Hunger, Poverty, and Economic Development

The following sites contain information on the relationship between hunger, poverty, and economic development.  As we note in Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism, hunger is largely a function, not of the availability of food, but of people's ability to pay for it.  The great dilemma is how to create economic, social, and political conditions to ensure that everyone has access to food or the means to acquire it.

1996 State Poverty Estimates—Census Bureau
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/saipe.html

Africa Recovery--UN

www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/

Africa Recovery is a journal published in English and French by the Library and Publications Division of the United Nations Department of Public Information.  Each issue contains articles relating to development or obstacles to it in Africa.  Volume 12 (August 1998), for example, contains articles on debt reduction, drug trafficking, and arms control.

AgriBiz

www.agribiz.com/

A rich source of information on global agriculture, including the latest news on agricultural and livestock  production in countries all over the world along with the latest on agriculture biotechnology.

Agriculture 21--UN FAO
http://www.fao.org/ag/

"To 'promote food security and sustainable development into the next millennium,' the Agriculture Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has recently created this new resource. An impressive and clearly arranged interface leads researchers to more than one gigabyte of data from various UN Agriculture Department sites. A detailed list of available software, databases, publication lists, and email conferences is provided via the Guides section of the site. Other services include Magazine, a monthly publication on international agricultural issues, and Gateway, a link pointing to UN Department of Agriculture divisional homepages." (The Scout Report, 10/9/98)  Some excellent features, such as why Asian rice crops are declining, and the threat that poses for Asian populations, and the environmental threats posed by increasing livestock production.  

Agriculture Fact Book 1998 --USDA [.pdf, 277p.]
http://www.usda.gov/news/pubs/fbook98/content.htm

Agriculture Fact Book 1997_--USDA [.pdf, 265p.]

www.usda.gov/news/pubs/fbook97/contents.htm

Do you want to know what Americans eat?  How much they spend on food?   How food habits have changed?  This government site has this information and much more.  You can find information on the number and size of American farms, and economic structure of American agriculture (who owns the farms), the age distribution of rural populations and so on.  You need Adobe Acrobat to access the documents, but if you can check the legal structure of American farms.  What percentage are still family operations?  But what percentage of earned income is accumulated by corporations?

 

Agricultural Statistics 1998_--USDA NASS [.pdf]

www.usda.gov/nass/pubs/agstats.htm

You can find out the quantities of agricultural products in the United States, who is consuming them, the amount of fertilizers and pesticides that are applied to crops, and so on. 

America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 1999 [.pdf, 114p.] http://www.childstats.gov/ac1999/ac99.asp

The 1999 edition (last edition reviewed in the July 24, 1998 Scout Report of this annual compendia of statistical indicators on US children, produced by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics was placed online on July 8. This issue, which contains 23 indicators in four topics, shows overall improvement in children’s well-being but also reports continuing and significant disparities, principally along economic lines. Information is presented in non-technical terms with heavy use of charts and tables. The full text of the report, including the appendices, is available for download in HTML or .pdf format. Users may also browse the report highlights, the official press release, and three "backgrounders" on specific issues. [MD (The Scout Report, 7/9/99)]

America’s Eating Habits: Changes and Consequences—USDA ERS [.pdf, 473p] http://www.econ.ag.gov/epubs/pdf/aib750/

This new book from the US Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, USDA ERS (last noted in the May 7, 1999 Scout Report) offers a comprehensive review of eating habits and the state of nutrition in America. Downloadable by chapter or in its entirety in .pdf format, the book presents a multi-disciplinary perspective on nutrition issues, addressing topics ranging from "dietary guidelines to food consumption patterns, from the impact of food advertising to the economic costs of unhealthy diets." Other subjects covered include the impact of government programs and regulations, public and private efforts to encourage healthy eating, and the connections between dietary changes and US agriculture. [MD] (Scout Report 5/21/99)

Assessing Aid-What Works, What Doesn’t, and Why -- World Bank [.pdf, PowerPoint] http://www.worldbank.org/research/aid/aidpub.htm

"The latest in a series of World Bank Policy Research Reports, this major new report summarizes the findings of a multi-year research program on aid effectiveness. The 1990s has seen official Development Assistance fall by one-third in real terms. One of the reasons for this has been "a sense that aid does not work very well. Assessing Aid aims to understand when aid works and when it does not, so that the lessons can be used to make aid more effective." The report identifies two key components of aid—money and ideas—and discusses how and when they can best be applied to promote developing economies. Users can read a detailed overview in HTML or download the full text of the report in .pdf format. Additional resources at the site include a PowerPoint slide presentation and a news release in several languages." (The Scout Report, 11/27/98)

