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Food banks—warehouses that collect and systematize surplus food—have expanded into one of the largest mechanisms to redistribute food waste. From their origins in North America in the 1960s, food banks provide food to communities in approximately one hundred countries on six continents. This book analyzes the development of food banks across the world and the limits of food charity as a means to reduce food insecurity and food waste. Based on fifteen years of in-depth fieldwork on four continents, Daniel Warshawsky illustrates how and why food banks proliferate across the globe even though their impacts may be limited. He suggests that we need to reformulate the role of food banks. The mission of food banks needs to be more realistic, as food surpluses cannot reduce food insecurity on a significant scale. Food banks need to regain their institutional independence from the state and corporations, and incorporate the knowledge and experiences of the food insecure in the daily operations of the food system. These collective changes can contribute to a future where food banks play a smaller but more targeted role in food systems.
The MENA region is facing important vulnerabilities, which the current crises—first the pandemic, then the war in Ukraine—have exacerbated. Prices of food and energy are higher, hurting the most vulnerable, and rising interest rates from the global tightening of monetary policy are making debt service more burdensome. Part I explores some of the resulting vulnerabilities for MENA. MENA countries are facing diverging paths for future growth. Oil Exporters have seen windfall increases in state revenues from the rise in hydrocarbon prices, while oil importers face heightened stress and risk—from higher import bills, especially for food and energy, and the depreciation of local currencies in some countries. Part II of this report argues that poor governance, and, in particular, the lack of government transparency and accountability, is at the root of the region’s development failings—including low growth, exclusion of the most disadvantaged and women, and overuse of such precious natural resources as land and water.
Overconfident: How Economic and Health Fault Lines Left the Middle East and North Africa Ill-Prepared to Face COVID This report examines the region’s economic prospects in 2021, forecasting that the recovery will be both tenuous and uneven as per capita GDP level stays below pre-pandemic levels. COVID-19 was a stress-test for the region’s public health systems, which were already overwhelmed even before the pandemic. Indeed, a decade of lackluster economic reforms left a legacy of large public sectors and high public debt that effectively crowded out investments in social services such as public health. This edition points out that the region’s health systems were not only ill-prepared for the pandemic, but suffered from over-confidence, as authorities painted an overly optimistic picture in self-assessments of health system preparedness. Going forward, governments must improve data transparency for public health and undertake reforms to remedy historical underinvestment in public health systems.
While economic and social indicators in many Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries have improved over the past three decades, the region’s blue natural assets—clean air, healthy seas, and coastlines—have degraded virtually everywhere. Air pollution levels in the region’s cities are among the highest in the world. Per capita marine plastic pollution is among the highest in the world; coastal erosion rates are the second fastest in the world. These combined challenges threaten local communities, livelihoods, and economies. In fact, the economic cost of MENA’s deteriorating skies and seas is estimated at more than 3 percent of GDP per year. Blue Skies, Blue Seas: Air Pollution...
This inspiring book looks at the theory and practice of China’s foreign aid in Africa, especially in the area of healthcare in Uganda. It provides insights into how recipient countries and regions are selected, and describes in detail how the men and women working in the frontlines deliver aid. Information from past research, participant observations, interviews and other fieldwork are brought together to form a comprehensive picture of how Chinese development aid for health to Uganda has evolved over three decades, how it is carried out now, and the significance of such milestones as the building of the China-Uganda Friendship Hospital. The author also compares and contrasts China’s foreign aid with that from other countries.
The Middle East and North Africa economies face an uncertain recovery. The war in Ukraine presents significant challenges to the global economy and the MENA region. Inflationary pressures brought about by the pandemic are likely to be further exacerbated by the conflict. The potential for rising food prices is even higher, which is likely to hurt the wallets of the poor and vulnerable in the region. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cast a shadow. As the latest variant sweeps over the region, countries grapple with a host of problems depending on initial conditions and policy priorities. The region, like the rest of the world, is not out of the woods yet. Vaccinations remain the effective p...
In the past few years, one of the most misunderstood concepts is income disparity. Income inequality issues are now a concern for the public. However, it was heightened by the recession in 2008-09, resulting in consequences for the corporate sector, the Occupy Wall Street movement, Covid-19 pandemic and a myriad of other events. This book analyzed how income disparity is rising with higher income distribution margins witnessed among the highest earners. This book has thirteen chapters, eliminating the introductory overview chapter, on income disparity, poverty, and economic well-being. These chapters were authored by academics who publish articles on these issues on a regular basis. The lite...
This sourcebook compiles analytical work that has been cultivated over the past several years by the World Bank and partner organizations of Libya. Utilizing several analytical techniques, the book makes a unique contribution to the discussion on Libya's medium- to long-term challenges.
Far reaching macro-economic and structural reforms combined with increases in government spending have been the primary drivers of Tanzania's growth acceleration. As growth in government spending slows, the locomotive for growth will need to shift to increased demand for exports and domestically produced goods, requiring Tanzania to strengthen substantially its international competitiveness, accelerate structural change, and safeguard the environment while maintaining macroeconomic stability. For Tanzania's poor to be able to participate and benefit from important growth, a greater focus on rural development, improved governance of the management of Tanzania's natural resources, and better targeting of social services to the poor is suggested. Successful design and implementation of a shared growth strategy will also require a strengthening of policy management and coordination in Tanzania to ensure that scarce human and financial resources are effectively deployed.