Risk and Insurance

These are a couple interesting facts I learned from the lecture:

• As mentioned in the lecture, Prof. Banerjee, together with a reporter from the New York Times, found no perceived effect of the global financial crisis on India’s poor laborers.
• Prof. Banerjee argues the reason that India’s poor laborers were not aware of the financial crisis is because they commonly lose their jobs and are used to having to find another job.
• In Townsend’s study of the Thai Economics Crisis of 1998, 2% of the variation in the income of households in the poorer parts of northern Thailand was attributable to the crisis.
• During the 1998 Indonesian economic crisis, the real income of rice farmers increased.
• Urban employees tend to be the people most directly hurt by big global financial shocks.
• The Princeton experiments described in the lecture demonstrated that cortisol can have an impact on decision-making ability. 
• When there is a drought and people cannot farm, everyone starts selling their labor, causing wages to decrease.
• The most common way in which the poor may avoid risk is by ensuring that every member of the family has several different jobs, sometimes even temporary jobs that are out of town.

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM AND FERTILITY POLICIES

In this section the two policies of fertility were discussed which were:
Larger families are poorer therefore have less spending abilities.
Poor families are larger because they are unable to control their fertility.

The professor as well as myself believe that these statements are wrong. One of the reason why poor families are larger is because they depend and benefit from the labor of their children once they are able to work for the family. In some places it is even a cultural idea to have a large family. The statement that larger families are poor because they are large is also a false statement. In certain areas large families are poor because they are either oppressed by their government or have very few economic opportunities.

Reflecting back on this section made me personally think about my family. I grew up in a family of 10 with 7 other siblings and two parents. In both of my homes in Sudan and Egypt we had other families living with us which doubled the size of my family. We were not in extreme poverty but we were definitely not better off than most families. My father was laid off from a very important government position when a new president came to power. My mother had never worked a paid job a day in her life and mainly was responsible for taking care of my siblings (This was before I was born).

 Well, after my dad was laid off my mom had to find some sort of work to cover our everyday expenses. She was a great cook so she decided to sell school lunches at the school markets. Although it was a difficult period for my family my mom knew she wanted more kids, especially more girls since she had 4 boys and only 1 girl girls. My mother had 8 kids because it was a cultural except-able thing to have. In my culture it is believed that the children will take care of their parents when they are older so having several kids gives a parent several options on where to stay.Another fact that most people do know about is that it is against my religion to take birth control pills and for that reason my mother and many other women in north Africa cannot take them.

So, when I hear statements such as "poor people have so many kids because they cannot control themselves" really upsets me because it is a vague statement that is no where close to the truth.

Beyond Supply and Demand Wars

In this section of the MIT poverty course the discussion about misconceptions on education continues. One major misconception is that the rate of return or the outcomes of the investment in education is always the same when in reality it can differ from one country to another. Factors that affect rate of return is a country's education quality, overall GDP, and health of its citizens. The higher the quality in education, the higher the rate of return. The higher the the GDP is, the more likely a country will invest in education and the healthier a countries over all population is, the more likely there will be available funds to invest in education.


Another huge misconception that parents believe is that if a child gets through high school they will be able to automatically get a government job. When they make a 12 year investment and realize that this may not be so true, they are discouraged from continuing to educated their child and are less likely to educate another child if they have one. The thing is not that the parent does not believe education is valuable, they just do not know which part of it is valuable.

This made me develop the following questions.

Why is their not a system that supports education if it is so valuable?

Why is education not easy to improve?

I have not found an answer to these questions yet but for the last one I suggest that education is easy to improve on a small scale but harder on a larger scale.

How to Make Schools Work for the Poor

There is often a huge assumption made about education which is that if a child goes to school then they are automatically educated or should be quite educated. This assumption is actually quite misleading. Just because a child attends school school does not mean they are receiving quality education. Another case is that when a child falls behind on a years curriculum, the next year they are enrolled in a new grade they fall even more behind because they were never able to get caught up. 

 An interesting program that has been started in India called Pratham aims to address this issue by creating mentoring programs that help behind students in the summer. What I really like about the program is that some of these mentors are actually students- high school students and college students. They cover every single village in India. The government has even gotten involved with this project by providing some of the supplies and facilities for these mentoring to occur. 

The main idea behind making education work for the poor is that you have to involve the community as a whole. When an entire community comes together to solve an issue, the issue becomes a lot smaller and more achievable. Pratham and for an example the Boys and Girls club in the United States are both great examples of programs that involve the community to better the lives of the youth. There is no excuse for not having such programs in every country because for Pratham the costs of running the program was very minimal. 