 

Bellagio Principles [RealAudio]

iisd1.iisd.ca/measure/1.htm

The site represents the attempt by a group of scholars assembled in November 1996 at the Rockefeller Foundation's Study and Conference Center in Bellagio, Italy to establish guidelines for the practical assessment toward sustainable development.   This site contains some of the recommendations.  The site contains a summary of the goals and the principles.   The site also contains a multimedia presentation of the conference.

British Library for Development Studies (BLDS) Bibliographic Database

www.ids.ac.uk/bldsdb/

"Thirty years of experience has placed the British Library for Development Studies (BLDS) at the forefront of development information provision. The BLDS makes its services available to those engaged in any sphere of social science related activity aimed at understanding the problems of what have traditionally been regarded as the developing regions of the world. The BLDS has primarily been used by the UK development community: however, our exploitation of the Internet now extends BLDS access to all regions of the world." 

Poverty is not simply a feature of so-called "underdeveloped" countries. As this U.S. Census report indicates, 20% of all Americans have difficulty meeting basic needs. The situation is particularly critical for children. "Extended Measures of Well-Being: Meeting Basic Needs, 1995," a recently published population report, examines demographic data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation. It concludes that one in five people had difficulty meeting basic needs, such as food, shelter, and health care, in 1995 and found that "more than one quarter of children (29 percent) lived in a household in which someone reported difficulty meeting at least one basic need." Substantial correlative data is given concerning race, gender, region, employment, income, educational attainment, and other typical demographic categories. (Scout Report for Business and Economics)

CIESIN: Center for International Earth Science Information Network
Columbia University
http://www.ciesin.org/

A collection of research data and Web links on development and related issues.

Compendium of Sustainable Development Indicator Initiatives and Publications

iisd1.iisd.ca/measure/compendium.htm

"The Compendium provides a comprehensive and up-to-date information base of indicator initiatives being carried out at the international, national and provincial/territorial/state levels in the context of sustainable development. Some projects at the regional/local and community levels are included. The compendium also contains an annotated bibliography of indicator-related literature."

Context: Sustainable Culture

www.context.org/index.html

An excellent site to find out what is being done in the area of sustainable development.  The site is the home of  In Context: A Quarterly of Humane Sustainable Culture in which you find articles related to the issues of sustainability.

The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)--UN

http://www.un.org/Depts/eca/

An excellent site for information on economic development in Africa.   "The Economic Commission for Africa is the arm of the United Nations devoted to making quality information on African development internationally available. ECA research focus areas include gender equality, agricultural productivity, information technology, social policy, and environmental concerns. The site features an extensive bibliography of articles on African socio-economic development entitled Africa Index as well as the comprehensive Africa Economic Report 1998. Current awareness is also facilitated by the long list of African Newspaper and Magazine links entitled News from Around Africa. [MW]" (Scout Report for Business and Economics, 9/10/98)

Economic Development Web Site

www.hhh.umn.edu/Centers/SLP/edweb/

A Web resource on the "how-to's" of economic development.  The information is desgined to assist local leaders (largely in the U.S.) to further economic development in their regions.  There are lots of links to other economic development sites.  A good site to learn about the strategies that regions (both in the U.S. and elsewhere) use to further economic growth.

Economic History McMaster
socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/index.html

A collection of classic writings on economics and related subjects; you can access works by Adam Smith, Jeremy Bentham, John Maynard Keynes, to name just a few.  Great source for original documents.

Entropy and Inequality Measures
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/SMIPP/frmentro.htm

You need to know some math to take full advantage of this site created by Electrical Engineer Goetz Kluge to measure the maldistribution of global wealth.  But even without the math backgound, you can find excellent quantitative information; check out, for example, disparities in the global distribution of wealth.  If the math is too much, then check out the summary on growing disparities of wealth.

