malnutrition in the area is rife and food scarce because farmers concentrate on growing coffee, which they still hope will be a lucrative crop again one day.
The good news for farmers like Abuso is that the Fair Trade movement has arrived in Papua New Guinea.
Fair Trade, along with aid agencies like World Vision, assists communities to form co-operatives that can process and market their own coffee, charging a fair price and retaining more of the profits.
As the co-operatives grow in size and strength, local growers are empowered to earn a fair wage for their labour, contribute to the development of their own community and gain access to exclusive international markets.
It’s not just coffee that Asia has for sale. From community silk factories in northern Thailand, to improved rice trading in the Philippines, World Vision is helping communities to discover their true worth.
As well as helping some of Asia’s poorest people, it’s good news for consumers. By purchasing Fair Trade or other locally controlled products, we can sip our coffees with a clear conscience.
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