Another major issue the absent rates seen in many countries by both students and teachers. In India alone teacher absence rate was at 25%. Once they are in school it is not even given that they are even teaching. Some reports have shown that some of the teachers are actually spending their time drinking tea or drawing political cartoons. 

Education and Growth

Education is of the most addressed issues in the world after poverty and health care. The professor brought up concerns about the usefulness of education and whether increase in education actually significantly contributes to a countries growth. Other topics that we addressed were the affects of cost of education on secondary schooling enrollment and how the availability of employment affects the demand for education.

What I believe is a great approach to increasing the literacy rate of a country is by lessening schools costs or even providing free education, an incentive for education such as guaranteed employment within the first year of graduation, and a bigger incentive such as free healthcare for forever or at least the first of year 5 of employment. Using my rural Burmese family for an example, the children were not encouraged or expected to attend school because deciding to spend their day to day savings on something that they were not sure would guarantee them a better future ahead was to big of a risk to make. Although it may be difficult to relate to, it is very understandable to make such as decision for a poor rural family in Burma. It is very difficult and very risky for a family to make such as decision which is why I believe that the government is responsible for generating popularity for education. When a family knows what they are making an investment towards and the reward that may come after than they more likely to understand the importance of education. This long term investment not only benefits the income of an individual or a family but also the economy and growth of a country as a whole.

Education can benefit a country in a number of ways such as by helping decrease disease by increasing awareness, end early child marriages, decrease teen pregnancies, decrease crime, and even increase the over all health of a country.

Low-hanging Fruit

It is quite obvious that a healthy person is most likely to have a better job and better wage than someone who has been sick all their lives. I thought it was really interesting that if you deworm children at an early age when they are not sick with worms, in their adulthood they will be making 23% more every year which is a great rate of return especially for families living in great poverty. This increase in 23% could mean a healthy more nutritious food, education, or even a better home. We are basically looking at a gain of more than $1,400 over a child's lifetimes with just an investment of less than $1. 

If you are looking at an even greater investment than vaccinations  for malaria may give you the greatest output. Statistics provided in the online MIT course state that a child not exposed to malaria in childhood would have an income 50% higher for all of their lifetime than a child exposed to malaria. Investment in malaria control measures are quite highly cost effective. 

This leads to my  question which is...

Why are countries and people not making such an investment if there is such as small input for such a great output?

There is not one answer to this question but possible suggestions could be that a country can not afford to make such an investment because even thought it may seem so little, when you multiply it by its population, the cost becomes much greater. I would still really like to know other reasons as to why countries are not making such an investment. 

Delivering Health

There was movie for this section which really helped put the issue of health care into prospective. There was one man from India who was interviewed about a disease he had which was tuberculosis. The interviewer asked him whether he knew he had the disease but he was not aware of it and did not care. All he knew was the he had was ill. He was also asked what he was taking or doing to heal himself but he often laughed and joked about the question as if it was not a serious issue. He then stated that he was taking pills whenever he remembered even though he was told to take them daily. The pills that were given to him were not meant to even be used for TB and the doctor that prescribed them was not a trained doctor.

Often people in poverty, such as those in rural India can not afford to pay for a ride into town and then again pay for a doctor visit with more than what they earn daily. For cultural reasons they also often ignore possibly deadly disease and do not seek treatment thinking that they've only been cursed with a bad eye and will often end up dying soon after. As long as their body can still function and they can still do work, some would not even bother going to get a check up until something serious occurs.

Watching this video ha really made me be very fortunate about the health care system we have in the United States. Even if its not the best,its still a lot better than what most people have in the world, if they have any. It has also really made my dream of becoming a doctor someday even more important. Working with the doctors without boarders program will allow me to be able to train doctors in rural areas such as in India to be able to accurately treat patients and subscribe medicine.

The Hidden Traps

This section discussed several possible early signs and starts of poverty traps. In particularly India, there has been a great trend in the decrease of calorie consumption. This is due to the fact that people are having fewer children than before, they're doing less intensive work, and most have moved to the urban areas where less labor strength is needed. You would think because of their increase in money because they are eating less they would purchase better and more nutritiousness food, but it is the complete opposite. People in India or who are in similar situations use that extra money that they now have available to purchases goods they were not able to before. A better alternative for them is to investing that money on their nutrion or their childrens' nutrition which is actually a huge benefit in the long run rather than just today or tomorrow. But why is that when you look at other countries such as Uganda, when their spending ability increases, their nutrition increases because they are buying better food. The answer to that question as quoted by the professor is that people in Uganda do not have very many options in spending their money as the people in India do. 