FAS Attache Reports
http://www.fas.usda.gov/scriptsw/AttacheRep/attache_frm.idc

Provided by the US Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), this daily updated database of attache reports on the agricultural situation and agricultural trade in other countries currently contains nearly 12,500 reports. Dating from 1995 to the present, the reports cover individual countries (almost 130), specific commodities and products, and trade policy. Users may search the database by commodity, country, subject, and AGR number. Searches may be further modified by date. [MD] (Scout Report, 7/9/99)

Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations
http://apps.fao.org/

Food Cost Review, 1950-1997 -- ERS [.pdf, 50p.] http://www.econ.ag.gov/epubs/pdf/aer780/

Provided by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service (ERS), this new report measures farm-to-retail price spread data to determine how much and why food prices rise. Although subtitled 1950-1997, the report actually focuses primarily on data for 1997. Contents of the report include an overview of the 1997 food prices, price spreads for selected foods, food industry costs and productivity, and food spending in relation to income. The report contains 25 pages of tables and a special article, "Historical Changes in CPI [Consumer Price Index]-Food Weights." Users can download the report by chapter or in its entirety in .pdf format. [MD]

Food First: The Institute for Food and Development Policy
www.foodfirst.org

Food First was founded in 1975 by Frances Moore Lappé and Joseph Collins, authors of the book, Diet For a Small Planet.  A "progressive think tank" Food First "highlights root causes and value-based solutions to hunger and poverty around the world, with a commitment to establishing food as a fundamental human right."  The site provides information about the organizations publications, some background reports, and links to other sites concerning world hunger.

Global Aid Online
http://www.globalaid.co.uk/index2.htm

An Online journal dealing with topics of aid.  Many full articles are on Online and available in the archives.

Global Economic Prospects and the Developing Countries 2000
http://www.worldbank.org/prospects/gep2000/index.htm

Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture (GIEWS) [.pdf]
http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/faoinfo/economic/giews/english/giewse.htm

"The Economic and Social Department of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) (originally reviewed in the October 25, 1996 Scout Report), an internationally recognized source for information on the world food situation, has expanded its GIEWS site. The site continues to feature the FAO’s important bimonthlies, Food Outlook  and  Foodcrops and Shortages, but has also added a number of resources that focus on the food situation in Africa. These include Food supply situation and crop prospects in sub-Saharan Africa, a quarterly assessment of the current food supply situation in that region; monthly reports during the growing season on the drought-prone Sahel region; and frequently updated Special Reports on food shortages around the world. The site now also hosts three databases: on Western and Central Africa (in French only), Eastern Africa, and Southern Africa. Data is available for all countries in each area and includes maps, satellite images, climatic profiles, crop zones, population data, various statistics, and background information. Visitors may also subscribe to any of GIEWS three mailing lists: one forwards the text of Special Reports, another sends users the monthly report on the Sahel, and a third consists of alerts on new publications at the site. The reports are available in French and Spanish, as well." (Scout Report, 1/29/99)

Global System for Sustainable Development (GSSD)
http://gssd.mit.edu/Gssd/gssd.nsf

Grameen Bank Official Website
http://www.grameen.com/

One apparent success story in combating hunger and poverty is providing small loans to the poor, particularly women, for the purpose of starting small businesses.   The Grameen Bank in Bangladesh was a pioneer in this practice.  You can check out their Website for additional information and updates.

Homeless Peoples Archives
aspin.asu.edu/hpn/

At the archives, you can find the latest news concerning the homeless in the United States.

Human Development Report 1997 Information--UN Development Programme
http://www.undp.org/hdro/e97over.htm

"Human Development Report 1997 reviews the challenge to eradicate poverty from a human development perspective. It focuses not just on poverty of income but on poverty from a human development perspective - on poverty as a denial of choices and opportunities for living a tolerable life."

Human Development Report 1998--UN Development Programme http://www.undp.org/hdro/98.htm

"The Human Development Report Office of the United Nations Development Programme has released the Human Development Report (HDR) 1998. This site provides a detailed summary of the report’s contents and an agenda for action, outlining a comprehensive plan to change the world’s consumption patterns in ways that will facilitate future human development. Appended to the HDR 1998 are three indices: the Human Development Index, the Gender-Related Development Index, and the Gender Empowerment Measure. Each index presents pertinent statistical measures and displays the data in a table format. The site also archives HDRs dating back to 1990 and supplies information on ordering the full report. " (Scout Report for Social Science, 9/22/98)

Human Development Report (HDR) 1999 -- UN [.pdf, 262p.] http://www.undp.org/hdro/report.html

