Global South Development Magazine

By Robin Smith Guatemala is on the brink of becoming another Columbia or Mexico, where military policing, guerrilla groups, and civilians have to battle it out for control. It is a battle without winners and where the average citizen is the one who suffers most. And I wonder, is there time for Guatemala to save itself?

By Lykke Andersen A lousy little loan, which seemed like a good idea at the time, doomed Micky to a life in extreme poverty and heavy indebtedness, while Savvy, who couldn’t get a loan, did very well. So, if you thought micro credit will help solve the problem of poverty, you might want to do a bit of math to understand the astonishing power of compound interest.

By Deanna Morris Microlending programs have been around for 25+ years and as new players have entered the market creating even more competition, interest rates still remain high, which begs the question: is increased competition spurring greed and encouraging investment in microfinance for the wrong reasons?

The Ministry of Health in Malawi has developed a radio drama serial to help tackle public health problems and promote better behaviour. Named Moyo ndi Mpamba!, the ‘edutainment’ radio drama programme combines the power of entertainment with education to address key issues of malaria, family and maternal planning, neonatal and child health, HIV and AIDS, water and sanitation.

The Dutch Agriculture Development and Trading Company (DADTCO) in collaboration with the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) have celebrated a major milestone in the successful commercialization of cassava at a ceremony at the site of the DADTCO factory in Inhambane, Mozambique. The governor of Inhambane and the Dutch ambassador to Mozambique, Ms. Frédérique de Man, were present at the ceremony.

“That’s not to say that microfinance won’t help the very poor, rather that there needs to be a recognition that microfinance isn’t the only thing that can work", argues Oxford Microfinance Initiative’s President Vicente Solera Deuchar.

By Nikola Jovanovic I asked myself so many times: Isn`t it already too much? Do we really need to go to wars after all these natural disasters? Haven’t floods, earthquakes and Tsunamis taken enough lives and added enough human suffering?

Free education is a concept that is only free on paper, but the reality is, education in Uganda and Kenya is expensive. There have been cases where students had to buy a bag of cement, toilet papers and brooms for their school. And in some cases students who fail to make book donations to school have been sent away.