This made me hypothesize that the more options people are given in how to spend their month, especially the poor, the more likely they are going to substitute the already nutritiousnless food for even a worse option now that they are given the opportunity to spend it elsewhere. This leads to another poverty trap that effects the newly born children. Because their parents are less likely to spend more money to improve their nutrition in their early ages, they are instantly less likely to have strong bodies and are less likely to perform well in school- already causing them to be in a poverty trap at a young age. When they grow older, they are less likely to get a good job that pays a decent wage which continues the cycle of the generational poverty trap. 

Is There a Nutrition Based Poverty Trap?

During this section we discussed the possible poverty traps  in respect to food and also compared the similarities and differences different groups of people spent their money. In the last topic we discussed how people who are in poverty are sometimes trapped their because even the little work that they be able to obtain then and there is not enough to provide them with energy rich food to keep them productive. Pak Solhin-a poor unemployed father, even stated that lack of food impeded his productivity. That statement is very accurate because the first few calories a person has access to are the ones that are used for survival. Only when you start eating more will your body begin using it as energy. Which is is the reason why some as poor as Pak Solhin cannot be very productive in a really low paying job. The main point with this argument is that food prices are extremely high for the poor and what is suggested to be done is that either food prices are decreased or more jobs are created and wages are increased which I believe is the better alternative. Increasing wages would increase spending power for other necessities, not just food.

Another reason why the poor tend to fall into a nutrition based poverty trap is because when their spending power increases, instead of buying healthy energy rich food, they would  rather purchases things such as T.Vs, clothing, and other technologies. Increasing purchasing power is definetly as great thing which I definitely believe should happen but what is also needed is support from the government or an influential power/group. These people in poverty might not know the importance of having a nutritional diet.

This issue ties in well with my World Food Prize country because my rural family in Burma was definitely caught in a Nutritional based poverty trap. They mainly consumed rice and corn daily with no variety of other calories in their diet.

US Poverty Trap vs. Other Nations

While learning about how subsidizing bed nets, I thought about a really important question.

Should the government be responsible for subsidize food and education in developing countries?

The government who is responsible for the well-being if its people should definitely be responsible for subsidizing food and education for its people. Two of the leading causes of poverty traps are lack of nutrition and education. If these two areas are addressed, you wouldn't expect to see poverty eliminated but at least a decrease in poverty should be expected. An amount as small as even 5%  decrease in poverty can increase the productivity of a nation leading to a stronger economy and the creation of new jobs for the poor. This then creates a cycle in which for ever few that are out of poverty, a stronger economy will be built and more job opportunities will be provided.

Questions and Answers

1. Since 2005, food prices in Indonesia have been:

- Increasing

2. How does Pak Solhin rationalize the fact that his employer, a local farmer, cut his job rather than his wages?

- If his employer cut his wages below a certain level, Pak Solhin would not be able to afford enough food to give him the strength to work

3. Where do poverty traps stem from?


- Biological Mechanisms


4. Which of the following variables can be represented on a capacity curve’s y-axis?


- Future Income, Work Capacity


5. If the returns to education were high for low levels of schooling, but were low for all higher levels, what shape would we see on our graph between education today and income tomorrow?


- An inverted L shape


What conditions might lead to an s-shaped poverty curve? (Hint: think back to the examples discussed in lecture.)

The S shaped curve is made up of the relationship between wage and nutrition-how much better do you eat if you have a little more income-and the relationship between nutrition and productivity-how much stronger to do you become if you have a bit more to eat.  Low wages and very little food consumption are obviously the main cause for an s-shaped poverty curve. When the poor have very little wages, they are less likely to spend a great proportion of that on food leading to low nutrition and productivity. 

Poverty Trap - Burma

The concept of poverty trap is very relateable to the people of Burma and the rural family I have chosen for my World Food Prize research. As supported by my research, Poverty trap is very common in Burma and there are very little economic opportunities provided that allow families to dig themselves out. As a matter of fact, they face similar problems that Pak Solhin, an unemployed Indonesian immigrant, faced in which wages were so low that he was not able to afford enough food to give him the strength to work leading him to completely stop working.

When people are not only given very low wages but also very little varieties of food to sustain a healthy diet, then their productivity greatly decreases leading to poverty and eventually a trap. This trap can usually last for generations. An example of that is when uneducated parents who have low paying jobs remove their intelligent child from school because they saw the opportunity cost of the child going to school a lot less then if he could work and make money to support the family. Eventually when the child reaches his adult years, he will most likely face a similar problem and may deal with it in a similar way leading to a generational poverty trap.