Released on Monday July 12, the tenth edition of the United Nation Development Programme’s (UNDP) Human Development Report has garnered considerable attention from the international press all week. The report ranks 174 countries on quality of life indicators such as life expectancy, wealth, and literacy, ranking Canada at the top and Sierra Leone at the bottom. The report pays particular attention to the opportunities and dangers of globalization. Although living conditions in almost all countries have improved over the last ten years, according to the report, economic inequalities have reached "grotesque" proportions, "with the richest fifth of humanity enjoying more than 85% of total gross domestic product and the poorest fifth only 1%." Users can download the full text and statistical tables of the report by chapter at the UNDP site. Additional resources include an Online Newsroom, which contains a press kit, author information, early reviews, and a feature on the HDR team. [MD]

Hunger Project

www.thp.org

The Website for The Hunger Project contains a description of the project, their strategies for alleviating world hunger, reports, information, and news about areas where hunger is the greatest problem.  Find out where hunger is the greatest problem in the world and some of the means being employed to do something about it.

The Hunger Site
http://www.thehungersite.com/

At this site you can initiate a donation of food from one of the site's sponsors, and you can see the frequency at which a children are dying of hunger throughout the world.

Hunger Web

www.hunger.brown.edu/hungerweb

"The aim of this site is to help prevent and eradicate hunger by facilitating the free exchange of ideas and information regarding the causes of, and solutions to, hunger. It contains primary information, made available by the World Hunger Program -- the prime sponsor of this site -- and its partners, as well as links to other sites where information of relevance to hunger can be found."  If you want to examine the data on how much food there is in the world, and whether there is enough to feed everyone, check out the State of World Hunger.  You'll need a copy of Adobe Acrobat to read the document.

Improving Women’s Access to Credit
http://www.soc.titech.ac.jp/icm/wind/wind.html

Improving Women’s Access to Credit, created by Dr. Hari Srinivas of the Tokyo Institute of Technology, is an extensive list of resources and information pertaining to women and banking throughout the world. Included are studies and documents from sources such as the International Co-operative Alliance, UNICEF, and the Institute for Global Communications and links to women’s organizations, international networks, and programs.(Scout Report for Business and Economics, 7/23/99)

Inner City Press
http://www.innercitypress.org/

Economic development is an issue, not only in the periphery, but in peripherialized areas of the core, as well.  "Inner City Press / Community on the Move (ICP) is a non-profit community, consumers’ and civil rights organization headquartered in the South Bronx of New York City, engaged in cut-edge advocacy , reporting and organizing in the fields of community reinvestment, fair access to credit, insurance and telecommunications, environmental justice, and government and corporate accountability. The more recently formed Inner City Public Interest Law Center engages in litigation and administrative advocacy around these issues, including collaborating with or providing legal representation to other community groups. Click here for some recent news about our work. Click here for a brief description of some of our current campaigns."

Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
http://www.iatp.org/home.htm

"The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) was established in 1986 as a nonprofit and tax exempt research and education organization. Our mission is to create environmentally and economically sustainable communities and regions through sound agriculture and trade policy."  Check out the Globalism and Global Governance section of the site for information on the relationships between hunger and economic globalization. 

Institute of Development Studies
http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/index.html

Located in Sussex, England, the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) is an international authority on development. IDS serves as a center for research and education on development and offers conferences and workshops, as well as a host of online information about research and publications. Full-text working and discussion papers are available online, as are several special research reports and descriptions of projects on such subjects as Globalization, Governance and Civil Society, and Environment. (Scout Report for Business and Economics, 9/12/99)

Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) [.pdf]
http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/irp/

"Established in 1966 by the US Office of Economic Opportunity, the Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP), University of Wisconsin-Madison, investigates the 'causes and consequences of poverty and social inequality' in the United States. Often a source of in-depth information on welfare reform, IRP research is available in full text via the quarterly publication  Focus_ (Fall 1994 to present), IRP Discussion Papers (1993 to present), and selected Special Reports (1997 only). A subject index to IRP publications is provided, and other resources on-site include a Consumer Price Index Calculator and an extensive metapage of poverty-related links to resources in a variety of areas, from activism to public policy." (Scout Report for Business and Economics, 11/5/98)

International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development

www.ictsd.org

Excellent site for information on issues related to food supplies, trade, the environment, and sustainable development.  At the site you can read or subscribe to BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest, or access the monthly reviews.

