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Reality Check

Posted by Chase Palmeri on March 04, 2009

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Facilitator and Event Organiser look pleased with the results so far!!!!

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The Ubiquitous Eucalyptus

By Steve Twomlow and Will Critchley In many developing countries , including Ethiopia, Eucalyptus spp, was first introduced as a fast growing cash crop, sold to meet growing construction and energy needs. Eucalyptus’ fast rate of growth, even on degraded land, and its ability to ‘drain’ swampy areas is viewed by many as its greatest asset. However, Eucalyptus has been at the centre of an environmental and sustainability debate for years. ©IFAD/Will Critchley & Stephen Twomlow Since Eucalyptus woodlots are cash crops, they can help to reduce human pressure on natural forests. On the other hand, Eucalyptus woodlots are densely planted (to ensure straight poles for construction) and they have little understory foliage growing beneath the trees. Eucalyptus is an invasive plant and it’s leaves prevent the survival of other plants, thereby creating a sterile forest floor bereft of biodiversity. This makes the land that Eucalyptus grows on even mor...

Maryam transforming into a businesswoman

By Sooyeon Kim, UNV-Environment and Social Inclusion Specialist, ECG/NEN, IFAD The Sustainable Agriculture Investments and Livelihoods (SAIL) Programme in Egypt supports empowering women's leadership through various capacity building training and grants for income-generating activities. Maryam Abdel Rehem Abdallah living in Elwafaa village, West samalout in Middle Egypt is one of SAIL beneficiaries. After the death of her husband, Maryam lived in a challenging economic condition. She monthly received only EGP 300, approximately 20 USD, from the national Takaful and Karama cash transfer programme but had no other income source to raise three children. To support living, she found her way into sewing. She loved sewing since young. She began to teach herself and bought a second-hand sewing machine. Once starting her sewing activity, she faced problems such as finding suitable material at reasonable prices, hiring skilled workers to assist her, and lacking advanced skills to produce ...

Painting by numbers: the big picture for gender equality

by Hazel Bedford As communicators, when we set out to make a case about inequality, poverty or women’s empowerment we need numbers to make our case. Preferably eye-catching numbers that grab people’s attention and make our message crystal clear. Ellen Nkomakoma, a 45-year-old widow and mother of 3 in Malawi, is one of millions of women who work in agriculture worldwide: “I’m a farmer, I grow maize, beans, peanuts and tobacco ... I also keep cattle, goats and chickens.” ©IFAD/Marco Salustro But it’s often hard to find accurate statistics that reflect reality in the poorest – mostly rural – parts of the world. Where there are few roads and erratic electricity, there are often no reliable censuses either, and statistics that may have been commonly used for years are actually little more than guestimates, or even worse, they are ‘zombie’ statistics with no basis in fact but seemingly indestructible. However, things are changing in the data worl...

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