SUBSIDIZING BEDNETS: THE CLASSIC ECONOMIC ARGUMENT/POVERTY

This lecture has by far been my favorite. We discussed bed nets and vacations for malaria, poverty on a global scale, and reasons why conditions are not improving. The question explored was, are those in poverty willing to aid themselves? or are they only depending on the help of others? Through research done by MIT it shows that when families are provided an incentive such as a small portion of rice, they are willing to come and get their children vaccinated. As for bed nets, when one family is given a bed net and they discover the benefits of having one, they are more than willing to purchase one or several in the future. Their neighbors or close friends are also most likely to purchase one which continues the contagious effect.The professor made a quote that I thought was really interesting. She said,

 "If we are willing to impose taxes on cigarette smokers to discourage them from smoking then why can't we subsided bed nets to encourage the uses and purchases of them?
So by using prices and taxes this way, you can try and align the private incentive to the social benefit."

I more than agree with what she is saying.

Another topic we talked about is, "What encourages or discourages people from helping aid those in poverty?" There is not just one correct answer but one of the possible reason is that when people are faced with a large or general problem they are less likely to help because they believe they cannot solve the issue but when the issue is broken down into smaller units and addressed one at a time, the issue is no longer impossible and the mission becomes very specific. People like being given very few specific problems to deal with rather than one major problem. There was a specific research that was done on this topic. I will research and try to provide the results. 

edX Entrance Survey/What is a Poverty Trap?

Why did you decide to register for this course?

I registered because I have been very interested in learning about global poverty and food insecurity. I have learned about poverty and food insecurity in one specific country (Burma) and now I would like to be able to learn about the issues on a global scope. 

What is a poverty trap?

This was the first question addressed in the video lectures. Poverty trap is a spiraling mechanism which forces people to remain poor. It is so binding in itself that it doesn't allow the poor people to escape it. Although I have heard about something very similar to this concept, I was not aware of how impactful it is on a community. For the rest of the lecture we looked at reasons for which create a conditions that cause these poverty traps to emerge. Some reasons that were brought up were increasing food prices, unpredictable economic activities, and changes in wage. The main point of this lecture was to try to better understand poverty traps and possibly help identity other causes by the end of the course. 

Recommendations

Short term recommendations that could also be affective include the startup of independent community gardens and farmers markets to promote and showcase the hard work of the Burmese people. Opening these gardens requires very minimal cost and is a great form of employment for the unemployed. The resources that are needed include small pieces of land and gardening tools which can be provided by funding organizations such as the American Community Garden Association in Burma. Burma has access to various types of plants so obtaining seeds and plants for the gardens would not be an issue. The produce grown in these gardens can also be sold to the citizens- providing them with cheap healthy food. 

Second Solution

A short term solution that is as effective in granting back some independence for the Burmese people is helping purchase back the land that once belonged to local farmers since ultimately all land is owned by the government (military). Developing a new policy or implementing a new constitution may be a bit of a stretch for a start but repurchasing back land from the government will give the citizens the support and financial ability to help regain their complete independence and human rights.

This can be done by having the UN and/or United States support the development of a written land policy on land use and require that the majority have land be given back to its citizens whether it be free or by purchase. The Burmese government states that they already have a land use policy implemented, however it is not written in their constitution or stated clearly in any state documents, and therefore it is not enforced. The United States and other potential donors would help provide technical, legal, and other forms of support for the foundation and implementation of this land policy.

By giving the Burmese citizens their land back, it takes away a great majority of power from the central government and also gives responsibilities back to the citizens The UN, the Unites States, and other countries obviously cannot implement these policies alone. They depend on the corporation and support of the citizens as well. That means the citizens need to leave all conflicts aside, unite, and uses their votes wisely in all elections and voting opportunities. 

First Solution

The most effective solution to this problem would be to have the UN intercede and monitor/regulate refugee camps while investigating the crimes occurring against the minority groups. There also must be a policy that will promote integration, an environment of peaceful coexistence, and the ability for all minorities to obtain equal protection under the law. This can be implemented by the government into the constitution. Guaranteeing all of the citizens’ human rights also means distribution of land back to its rightful owners.

Opposition leader and once a political prisoner, Aung San Suu Kyi, calls for a dramatic change in the constitution along with president Barack Obama (RFA, 2014). The conversation for a constitutional change is nothing new, but needs more attention drawn to it like before. It will more than definitely help towards eliminating the social prejudice between the minority groups and the human rights violations caused by the government. 

Attempts to Solve Issue

Several attempts since the end of British rule have been made to stabilize as well as democratize the country of Burma. One attempt was made at the National Convention which set up the military as the central power and aimed to unionize the different ethnic groups. As result of the convention, Burma was divided into seven states and seven divisions-each occupied by an ethnic group. The major problem that has not been addressed till this day and which has been one of the leading causes of conflict was deciding what form of government to set up. Burma would have either been introduced to a direct democracy where decisions would be made by the majority or indirect democracy where representatives are elected by citizens to make decisions. Neither of these policies were implemented because military hierarchy and ethnic Burmans are split against a great majority of other ethnic nationalities who also represent a large majority of the population.

Not only is there a barrier in decision making within the Burmese citizens, but the Military lacks meritocracy, which is defined by the encyclopedia as “a system of government based on rule by ability (merit) rather than by wealth or social position. Instead structure rule is based on cronyism- the appointment of friends and associates to positions of authority, without proper regard to their qualifications but rather on favoritism (Encyclopedia of the Nations). This system hurts Burma and it citizens more than helping them. In this way brain draining is promoted as fewer intellectual Burmese Citizens and farmers are willing to stay and help progress their country since very few opportunities are provided. 

Reflection

What personal skills have you used or developed during this process?

I personal skill that I have developed during this research paper is the ability to be clear and concise. I usually like to write a lot but sometimes tend to get wordy or off topic and this research project has made avoid doing that. I have also been able to use my creativity skills by developing my own solution to a problem that I deeply care about. This skill has made my research paper unique because its giving a high school student's perspective on a global issue that affects many people. This skill will not only benefit me during my research but it will also benefit me in future projects or careers I pursue.

Reflection

What has been your most favorite or least favorite component of the course?

My most favorite component of the course is being able to interview Burmese refugees. Hearing about their experience in Burma has made me be very grateful for my life in America. They were very descriptive when explaining their life before they moved to America and the struggles  the faced with the emigrated. It kind of reminded me of my journey to America from Sudan except I did not face the same the struggles they encountered.

My least favorite component has been not being able to find good resources to use for my research. Also not being able to catch up on my blog posts has been my least favorite because I have been very busy these past couple of weeks before Spring Break. I aiming to get caught up on all my work during break.

Interview Responses

When did you move from Burma? How old where you? How did your family apply to come to the US and how long did it take to get accepted? Describe your life in Burma? What is farming like?

Response:

Name: Bei Ta Tha
Arrived in the US: December 14, 2010 
Age of Arrival: 12

"We have to go to the refuge camp or office very early in the morning about 6 or 5 and get inside to apply for it. Once we got inside the gate they will ask you why you ran away from your country, about your age, gender, about siblings and stuff like that, and you have to memorize them every time you went back to the refuge camp. You will have to tell what problem you're in at your country about all the hardships and stuff like that."

"In Burma I or my family didn't have enough money to send me to schools because we have to buy a lot of stuff with our own money and we don't really make money from jobs and working in the farm"

"I usually stay at the farm with my grandpa almost whole year and went back home on the Christmas day and some other holidays.We don't usually stay at home very much, we spend most of our time at the farm working everyday. We chopped down about 1.65 acres and burn all trees so we can get grow crops. we mostly grow corns and we have to do by our hand.Once we harvest the crops, we have to carry it on our backs all the way to our home about 3 hours walking sometime."

Although I was not able to upload the video, these were the insightful responses I got from my interview with Bei. Hearing his responses and how they were so much similar to my reach made my information even more reliable. His story was also really touching, especially about the part about about working every day all year and only seeing his family during Christmas. He was also telling about sometimes not having enough money to go back for Christmas because all of the money, if any, was sent back home to his family. Hearing his story has inspired me to want to help end world hunger and poverty even more than before.

Reflection

What suggestions or insights would you have for other students considering a similar independent study/research project?

I would 100% recommend this research project to any student with interest. Through this research project I have been able to explore a country I barley knew about before I started. To an interested student I suggest you pick a topic that interests or has some personal connection to you rather than just a topic that no one else will choose.  I also suggest you set aside a minimum of 30 minutes a day to work on research or at least outline your thinking process. You don't want to get caught up with other activities because once you fall behind on your research, it is difficult to get caught up right away. Other than that it is a great learning activity and I am extremely excited to present my research paper!

Reflection

Who have you interviewed pertaining to your topic and how has that interview aided your overall independent study/research?

I had the opportunity to interview a former Iowa Youth Institute participant, Elena Hicks who was very successful with her research paper. She provided me with very useful suggestions on what I can do to make my paper unique. Elena suggested that I stick with my country (Burma) and factor (Human Rights) because they are both unique and most people wouldn't choose them. One major suggestion she gave me was to make my paper different than a traditional research paper by making it less of a summary but more informative and personal if possible.  She also offered to review my paper and prepare me for the presentation. 

What problems or obstacles have you encountered during your independent study/research so far? How have you overcome these roadblocks?

The obstacle that I have encountered so far during my research is sticking to my topic and finding good research sources. My topic is human rights violations but, there are also other major factors that I believe trigger human rights violations or need just as much recognition. If I included them, it would make my case a lot stronger but, unfortunately I am not able to do that. To avoid addressing several topics at once, I have made a visual graphic organizer that includes the major points of my topic. It's really helpful because it make me address the major points in the order I want and prevents me from drifting off into a new topic. By the time I'm through with the graphic organizer, I look back to see whether I have answered the question thoroughly and by the end I realize it isn't necessary to add more.

As for finding good sources to use for my research, I have decided to also use interviews of burmese refugees as some of my primary sources. I believe these interviews will give better insight of Burma and my topic. I will also be taking a visit to the library to find books that may be resourceful.

What is something about your topic that has surprised you? 

I was surprised that I couldn't find much more information on my topic. Considering how devastating my topic was, I thought I would find more information about it. Most of the information I was able to find was through the US Campaign for Burama. 

What is the present status of this factor? How severe is the situation? Is the environment being degraded? Are Women, rural or Urban poor, or developing countries particularly disadvantaged? If so, how?

The present status of the factor is worse off than it was before. Not only are people being forced out of their homes and into unsanitary living conditions like the refugee camp pictured above but, minority ethnic groups are facing possible extinction. As you can also see the land is degrading and hopes of returning to Burma is long gone for the refugees. Ethnic conflicts spurred by the government have also created more obstacle that disturb even the somewhat peaceful areas. With nearly almost all of the population in danger, farming is the last thing on peoples' minds.

Children and women once living in rural areas are being the most affected by this issue. Although a Burmese women does not depend on her husband for all financial support, when she loses her only income and her husband, she basically has no other option but to desperately enter prostitution in nearby countries such as Thailand, putting not only her self in danger but also her children. 

*Will be adding a lot more to this section after doing my interview. 

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Interview Questions

Here are a list of questions I have brainstormed for the interview with my burmese friends.

• When and how long did you live in Burma?
• How many people are in your family?
• How many people worked in your family when you were living in Burma?
• What types of jobs did they hold?
• Did your family live on or near a farm?
• Where did your family buy produce?
• How difficult was it to obtain fresh produce in Burma?
• What conflicts did you face in Burma?
• Do you believe food insecurity is a problem in Burma? How so?
• Who do you think can solve these issues and what do you suggest they should do?

Effects of Human Rights Violations

What role does the factor presently play in causing your family to not produce enough food, earn sufficient income to purchase food, or access adequate nutrition? 

Human rights violations are currently causing many devastating issues in Burma and are leading to a an ongoing civil war. These violations include land confiscations, arbitrary arrests, forced labor, child labor, torture, human trafficking, rape and sexual violence, extrajudicial killings, and ethnic cleansing. Because of this issues, the Burmese people have dispersed to nearby countries while some have decided to stay and live through these horrible conditions since the refugee camps are sometimes just as worst.

The government has taken control of 100% of Burma's land and continues to benefit from it through foreign investment while the people work and cultivate it under terrible working conditions. The Burmese people most likely never actually eat anything they produce. The government exports it and makes major profits. Since agriculture is the most important economic driver and farming is a dominant form of employment, the people directly feel the affects of human rights violations when the Burmese government continues to seize land and violate the people's rights. Besides the fact that productivity greatly decreases, there are basically much fewer people working and producing crops as before. This is a result of ethnic cleansing and other violations that eventually led to death, imprisonment, or emigration.

Human Rights Violations

 

 

In Burma alone, there are 135 different ethnic groups. Within these groups are 8 major minority groups that do not identify themselves as Burmese. These include Karen, Chin, Arakhan, Karenni, Mon, Shan, Rohingya, and Kachin. These groups hold a strong hold to their identity and easily become offended when being referred to as another group. So how exactly did these ethnically and culturally diverse groups come to live in the same area? Burma was recently a colony of the British Empire who forced several independent groups together into one nation. After Britain departed in 1948, major civil wars broke out as independent groups sought to claim a piece of the unclaimed land. With no group or leader under rule, the military took control and created an unstable government. The government does not take into consideration the various ethnic groups in the country but instead impose laws that feed into the conflict. Those who try to protest are often brutally tortured, forced into labor, or killed by execution.  The major issue is not about the ethnic conflicts but about the oppression of the Burmese people by the government who constantly violates their human rights.

*Currently still working on this and plan on taking about how it affects food security. 

Reflection & Questions

After doing a lot of research, I realized that there are several factors that affect food security which made it hard to stick to my top since the others were just as important. If possible, I would like to find some connections between my factor and the other factors so I can at least address at some point. Which leads do my questions:

• My topic/factor is human rights violation. Can I make a connection and say that ethinic conflicts, political conflicts, and gender inequality are leading factors of  human rights violations? or am I addressing several topics here? 
• It was sometimes hard for me to find the information I'm looking. Can an interview of a Burmese immigrant count as research and a source? 

These are research questions that I would like to answer:

• How can Burma be one of the leading agricultural countries but have its people suffer from poverty and hunger?
• How is land distribution determined by the government?
• What percentage of locally grown produce are distributed to the poor and landless? 

Major Barriers

Identify the major barriers to improving agricultural productivity, employment and earning a living wage, and gaining access to food markets and adequate nutrition.

The major barriers needed to be addressed in order to improve productivity are:

• Ethnic Conflicts:

In Burma alone, there are 135 different ethnic groups. Within these groups are 8 major minority groups that do not identify themselves as Burmese. These include Karen, Chin, Arakhan, Karenni, Mon, Shan, Rohingya, and Kachin (UKCO, 2005). These groups grasp a strong hold to their identity and easily become offended when being referred to as another group

 Burma was recently a colony of the British Empire who forced several independent groups together into one nation. After Britain departed in 1948, major civil wars broke out as independent groups sought to claim a piece of the unclaimed land. With no group or leader under rule, the military took control and created a hierarchical government. The government does not take into consideration the various ethnic groups in the country but instead imposes laws that feed into the conflict. Those who try to protest are often brutally tortured, forced into labor, or killed by execution (UKCO). 

• Deforestation:

Deforestation is also another major issue that is one of the factors that are leading to more human rights violations. As stated by Tha, about 1.65 acres were cut down by government workers almost every day. Burmese people greatly depend on these rainforest for not only shelter but also for medical remedies and food source. With increased deforestation Burmese people will have fewer and fewer options on where to live as the majority of land is being turned into commercial farms by the government.

Pollution is also an ongoing problem in Burma. In recent years the air pollution has been 60% over the recommend maximum by the World Health Organization (Myanmar Times, 2012). The increasing pollution is mainly due to an increase in automobiles and also in increase in deforestation. Burma’s streets were once flourishing with various types of trees but over time streets sides have become very polluted and treeless. This is a human rights issues because it is greatly effecting the health of the Burmese people, but the government does not enforce very many policies to insure that the environment is not extremely polluted.

• Government Control:

The major issue is not about the ethnic conflicts but about the oppression of the Burmese people by the government who constantly violates their human rights-specifically the Rohingya people. The Rohingya group is amongst the most affected of all the groups. This group represents the Muslim population in Burma. The government along with anti-Rohingyas hold belief that the Rohingyas are illegal Bengali immigrants and therefore have no rights to citizenship. Even if the Rohingyas are illegal immigrants of Burma, they have no place to get deported to since they have been residing in Burma for several generations and have no relations with other nations. The government has not made any efforts in reaching out to the Rohingya but instead has come out strongly against any policy that would accommodate the Rohingyas. The Rohingyas, amongst other groups, have been denied various rights including the right to vote, hold leadership positions in jobs, or run for government offices.

 The violations include land confiscations, arbitrary arrests, forced labor, child labor, torture, human trafficking, rape and sexual violence, extrajudicial killings, and ethnic cleansing. These Burmese people have dispersed to nearby countries while some have decided to stay and live through these horrible conditions because the refugee camps are sometimes just as worst. Excluding the millions that that have been killed and displaced from their homes in the past years, hundreds of thousands of Burmese people have been killed and more than two million have been displaced (Genocide Watch, 2012).

Human rights violations are currently causing many devastating issues in Burma and are leading to an ongoing civil war. This war torn nation has very limited access to aid and food and it’s once plentiful and resourceful land has become a mass graveyard. The government has shifted to taking even more residential land and continues to benefit from it through foreign investment while the people work and cultivate it under terrible working conditions. The Burmese people most likely never actually eat anything they produce. The government exports it and makes major profits. Since agriculture is the most important economic driver and farming is a dominant form of employment, the people directly feel the effects of human rights violations when the government continues to seize land and violate the people's rights. Besides the fact that productivity greatly decreases, there are basically much fewer people working and producing crops as before causing a major decrease in market ready produce. This is a direct result of ethnic cleansing and other violations that eventually led to death, imprisonment, and emigration.

