#millenniumvillages

[reduxpictures]

The Millennium Villages Project: A Photo Exhibition on Sustainable Development, curated by Ron Haviv of VII, will be at Photoville - Brooklyn Bridge Park, September 13-17 and 21-24.

[ronhaviv]

Ethiopia walkabout... Kebedech Berhe, is a farmer, widow and mother. With help from the Millennium Village project she has been able send all her kids to school and be a profitable business woman. #millenniumvillages #endingpoverty #Ethiopia #Koraro #walkabouttheworld @earthinstitute (at Ethiopia)

[senegallife]

Comment: viiphoto said "Mamadou Diop enjoys the end of his work day at his home in Niayam, Senegal. Diop has participated in the Millennium Villages Project since the community-led rural development effort started ten years ago. Irrigation methods, seed verification, and technical assistance have helped Diop increase productivity and profits. The father of nine was able to buy a second farm that will allow him to diversify his crops and increase the number of harvests per year. Photo by Danny Wilcox Frazier/VII Photo @dannywilcoxfrazier @viiphoto #millenniumvillages #endingpoverty @earthinstitute @jenngross #senegal"

[losdespojados]

Why Is Ecuador Selling Its Economic and Environmental Future to China?

There's a great piece by Andrew Ross over at the Nation about the oil economy in Ecuador. Ross touches on a number of topics, from the social and environmental impacts of oil extraction in the Ecuadorian Amazon, to the Correa government's aggressive high modernist view of development, to the implications of Chinese development financing. Ecuador lies beyond the usual scope of this blog, but we're sharing this article because these themes are present in Central America too.

Second, Chinese financing of Ecuador's oil development is part of a continental trend. When Ecuador defaulted on a part of its foreign debt to Western institutions, China gladly stepped in to stabilise Ecuador's financial system and provide much-needed funds. Chinese funding, however, is not so much a loan as it is pre-payment for future oil export earnings. But whichever way you look at it, it's international capital disciplining Ecuador into being an extractive economy (whether the current government will successfully use this money to diversify Ecuador's economy in the long run on simply to finance social programmes while the money is there remains to be seen). Ecuador's case is emblematic of how China is positioning itself as the major foreign funder in the region. Case in point: when oil prices recently fell, Venezuela had to be bailed out, but instead of going to the IMF or Washington as struggling Latin American economies always have, they went to China, which gladly bailed them out. China is also a major investor in extractive industries in Peru and Chile and, as readers of this blog have been repeatedly reminded over the past few weeks, is building an interoceanic canal in Nicaragua. 

Read full article over at the Nation. 

[senegallife]

Comment: jillianhusman said "#camelcrossing #senegal #potou #millenniumvillages"

[senegallife]

Comment: jillianhusman said "Kids are thrilled to have material to read. #villagelife #senegal #kidslovebooks #potou #millenniumvillages"