COVID-19, A Global Health Concern Requiring Science-Based Solutions

Scientifically-based concrete action points to reduce the spread, lessen the impact, reduce the concerns of the wider population, and avoid further outbreaks for governments, organizations, and individuals are neededFinal Published versio

Mapping Marginality Hotspots: Geographical Targeting for Poverty Reduction

This mapping approach aims to make the marginalized and poor visible by identifying areas with difficult biophysical and socio-economic conditions. Mapping using different data sources and data types gives deeper insight into possible causal interlinkages and offers the opportunity for comprehensive analysis. The maps highlight areas where different dimensions of marginality overlap - the marginality hotspots - based on proxies for marginality dimensions representing different spheres of life. Furthermore, overlaying the marginality hotspots with the number of poor shows where most of the poor could be reached to help them to escape the spiral of poverty. Marginality hotspots can be found in particular in India and Nepal as well as in several countries in Central and Eastern Africa, such as Eritrea, Mozambique, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Northern Sudan and large parts of Niger. Maps showing the overlap between marginality and poverty highlight that the largest number of marginalized poor are located in India and Bangladesh, as well as in Ethiopia, Southeastern Africa and some parts of Western Africa

Marginality: Addressing the Root Causes of Extreme Poverty

The need to address extreme poverty from the perspective of marginality arises from the frustration that the number of the poorest and hungry remains unacceptably high. This triggered the call for an innovative approach from the side of science and action. The conceptual and analytical framework developed here views marginality as a root cause of extreme poverty. We define marginality as an involuntary position and condition of an individual or group at the edge of social, economic, and ecological systems, preventing the access to resources, assets, services, restraining freedom of choice, preventing the development of capabilities, and causing extreme poverty. Causal complexes tie the marginalized poor in systems from which they want to escape or in which they want to improve their lives. The rural and agricultural context is of particular relevance here, as we assume that large segments of the extreme poor live in rural areas. The poorest themselves have described their situation, for instance, as being trapped in a 'complex knot which can lead to further knots if the wrong threads are pulled.' While poverty is objectively a matter of absolute deficiencies, we explain why the way in which poverty is perceived by the poor themselves requires looking at poverty as a relative, subjective, dynamic and systemic phenomenon. We conceptualize marginality as patterns of causal complexes in societal and spatial dimensions. These causal complexes can, for instance, comprise different types of livelihood systems or different types of poverty traps. They include proximate as well as underlying causes of extreme poverty and specifically address social exclusion, restrained access to assets, opportunities and transport, communication and public services infrastructure. An analytical framework is developed, outlining the various steps required for the analysis of marginality in a systematic, re]iterative and participatory manner, involving those affected by extreme poverty themselves. From each causal complex of marginality, leverage points can be identified which match with specific intervention packages, relevant for livelihood management, policy formulation and implementation. The approach to the investigation of extreme poverty is applied and relevant for managing change towards inclusive development. Points of entry for public and private investments are being identified

Innovative Business Approaches for the Reduction of Extreme Poverty and Marginality?

Extreme poverty is an immense political and market failure, wasting the potential of hundreds of millions of people. Investing in the creation of markets that include the extreme poor and marginalized should thus not only be considered as a charitable activity, but promises high returns on investments - in financial and humanitarian terms. However, while the potential of innovative business approaches to target the poor that live close to the poverty line is increasingly being recognised, the question remains how far these approaches can push the margin to also include those that are extremely poor. And how can those that are marginalized from development opportunities be brought into and benefit from market-based systems to improve the quality of their lives? The impressive rise of business approaches to combating poverty stems from a long history of debates on the role of businesses in society. From an initial focus on social objectives as an external add-on, leading business thinkers have increasingly been stressing the benefits for companies of integrating social considerations into their core business strategies, for instance by targeting lowincome consumers (or 'bottom of the pyramid' markets) or strengthening supply and distribution chains through the involvement of local communities as part of inclusive business strategies. Others - most notably Muhammed Yunus along with other social entrepreneurs - are taking this argument one step further, advocating the use of business strategies primarily to address social goals rather than for financial gains. Thus, in discussions on the role of business in society, profit maximisation as the primary objective of business operations is increasingly making way for business initiatives that are guided by social objectives. This trend is also being supported by growing interest among investors in financing enterprises that promote social or environmental objectives, either as their primary aim or in parallel with seeking to generate financial returns. How suitable these different approaches are to engage the poorest and marginalized depends in part on the extent to which they are able to involve the extreme poor themselves, their flexibility to direct business objectives towards the reduction of extreme poverty and marginality, and their ability to successfully operate with non-business public and civil society partners and in sectors of particular interest to the extreme poor. Further research and action is needed to identify outcome-focused indicators and measurement tools for social value creation, examine possible government measures to support business activities for the poorest, and consider complementarities between the different business approaches. While we recognise that it is unrealistic to expect businesses to be able to reach all of the extreme poor, we believe that the boundaries of innovative business operations can be pushed much further to include a far larger number of the poorest and marginalized

