Counterpoint on the food-crisis

Thanks to our illustrious Tom Ewert, who writes to take issue with the analysis of the food crisis presented here, and wants to recommend an alternative view: He reading list includes ‘Starved for Science: How biotechnology is being kept out of Africa‘ by Robert Paarlberg - a Professor of Political Science at Wellesley College. Read the press release from Wellesley College here

The White Man’s Burden by William Easterly - reviews

William Easterly’s book explores “Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good”  - Easterly is contributing to a long genre of literature that complains about the failings of development aid, and, unlike some, has some proposals for fixing it.

Critical of traditional aid efforts and charity, and with special vitriol for Jeffrey Sachs and The End of Poverty, Easterly’s thesis is that modern aid efforts are largely the descendants of colonial efforts to ‘civilize’ their native charges (hence the Kipling reference in the title). He draws out two types of development approaches - top down ‘planners’ and bottom up ’searchers’. The approach he favors will come as no surprise, but his specifc remedies are controversial.
Monday Developments February 2008 issue carries a review by Nancy Birdsall (founding president of the Center for Global Development). Read the review here (unfortunately you’ll have to download the pdf of the entire issue, the review is on page 16, fortunately, it’s a good read). You can also read the Washington Post’s review of the book here, and order the book here.

What makes nonprofits successful?

The book Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits feels like the nonprofit equivalent of From Good to Great by Jim Collins that has so influenced the private sector in recent years.

For those of you who don’t have the time to read the book, Fast Company’s review provides a succinct summary of the six key findings that Leslie Crutchfield and Heather McLeod Grant discovered as they studied the 12 most successful nonprofits over a three-year time period.

In brief (but the article is worth reading as it fleshes the six points out a little more), successful nonprofits:

1. Don’t just implement great programs, they connect it with advocacy.

2. Connect in with market forces (don’t just rely on trying to ignite altruism!).

3. Engage others outside the agency to be passionate champions of their work.

4. Work collaboratively through networks with other nonprofits.

5. Learn to adapt (this seems the most obvious of the findings to me!)

6. Ensure that leadership doesn’t just reside with one person in the agency.

It is interesting to look at where (and where not) the intersection exists with this and the Good to Great approach. The book makes reference to the fact that management structures did not appear to be a critical success factor for these 12 NGOs. Also something which feels a little counter intuitive.

Powering down for the future

Jerry Mander of the International Forum on Globalization is the editor of the new Manifesto on Global Economic Transitions, subtitled ‘Powering down for the future - towards a global movement for systemic change, economics of ecological sustainability, equity, sufficiency and peace’. This 30 page document distills much of the thinking from the IFG on the three core threats to development and sustainability:

1. Catastrophic Climate Chaos

2. The end of the era of cheap energy - peak oil and gas

3. Global resource depletion - Fresh water, forests, oceans, soil and wildlife extinctions.

IFG’s thesis is that the solution to each of these threats is the same: technological ’solutions’ to these problems are not working - we must live within our ecological means, and we must re-localize, and return local democratic control to economic systems.

If you can’t get enough, check out “Alternatives to Economic Globalization - A Better World is Possible” where you can download the ‘what you can do’ section of the book free.

The Next 4 Billion at the Bottom of the Pyriamid - what happens next?

The base of the economic pyramid (BOP) refers to the four billion people—more than two-thirds the world’s population—who live on annual incomes of less than $3000. A newly released study by the International Finance Corporation and the World Resources Institute entitled The Next 4 Billion: Market Size and Business Strategy at the Base of the Pyramid makes a compelling case that this large segment is full of untapped potential for both companies and low-income consumers. Increasingly, these organizations say, market-driven approaches offer the best opportunity to provide services to the poor that are both scalable and sustainable.

With a global consumer market estimated at five trillion dollars, a growing number of companies are taking notice and exploring new strategies for reaching bottom of the pyramid consumers.

13th Century Poems for the Modern Age

We don’t often put poetry on this site but I have just come across some of the poems by a Sufi poet called Hafiz/Hafez who was writing in the 14th Century at about the time that Chaucer was writing in England. Hafiz is the term given to Muslims who have memorized the Qur’an. The translation by Daniel Lidinsky in The Gift is beautiful and very modern. I found the poetry very moving and modern and a very different face to some of Muslim literature that is being presented in the media, that polarizes different religious perspectives. If you are interested in reading more about Hafiz’s life Wikipedia has an interesting biography. Read on for a couple of poems from the book that particularly caught my eye: