additions Flashcards
Muhammad Yunus was born into a privileged family in Bangladesh.
True or False?
False.
Muhammad Yunus was born into a low-income family in Bangladesh. Both his parents had low levels of education.
A region’s fertility rate (i.e., the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime in that region) tends to be […] if many people in that region live in poverty, and […] if many people in that region are economically wealthy.
A region’s fertility rate (i.e., the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime in that region) tends to be higher if many people in that region live in poverty, and lower if many people in that region are economically wealthy.
Regions with high fertility rates also tend to have high […] and/or high […].
Regions with high fertility rates (i.e., a relatively large average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime) also tend to have high infant mortality rates (i.e., a relatively large number of deaths in children aged 1 year or less, per 1000 live births) and/or high child mortality rates (i.e., a relatively large number of deaths in children aged 5 years or less, per 1000 live births)
In many developing countries, girls have less access to education than boys.
True or False?
True.
Conflict and political instability can lead to disruptions in food systems, resulting in hunger and even famine.
True or False?
True.
Identify and briefly describe three (3) ways that the Grameen Bank differs from a traditional bank.
1) Unlike traditional banks which require a single, complete repayment, Grameen Bank allows borrowers to repay their loans through several weekly repayments. This novel financial approach largely ameliorates stress associated with loan repayment, prevents borrowers from defaulting, and facilitates financial freedom.
2) Traditional banks do not lend money to women, as women are not supposed to be involved in business or finances according to the primary religion in Bangladesh, Islam. Yunus recognized that lending to women elicits the most rapid change for society, since women use money to benefit children and the household, whereas men mostly prioritized their own needs. As such, 97% of Grameen Bank’s clients are women, because women not only lift themselves, but also others, out of poverty.
3) Where traditional banks fixate on a person’s past and require collateral before agreeing to finance a loan, Grameen bank is not interested in the past, and instead looks to the future. Traditional banks consider the poor untrustworthy and not worthy of credit, whereas Yunus understands that the poor are neither lazy nor stupid, they simply lack the support to flourish. Thus, Grameen Bank lends to destitute individuals, because Yunus believes that people will build a better life for themselves and their loved ones, given the opportunity.
When people living in poverty were offered the opportunity to borrow money from the Grameen Bank, they were immediately enthusiastic, recognizing that the opportunity to borrow small amounts of money with relatively small interest represented an important opportunity to break free from poverty.
True or False?
False.
People were initially skeptical and thought it might be “un-Islamic” because it charged interest on loans and lent money to women, thought they might be communists or missionaries. Not only did men try to frighten women from taking loans, but also women did not have confidence they would be able to manage the loans.
In countries such as South Sudan, how many girls currently finish primary school?
<20%
People are prone to binary thinking (i.e., thinking in terms of two mutually exclusive categories, like “good” and “bad”), so it is very hard to replace people’s perceptions of a world divided into “rich” and “poor” regions with an understanding of the world in which they recognize that most people live in between those two categories
True or False?
True.
Roughly similar numbers of people live at Income Level 1 and Income Level 4, with the majority of people living in between, at Levels 2 and 3
True or False?
True.
For people living with Income Level 4, $3 per day more or less would not make a substantial difference to their quality of their life — so they find it hard to understand how big an impact an additional $3 per day could have for someone living with Income Level 1
True or False?
True.
With hard work and perseverance, it would be quite common for a person to move up through several levels of income within their lifetime
True or False?
False.
Where does the majority of the global population live? (income-wise)
Middle-income countries
People living with an income at Level 2 have more resources than those living with extreme poverty at Level 1, but they are still very vulnerable economic shocks. For example, if a family member becomes ill and needs medicine, the cost of medicine alone could result in the family experiencing much worse poverty.
True or False?
True.
How is a statement like “On average, men score higher than women on the SAT math test (527 versus 496)” an over-simplification of information that might actually mislead people?
The statement is an oversimplification even while technically true. By ignoring the distribution of the data and only focusing on averages, the implication is that men are always better at math than women (i.e., that there is a ‘gap’ in math ability between males and females). However, by looking at the number of individuals with different math scores and examining the spread of the data, the overlap in math ability becomes very clear. We can see that a slightly higher number of women than men scored 500, and a slightly higher number of men than women scored 800. Nonetheless, some men and some women achieved every single score, from 200 to 800. By analyzing the distribution of the math scores, we can see that women have nearly the same capacity for math as men, or put another way, men have nearly the same potential for not understanding math as women. There is no gap, there is significant overlap in ability - men are not inherently better at math.
Moving forward, what can you do when you are presented with information that gives you a comparison of averages, in order to make it less likely that you will be misled into believing an over-simplified view of what those averages are describing? Identify two specific strategies you can use in the future, to critically evaluate and better understand the simplification of information that is presented in averages. Be specific!
- Always consider the distribution of the data.
- Always consider the scale that the data is presented on
The news report, Global hunger toll soars by 150 million as Covid and Ukraine war make their mark, states: “About 149 million children under five had stunted growth and development due to a chronic lack of essential nutrients.” Is chronic lack of essential nutrients the only immediate cause of stunting?
No.
* Stunting is also caused by chronic low energy intake in early childhood, repeated bouts of illness and/or diarrhea, and inadequate access to safe water and sanitation facilities.
In 2015, the United Nations established the Sustainable Development Goals, which include the goal of eradicating hunger by 2030. We are currently on track to meet this goal of eradicating hunger by 2030.
True or False?
False.
David Beasley, the director of the UN’s World Food Programme, warned that the Ukraine war may push some vulnerable regions into famine. Moreover, since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of people living with hunger, or chronic undernourishment, increased by 150 million. These crises mean that we are currently not on track to meet the goal of eradicating hunger by 2030.
“Although current forecasts suggest that staple crop production will remain relatively unaffected by the pandemic (rice, wheat, maize, lentils and soybeans), the same cannot be said for high-value, labour-intensive and perishable crops such as fresh fruits and vegetables, and animal-sourced foods.”
The current crisis (sparked by the global impacts of the Covid pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine) highlights the need to redesign global food systems to increase resilience in the face of such shocks
True or False?
True.
Food aid (in which food is provided to countries experiencing extreme food crisis by other donor countries) is the best way to avoid famine
True or False?
False.
Farmers in regions affected by extreme food crisis cannot play a role in avoiding famine; no food can be produced in countries experiencing extreme food crisis
True or False?
False.
Do you think identifying when and where famine occurs is a relatively straightforward and accurate process?
No, I do not believe that identifying when and where famine occurs is a straightforward process because many disparate groups must concur, and this is never simple. Even when extreme suffering is already evident, governments often disagree with international famine committees and humanitarian organizations, which delays the famine declaration process and reduces the potential for international aid to reach starving people in time. For example, in Ethiopia, the government was accused in 2020 by the emergency relief coordinator of the UN of delaying famine declaration for their own political means. In another case, the government of South Sudan denied the famine review committee’s declaration that famine was underway in Pibor county even during conditions severe flooding and conflict.
What is the staple crop in South Sudan?
Sorghum
When the rain eventually started to come, it was too late for it to help with agriculture for this season. In fact, it could make the crisis even worse by causing flooding and making the transportion of food and other emergency supplies more difficult.
True or False?
True.