International Development Network
http://www.idn.org/

The IDN states that its "goal is to promote sustainable and responsible development initiatives and projects by providing access to development related information and related resources to individuals, NGOs, Companies and Government Agencies."  You can find links to many other sites on sustainable development

International Development Research Center
http://www.idrc.ca/

"The International Development Research Centre (IDRC), a public corporation created by the Parliament of Canada, fosters social, environmental, and economic development worldwide by conducting research that produces the knowledge to solve problems. The IDRC Website is as deep as it is wide, providing access to lodes of information on development programs from its offices located in Ottawa, Singapore, Montevideo, Dakar, New Delhi, Cairo, and Johannesburg." (Scout Report for Social Sciences, 12/1/98)  Check out the Resource Clock that tracks the relationship between population and the amount of ariable land available in the world.   Remember, however, that comsumers in core countries use far more ariable land to support their consumption needs, than do people in the periphery.

Long Road to Sustainable Development
http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/lebanon/254/develop.htm

A collection of Web sites, articles, reports and other resources relating to the subject of sustainable development. 

National Center for Children in Poverty
http://ousd.k12.ca.us/netday/links/Partnerships/nccp.html

"The mission of the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) is to identify and promote strategies that reduce the number of young children living in poverty in the United States, and that improve the life chances of the millions of children under age six who are growing up poor."  Check some of the basic facts about child poverty in America.

Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development
http://www.foundation.novartis.com/

The mission of the foundation is to "foster sustainable development in the poor countries of the South through support of programs and projects in the areas of sustainable agriculture, health and social development."  The site contains an extensive set of links along with articles relating to the subject of sustainable development.  Check, for example, Food Security for a Growing World Population, an article by Klaus M. Leisinger on the relationship between hunger, population, poverty, urbanization and environmental degradation.

Oxfam Home Page

www.oneworld.org/oxfam/

Oxfam describes itself as "a development, advocacy, and relief agency working to put an end to poverty world-wide. Oxfam believes that poverty is not inevitable: it can be tackled. In partnership with local groups, Oxfam works with poor people to help them help themselves."  There is an excellent section for teaching primary and secondary school students about world hunger and poverty.

Poverty, Famine, and Development
http://www.sum.uio.no/~danbanik/Hungerlinks.htm

A remarkable resource.  You can find the full-text version of Amartya Sen & Jean Drèze's book, Hunger and Public Action, among others, links to other sites, and links to journals.

Poverty Lines--World Bank [.pdf, compressed .ps]

www.worldbank.org/html/prdph/lsms/research/povline/plhome.html

A World Bank publication, "Poverty Lines is a brief, two-page newsletter which summarizes research on poverty. Many of the issues covered will come from the LSMS Working Papers, but not all working papers will have a corresponding issue of Poverty Lines. While the working papers summarized may be technical in presentation and require training in economic theory or statistics to read, the summaries provided by Povery Lines are written for readers who may not have this training."

Praxis: Data Bases on Social and Economic Development

http//caster.ssw.upenn.edu/~restes/praxis.html

The site established by Prof. Richard J. Estes of the University of Pennsylvania, "PRAXIS provides access to a vast array of archival resources on international and comparative social development."  There are extensive links to information about countries and about development in general.

Progress of Nations Report from UNICEF

www.unicef.org/pon97/

From the United Nations, "The Progress of Nations, an annual scorecard of the social health of nations, records achievements in the form of statistics that measure fulfilment of minimum human needs. The knowledge it unearths is fundamental to solving problems, because information is the first ingredient needed by those with the will and the means to make change.  The Progress of Nations 1997 tells both good news and bad, and some news that is both. For example, mortality rates among children under 5 have declined impressively over the past 15 years—but HIV/AIDS is undermining that success in about 30 countries. A code is in place to protect breastfeeding from unethical infant formula marketing practices—but enforcement of the code is spotty. Safe water supplies have expanded dramatically in recent years—but access to sanitation is falling. "

The Progress of Nations 1999 [.pdf, 38p.; RealPlayer]
Frames Version: http://www.unicef.org/pon99/
No Frames: http://www.unicef.org/pon99/fronote1.htm

UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) has once again posted its annual report, The Progress of Nations, online. This year’s report places special focus on the debt crisis of the world’s poorest nations, the AIDS emergency, the campaign to eradicate polio, and a new Child Risk Measure League Table, which ranks the risks to children in countries around the world on a scale of 0 to 100. The report is available in HTML or .pdf format. Four RealPlayer videos are also available. (Scout Report, 7/23/99)

ReliefWeb
http://wwwnotes.reliefweb.int/

RRojas Databank
http://www.rrojasdatabank.org

One of the most comprehensive sites on the Web dealing with development and economic globalization.  Robinson Rojas (many of whose writings are included on the site) has compiled an impressive list of articles and links relating to economic development.  It is also remarkably well-maintained.  There is also an impressive array of curriculum material, including lecture notes, some of it used in Robinson's Open University courses. A treasure trove of material.  For starters, check out some of the material in the World Investment Report 1998.  

