Microfinance Services for rural agriculture in Pakistan and Bangladesh

Microfinance is becoming a tool of poverty reduction in Pakistan and Bangladesh, given the high rates of poverty in these countries. Poverty is greater in the rural agricultural sector where peoples’ livelihood is dependent on agricultural activities. Furthermore, the agricultural sector in the two countries is still underdeveloped. This study examines the role of agricultural microfinance services and products to assess whether microfinance is contributing to rural agriculture and rural development in Pakistan and Bangladesh, where a majority of the populations are located and their livelihood dependent on agriculture. Accordingly, the study examines rural agricultural needs and demands in the two countries and the role of microfinance in addressing them. Mostly based on secondary data sources, the study compares the two countries along certain indicators generated by the framework developed. This framework integrates the concepts of rural agriculture, rural development, poverty reduction and microfinance, which serves as the analytical toolkit. The study shows that the two countries share similar characteristics in terms of rural agriculture, rural development and even needs of this sector. The analysis of specific indicators reveals differences between the two countries in terms of microfinance outreach. One of the conclusions is that microfinance is more developed and extensive in rural outreach in Bangladesh than in Pakistan

Analyzing the Labour Issues in Pakistan: a historical background of Labour Laws and Labour Unions

The study explores the historical development of labour laws in Pakistan during different military and democratic governments. The paper discusses the constitutional framework, international obligations and ILO conventions with regard to country’s labour laws. However, the substantial focus is on the representation and problems faced by the labour unions, implementation of labour laws, Occupational Health and Safety of Labourers at workplace and low women participation in trade unions. The study reveals that the country has an exhaustive structure of labour legislation but practically, the labour laws are exploitive and discriminatory. Registration of Trans-Provincial establishments is unclear and constitutional right of formation of trade union has been suspended in the provinces. Serious Occupational health and safety issues at workplaces have been witnessed resulting in loss of several precious lives. Women membership is extremely low in trade unions mainly owing to their distrust on union leaders and fear of losing job, and they receive fewer benefits as compared to their male counterparts. The labour laws exclude the agricultural sector- the biggest employment sector in the country- from its scope

Water Scarcity and Sustainability in an Emerging Economy: A Management Perspective for Future

Water scarcity is rising as a global issue, because the planet earth is facing a global water crisis, which is considered something that can destroy environmental sustainability of our planet.The fact is that humanity’s demand is depleting natural resources faster than nature can replenish itself; if human habits and unsustainable use of water resources do not change, water scarcity will inevitably intensify and become a major cause of conflict among different nations of the world. The water scarcity issue is a crucial issue but unfortunately it has not received due attention in past.Pakistan, which once was a water abundant country, now facing a situation of water scarcity. Pakistan has a poor irrigation system which results 60% loss of its water; Pakistan uses more water for crop production than other countries. Likewise, the country harvests water from rainfall, rivers, snow,and glaciers. The country is facing a serious water crisis that is caused by different factors, such as changing climatic conditions, rising population, poor irrigation system, poor political will, and rapid urbanization. The water crisis of Pakistan is expected to worsen in coming years. This is a drastic situation which calls for emergency measures. With this background, the present study provides a detailed view of the water situation in the country with challenges to water management. The study also suggests some recommendations for policymakers to improve the water crisis situation in the future

CSR as a Potential Motivator to Shape Employees’ View towards Nature for a Sustainable Workplace Environment

Prior studies in the contemporary literature have largely ignored the important role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in shaping employees’ views of self and nature. Although researchers have recently started to pay considerable attention to explore the link between CSR and environmental sustainability, determining how CSR can be effective in shaping the proenvironmental behavior of employees that is missing in the existing literature. The objective of the present research study is to test the impact of microlevel CSR activities to induce environmental performance of an organization with a mediating effect of employees’ pro-environmental behaviors. This study argues that CSR activities of an organization motivate the workers to rethink the relationship between self and nature; hence, they are encouraged to participate in activities that are helpful in terms of preserving the environment, such as participating in pro-environmental activities at the workplace. The proposed model of the study was tested in the banking sector of Pakistan and analyzed by using the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique in AMOS software. The results revealed that microlevel CSR activities, using employee proenvironmental behaviors as a mediator, directly and indirectly influence environmental performance of a bank. The results of the present study are helpful for policymakers of different banking institutions to understand how they can reduce the environmental footprint of their bank by using a well-planned CSR program that can induce transcendent emotions in employees to create a sustainable environment

Self-reported health and smoking status, and body mass index: a case-control comparison based on GEN SCRIP (GENetics of SChizophRenia In Pakistan) data

Introduction Individuals with schizophrenia are at a high risk of physical health comorbidities and premature mortality. Cardiovascular and metabolic causes are an important contributor. There are gaps in monitoring, documenting and managing these physical health comorbidities. Because of their condition, patients themselves may not be aware of these comorbidities and may not be able to follow a lifestyle that prevents and manages the complications. In many low-income and middle-income countries including Pakistan, the bulk of the burden of care for those struggling with schizophrenia falls on the families.Objectives To determine the rate of self-reported physical health disorders and risk factors, like body mass index (BMI) and smoking, associated with cardiovascular and metabolic disorders in cases of schizophrenia compared with a group of mentally healthy controls.Design A case-controlled, cross-sectional multicentre study of patients with schizophrenia in Pakistan.Settings Multiple data collection sites across the country for patients, that is, public and private psychiatric OPDs (out patient departments), specialised psychiatric care facilities, and psychiatric wards of teaching and district level hospitals. Healthy controls were enrolled from the community.Participants We report a total of 6838 participants’ data with (N 3411 (49.9%)) cases of schizophrenia compared with a group of healthy controls (N 3427 (50.1%)).Results BMI (OR 0.98 (CI 0.97 to 0.99), p=0.0025), and the rate of smoking is higher in patients with schizophrenia than in controls. Problems with vision (OR 0.13 (0.08 to 0.2), joint pain (OR 0.18 (0.07 to 0.44)) and high cholesterol (OR 0.13 (0.05 to 0.35)) have higher reported prevalence in controls. The cases describe more physical health disorders in the category ‘other’ (OR 4.65 (3.01 to 7.18)). This captures residual disorders not listed in the questionnaire.Conclusions Participants with schizophrenia in comparison with controls report more disorders. The access in the ‘other’ category may be a reflection of undiagnosed disorders