In The News

The Indian Exception

April 12, 2011
Economic growth and malnutrition are often inversely correlated. India enjoys impressive economic growth, yet the malnutrition rate in many states remains stubbornly high, even among middle-income families. Government attempts to feed the hungry, including a “right to food,” have been unsuccessful. An essay in the Economist suggests that expansive handouts, like free meals for many schools,...

Libya Exposes Fault Lines in the Mediterranean – Part III

Joseph Chamie March 30, 2011
The United Nations authorized intervention in Libya, as protests continue throughout the Middle East. In a speech on Libya, US President Barack Obama noted, “The change that is taking place across the region is being driven by the people of the region.” In this YaleGlobal article, the third of a four-part series, demographer Joseph Chamie analyzes the region’s young people and their anger about...

World Water Day Report: African Cities Outgrow Their Water Supplies

March 23, 2011
A limited supply of freshwater could threaten fast economic and population growth for Africa’s cities. Water, so crucial for survival, is taken for granted by many, and March 22 is set aside to mark World Water Day. According to a United Nations assessment, 40 percent of Africa’s 1 billion people live in urban areas with inadequate water supplies and sanitation, reports Environment News Service...

Hungry for Votes

February 11, 2011
In 2008, in the face of rising food prices, G20 leaders founded the Global Agriculture and Food Programme to support research leading to a second Green Revolution and elimination of world hunger. But as food prices rise, pledges to support the program go unfulfilled. Activists and scientists urge sustained attention, yet their pleas fall on deaf ears. Governments slash funds for food research,...

IMF Raises Spectre of Civil Wars as Global Inequalities Worsen

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard February 3, 2011
Reports of global economic recovery could be misleading. Indicators showing steady rises – in income, trade, stock markets or employment – focus on averages and mask growing divides between rich and poor both between and inside nations. Recovery built on “unstable foundations” could “sow the seeds of the next crisis,” warns Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the International Monetary...

We Have Your Number

Nandan Nilekani January 21, 2011
Trade, technology and other facets of globalization have delivered wealth to India. But distribution of benefits is uneven in the nation of more than 1.1 billion, on track to exceed China as the most populous. The World Bank estimates that more than 35 percent of Indians live below the poverty line, and despite rapid job growth, the informal nature of most work excludes large numbers of poor from...

UN Body Warns of “Food Price Shock”

Javier Blas January 7, 2011
Increasing food prices remain a political challenge for India, China and even developed nations. The benchmark index of agricultural commodities prices, provided by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, reached a nominal record in December, “surpassing the levels of the 2007-08 food crisis,” reports Javier Blas for the Financial Times. The FAO Committee on World Food...