Second Harvest
http://www.secondharvest.org/index.htm

If you need to be convinced that hunger is caused, not by a lack of food, but a lack of the ability to pay for it, consider the fact that 30 million people in the United States are hungry.  And there are many more in other areas of the so-called developed world.  This Web site documents the extent of hunger in the U.S. and the reasons for it.  If you want to know more about it, check out their report on Hunger 1997: Faces and Facts, or read the Executive Summary.

Smart Library on Urban Poverty
http://www.societyonline.org/partners/harvard/

The Kennedy School at Harvard University and the National Institute for Social Science Information (NISSI) provide "the best research on urban poverty from leading academic journals" at the Smart Library on Urban Poverty. This complex site allows six pathways into its databases, which cover a range of topics: welfare and work facts, first-person narratives, and evaluations of major economic experiments. A Headlines section links readers to Smart Library contents via the latest news concerning urban economies, communities, and families in the US.

State of Food and Agriculture 1997--FAO

www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/ECONOMIC/ESA/sofa.htm

"The State of Food and Agriculture is FAO's annual report on current developments affecting world agriculture. It reviews policy factors underlying recent agricultural performances at the world and regional levels, highlighting the experience of selected countries in each region. It also discusses issues of current or emerging interest, and presents each year an in-depth analysis of a selected topic of importance to world food and agriculture."  The Report contains a section on world overviews of the production and distribution of various crops, and a region by region breakdown of food production and supplies.  A remarkable compilation of information.  Check out the World Review section to find out about problem areas and trends.

The State of Food Insecurity in the World 1999_ [.pdf, 1028K] http://www.fao.org/NEWS/1999/img/SOFI99-E.PDF

The 1997 report from UNICEF focuses on child labor.  "UNICEF urges an immediate end to hazardous and exploitative child labour, and advocates urgent support for education, so that children may acquire knowledge and skills to improve their lives.

State of the World's Children--1998

www.unicef.org/sowc98/

The 1998 report from UNICEF focuses on nutrition.  "Over 200 million children in developing countries under the age of five are malnourished. For them, and for the world at large, this message is especially urgent. Malnutrition contributes to more than half of the nearly 12 million under-five deaths in developing countries each year. Malnourished children often suffer the loss of precious mental capacities. They fall ill more often. If they survive, they may grow up with lasting mental or physical disabilities."

State of the World's Children--1999
http://www.unicef.org/sowc99/

"Nearly a billion people will enter the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names and two thirds of them are women. And they will live, as now, in more desperate poverty and poorer health than those who can. They are the world’s functional illiterates—and their numbers are growing." Thus begins the sumary of the latest UNICEF Report, The State of the World's Children--1999.  This includes 130 million children of primary school age growing up without access to basic education.  Check out the report or the summary.

The State of the World’s Children 2000 -- UNICEF [.pdf, RealPlayer]
http://www.unicef.org/sowc00/

Sustainable Development/Economics
http://www.colby.edu/personal/thtieten/sustain.html

"This site offers three types of information: (1) a bibliography of works emphasizing economics and sustainable development, (2) a series of "executive summaries" of case studies involving attempts to pursue sustainable strategies, and (3) links to other sustainable development sites." 

To Our Credit
http://www.pbs.org/toourcredit/

  The PBS companion site to their two-part series on microcredit institutions, such as the Grameen bank discussed in Chapter Six,  that specialize in small loans for the establishment of small business enterprises.  The site contains descriptions of microcredit, along with stories abot its success.  Check on the fact page to find out about the need for such lending programs?  Do they work?  What is the likelihood of someone escaping poverty through microcredit as opposed to someone without access to such resources?