Assessing the Migration Decision of Indian IT-Graduates: An Empirical Analysis

Research hypotheses from various migration-theory approaches are tested through a study focusing on a sample of 1,560 IT university students in India, just prior to the completion of their studies. The representative survey was conducted across India during the summer of 2003. The effect of economic and socio-political factors on the students’ willingness to migrate was examined by using variance analysis. The results show, on the one hand, a generally high willingness among those surveyed to migrate to industrialised countries, but on the other hand, a substantial number of IT-students want to stay in their home country, India. Economic factors tend to play a much greater role on their migration decisions, rather than say the sending or receiving country’s institutional or socio-political aspects. The significance test of individual factors shows that economic as well as institutional considerations; such as good career opportunities, a high income, and a high living standard, are considerably more important than other socio-political as well as institutional factors. Indian IT graduates evaluated better career opportunities much higher in their home country as compared to other locations. In an explicit location comparison of Germany with India and the United States/Canada — the classic immigration countries — as one of the potential host countries, the respondents rated only language/culture significantly higher for the United States/Canada than for Germany. The remaining economic and socio-political factors were rated higher for USA/Canada but do not show any significant differences between Germany, India, and USA/Canada. Interestingly, a location comparison of India with Germany and United States/Canada shows that IT graduates evaluated (salary, career opportunity, self employment, language/culture and social networks) significantly higher for their native country than for Germany and United States/Canada. Hence, in an international competition for skilled labour/best IT specialists, India has also emerged as an attractive location.Wir testen Forschungshypothesen aus migrationtheoretischen Ansätzen anhand einer Stichprobe von 1,560 kurz von dem Studienabschluss stehenden IT-Hochschulabsolventen aus Indien. Die repräsentative Befragung wurde im Sommer 2003 landesweit in Indien durchgeführt. Mit Hilfe der Varianzanalyse wird die Wirkung der ökonomischen sowie gesellschaftspolitischen Einflussfaktoren auf die Migrationbereitschaft der Hochschulabsolventen unter-sucht. Die Ergebnisse zeigen einerseits eine hohe generelle Migration-bereitschaft der indischen IT-Absolventen in Industrieländer. Andererseits ist aber das Verbleiben in ihrem Heimatland Indien eine starke Alternative. Ökonomische Gründe spielen generell für die Migrationentscheidung eine viel wichtigere Rolle als andere institutionelle oder gesellschaftspolitische Aspekte im Herkunfts- und Empfängerland. Der Signifikanztest der einzelnen Einflussfaktoren bestätigt, dass ökonomische Gründe wie gute Karrieremöglich-keiten, hohes Einkommen und besserer Lebensstandard bei allen Empfänger-ländern signifikant wichtiger sind als die gesellschaftspolitischen Determinanten (wie Ausländerfeindlichkeiten, Aufenthalterlaubnis, Sprache und Soziale Netzwerke). Indische IT-Hochschulabsolventen bewerten gute Karrieremöglich-keiten höher in Ihrem Heimland als bei allen Empfängerländern. Bei einem konkreten Standortvergleich zwischen Deutschland, Indien und dem klassischen Immigrationsland USA bewerten die Befragten die Determinanten (wie Soziale Netzwerke, Karrieremöglichkeiten, Möglichkeit der Selbstständig-keit, das Gehalt und Sprache) signifikant wichtiger für Ihr Heimatland als für die USA und Deutschland. Im Wettbewerb um die besten IT-Experten ist Indien im Vergleich zu Nordamerikanischen Ländern und Deutschland ebenfalls ein attraktiver Standort

Between Hope and Hype: Traditional Knowledge(s) Held by Marginal Communities

Traditional Knowledge (TK) systems have always been integral to the survival and adaptation of human societies. Yet, they enjoy a fairly recent recognition and popularization by scientists, the media, politicians, corporates and the wider public. In this paper we present a typology of key driving forces behind the popularization of TK held by marginal communities: an equality preference motive, a value motive, a compliance motive, a scarcity motive and a strategic motive. Secondly, through the use of a simple model, we discuss the hype's impact on marginal communities. Moreover, we critically assess the outcome of a number of policy instruments that intend, in part, to protect traditional knowledge bases of such communities. Our analysis primarily draws upon secondary literature; policy documents and case studies within economics, the social sciences, conservation biology and legal studies. We argue that whilst the public and institutional hype around TK may have resulted in its prioritization within international conventions and frameworks, its institutionalization may have adversely impacted marginalized communities, and in particular contexts, unintentionally led to the creation of 'new' marginals. We purport that the traditional innovation incentive motive does not hold for protecting TK within a private property regime. Instead we identify a conservation incentive motive and a distribution motive that justify deriving policy instruments that focus on TK to protect marginal communities

Forest governance reforms in Eastern Africa: A comparative analysis of institutional, livelihood and forest sustainability outcomes

Sustaining Commons: Sustaining Our Future, 13th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of the Commons, Hyderabad, IndiaAs forests continue to decline globally and more so in the East African region, decentralization reforms that aim to improve rural livelihoods and conserve forests by transferring management powers to local communities and governments have occurred in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Unlike Tanzania, where decentralization reforms have been implemented for over a decade, the reforms in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda are still in their infancy. As a result, there is still little empirical understanding of its impacts on livelihoods, governance and forest conditions. Limited studies carried out in the region indicate that decentralization of the forest sector in the region has taken many different forms; from partial devolution of management responsibility to more profound devolution of ownership to communities. Similarly, the outcomes from these reform efforts also vary within and between countries. Livelihood outcomes are limited in areas where CFM, JFM and PFM are practiced and positive where CBFM is practiced. The outcomes of forest conditions under CFM, JFM and PFM are also mixed within and across the countries. Some forests have shown some improvements while others are continuing to be degraded. More forests under CBFM are showing improvement than the forests under JFM, PFM or CFM. Improvement in forest condition and livelihoods under CBFM may be due to improved enforcement of forest rules by the local communities because of strong security of tenure and better benefits that accrue to the communities that have CBFM arrangements. Keywords: , deforestation, livelihoods, forest healt