• Environmental destruction (monsoons): 

Unexpected monsoon every year flood towns and eventually ruin hundreds of acres of perfectly good crops. Sometimes families loose a whole year earning along with everything they invested if the monsoon hit. 

A majority of these are what eventually lead to human rights violations which impact food security. 

Farm size, Crops Grown, and Agricultural Practices

Describe the farm size, crops grown, and agricultural practices of a farm family.

Agriculture is the most dominant industry running the economy in Burma. It includes crop production, hunting, fishing, and forestry. This industry is responsible for about 60 of GDP income and 65% of the labor force. The most dominant crop produced is rice- which is very important in the people’s diets- teak, beans, pulses, and opiates. The crops are cultivated along river valleys, coastal areas, and other river areas. The farmers greatly depend on the monsoon but sometimes it either brings too much rain or too little rain.

 

Although Burma is quite well known for its agricultural practices, the people of Burma continue to suffer from hunger and poverty. A third of rural households do not have access to basic land but about half of Burma’s 45 million acre of arable land is uncultivated which leaves many of its people hungry. So how can Burma be one of the leading agricultural countries but have its people suffer from poverty and hunger? The Burma government violates its peoples’ rights in various ways but one major issue is the complete control over these agricultural practices. Instead of feeding its people, the government would rather export almost all of its products and make profit. This issue can no longer be ignored and needs to be addressed. 

 

Burmese Family

Define a typical subsistence farm family or poor urban family in your country. Include family size and composition, diet, education, and access to health care. 

A typical rural Burmese household is considerably large and usually consist of 3 generations of a family. That can include grandparents, aunts and uncles, and relatives as distant as 7^th cousins. Burmese children do not move out until marriage; most even continue to live with their parents after marriage. Because of this long practiced tradition, the eldest in the household-the parents or grandparents- hold almost all of the decision making power in the family. 

Education is highly respected in Burma but the quality is very low because it strongly centered on memorization and recitation. Education is only enforced for 5 years and after that a great majority dropout. Schools are poorly equipped and materials are often outdated. Although primary education in Burma is free, families hesitate to send their children to school because of high school fees that amount to about 100 US dollars. This greatly affects poor rural families because they not only have to pay for school fees but also transportation fees. There are also other discrimination factors that affect school attendance such as ethnic conflicts and gender inequality.

The majority of Burmese people live in rural areas, which means access to healthcare and hospitals is very limited. For that reason, Burmese families greatly depend on home remedies as their source of treatment. Health care is also very limited because the government roughly spends about 2% of its GDP on health care and doctors are in very short supply. 

A Burmese Rural Family:

• 3 generation household 
• Each member has 5 years or less of education
• Mothers and daughters may have little to no education 
• Diet consists of mainly rice
• limited access to health care (depend on home remedies)
• Bamboo houses with no running water or electricity

Effects of Human Rights Violations on Burma Agriculture

1. My focus country of Interest will be Burma (Myanmar). I am well aware of its agricultural background because I have worked on several community gardens with citizens of Burma who have told me about first hand experiences and struggles they have faced in producing and sustaining their own agricultural practices in Burma.

2. My topic of interest is Human rights in Burma. I have chosen this topic because I greatly disagree with how the government of Burma controls %100 of the agricultural land and practices in Burma. Because of this the citizens of Burma are greatly restricted on what they can produce, what they can sell, and how much they can profit from their production. Also women are greatly limited in their education and are often discriminated against when applying for higher education. 

Introduction

The reason why I have chosen to sign up for the GT Extended Learning class is to help me prepare for researching a topic of my interest in order to participate in The World Food Prize Iowa Youth Institute at Iowa State University and to participate in the Think Global School. I will be researching a global food security issue and by the end will have developed a possible solution to this issue. Food security is a major issue that needs to be addressed but is often not looked at as an result of gender inequality, lack of educational resources, and governmental conflict. Addressing these issues will greatly impact food insecurity.

The mission of the research paper is pick a region in the world affected by food insecurity and to address a specific country and topic in order to develope a solution.  My two possible regions of interest are Central Africa and Southeast Asia. My topics of interest are human rights, education, and conflict resolution. These are all topics that I am very passionate about and hope to be able to research more about. My overall goal for this research project is to gain essential research skills and also qualify for the Global Youth Institute to eve`ntually be able to attend the global internships.

Nosa Ali