Trade Liberalisation and Women
http://www.undp.org/unifem/trade/index.htm

A special report from the United Nations Development Fund for Women’s (UNIFEM) program on Women and International Trade, Trade Liberalisation and Women seeks to explain how trade liberalisation, defined as the "process of systematically reducing and eventually eliminating all tariff and non-tariff barriers between countries as trading partners," is affecting the women of the world. The site explains how, as economies compete with each other, global liberalisation will drive down the working wages and working conditions of countries, thus affecting female workers. As well as this situational analysis, the site also includes extensive databases of related links, research, and books; UNIFEM’s research into the subject of women and trade; and a list of organizations users can contact if they are interested in persuing issues related to women and trade liberalisation. (Scout Report for Business and Economics, 9/12/99)

Views of the Famine--The Irish Famine as it Happened

http://vassun.vassar.edu/~sttaylor/FAMINE/

Read some of the primary documents of the Irish famine; examine how journals and newspapers reported the hunger that swept Ireland, remembering that while millions strarved to death, food, under armed guard, was being shipped to England and to people who could pay for it.

University of Texas Inequality Project [.pdf]
http://utip.gov.utexas.edu/

The University of Texas Inequality Project (UTIP) is a small research group concerned with "measuring and explaining movements of inequality in wages and earnings and patterns of industrial changes around the world." The group applies cluster analysis, discriminant analysis, and Theil’s T statistic to data from the US government, the Organisation for Co-operation & Development (OECD), and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and posts world-wide measures of inequality on-site. UTIP working papers are also available (1998-present) in addition to Inequality Watch—a current awareness report on inequality in the US, Mexico, and Canada. (Scout Report for Business and Economics, 5/6/1999)

UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO): Agricultural Data: Production and Production Indices

apps.fao.org/cgi-bin/nph-db.pl?subset=agriculture

 

Forestry Data

apps.fao.org/cgi-bin/nph-db.pl?subset=forestry

Welcome to The World Bank

www.worldbank.org

 

World Bank Annual Report: 1996

www.worldbank.org/html/extpb/annrep96/annrep96.htm

 

World Bank _Annual Report_ 1997

www.worldbank.org/html/extpb/annrep97/

 

World Bank on Sustainable Development

www.globalknowledge.org

World Development Indicators [.pdf]
http://www.worldbank.org/data/wdi/home.html

World Development Report 1998/99: Knowledge for Development http://www.worldbank.org/wdr/

"The World Bank has published the twenty-first annual World Development Report, investigating 'the role of knowledge in advancing economic and social well-being."\' The report makes three important suggestions directed to developing countries. First, developing countries are encouraged to institute policies to narrow the gap between the information-poor and the information-rich. Second, governments, NGOs, and the private sector need to collaborate to address the information problems that cause economic and political failure. Third, developing countries are prompted to recognize that knowledge is at the core of all development endeavors. This site provides the full version of the report, a report summary, a slide show, press releases, a Q & A section about the report, and ordering information." (The Scout Report for the Social Sciences, 10/20/98)

World Development Report 1999/2000 [.pdf]
http://www.worldbank.org/wdr/2000/

Released on September 15, 1999, the 22^nd edition of this annual report from the World Bank Organization examines the effects of globalization and localization on the world economy in the coming millennium. Along with the full report, which can be downloaded by chapter in .pdf format, this extensive Website includes overviews of the World Development Report in general and the 1999/2000 report in particular. An online slide show guides users through the basics of globalization and localization with clear graphs and charts along with accompanying text. The Q&A section explains the reasons why the World Bank chose these two topics and covers the concepts of globalization and localization. (Scout Report for Business and Economics. 9/23/99)

World Food Habits Bibliography
http://www.ilstu.edu/~rtdirks/foodbib.html

"Professor Robert Dirks of Illinois State University compiled this comprehensive list of resources for the anthropological study of food and culture. The World Food Habits Bibliography is subdivided into regional and topical lists. All regions of the globe are included and topic areas cover various facets of food-related studies. In addition, a special section provides a list of resources related to the study of the American diet from 1891 to 1942." (The Scout Report for Social Sciences, 10/20/98)

World Hunger
http://ethics.acusd.edu/world_hunger.html

Part of Lawrence M. Hinman's site, Ethics Updates, designed for ethics instructors.  The world hunger section contains classroom presentations, discussion forums, and links to other sites addressing the issues of world hunger.  There is also a special page on poverty and welfare.