Renewable Energy Must Think Outside the "Sector" Constraint

The convenience store in the center of Kiptusuri acquired a solar lighting system and can now stay open at night. Photo courtesy of The New York Times.

The New York Times: African Huts Far From The Grid Glow With Renewable Power

Increasing demand for home-sized renewable energy infrastructures in cost-inefficient, off-grid areas is offering another challenge to business innovation and social advancement. The market exists and is growing, but how should businesses make full use of this opportunity to penetrate and establish its presence so as to reap early-entry advantages?

Drawing inspiration from Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank's efforts in Bangladesh, a far-sighted enterprise should not be daunted by the energy needs of these areas, but should try to leverage on this gap and allow profit-driven innovations to improve the lives of villagers in these various areas. One conceptual obstacle that has impeded progress in this area is the inability to "think out of the sector".

Theoretical constraints, although useful as a hypothesizing platform, should never restrict the creative element required to innovate. In this particular case, there is immense potential for solar energy companies to start-up food and/or technology businesses that will utilize their panels. Centralization of services such as refrigeration, mobile-charging, and education premises as well as agricultural or mining-related technologies such as grain husking and ore sieving not only creates a stable demand for energy infrastructure but also introduces technological innovation that help villagers reap economies of scale.

Early branding is also very important, and it will not be difficult for energy companies to find willing partners in other industries to invest in small joint ventures like that. The positive effects of branding cannot be measured by accountants, and yet can bring immense value that outweighs the initially small profits of early market penetration.

Energy companies can learn a thing or two from the fast-consumables market: Look beyond supplying direct demand and create or support indirect demand. And why not, when in doing so one provides a service to mankind and move forward a step in eliminating poverty?

Listening to Businesses is the Key to Climate Change

 

Reuters: Climate Talks Might Need a Profit Motive

The UN Climate talks in Cancun has ended, and observers are divided about what to think about the outcomes. It was about time however, that state representatives recognize and acknowledge the role that businesses play in bringing about real, substantial climate changes.

Negotiators understand that the art of "positioning" a proposal is the key to making or breaking a deal. For far too long have climate change advocates and publications been putting big corporations and governments on guilt trips, which have resulted in the construction of defenses and eventually, nonchalance. The UN talks (as well as other major energy and environmental events) should be platforms not simply for political delegates to debate over circumstances beyond their control using general assumptions that wipe out any potential for ground-level changes. It should also cater for exchanges between green technology businesses and coal/oil guzzling industry trend setters, especially for opportunities where the latter can voice their concerns regarding their bottom line. 

Green technology is advancing at breakneck pace today, and climate-positive improvements to instruments and production processes are saturating the markets. What green businesses need to do is to penetrate their clienteles' markets and listen to the conversations within, before re-positioning their proposals. They have to identify key players and trendsetters, and from there cater their products to these clients' specific needs. If it means moving away from the fanatical green movement that has been mowing down other important considerations with their one-track minded zealousness, then such an ideology shift would be no less than a necessity.

This is not to say that all green efforts have to submit to the wimps and fancies of big corporations with no impetus to make changes. That analogy is itself a biased picture painted by environmental extremists. However, like the article has already noted, if private corporations continue to be ostracized from such high-level negotiations, such actions will only create opportunities to demonize them further. And shouldn't their profit objectives be taken more seriously, in light of their (admittedly overestimated) negotiation power over governments in the era of economic globalization?

Jumo: Linking Online Users to Charities

Chris Hughes, founder of Jumo, says he wants his site, to be unveiled Tuesday, to do for charities “what Yelp did for restaurants.” Photo courtesy of the New York Times.

New York Times: A Facebook Founder Begins a Social Network Focused on Charities

Social media is gradually gaining traction with regards to connecting people and charities. Most people with a serious desire to contribute back so society have a personal cause that they would like to know more about, and the Internet is one of the greatest platforms of readily accessible knowledge to make informed decisions. Citizens of developed countries are also more inclined to reach out to organizations with a foreign or even international reach, and media evolution has transformed communications to a two-way interaction channel. This allows donors to contribute not simply capital or funds, but also ideas, knowledge and passion.

Chris Hughes, already internationally renowned as one of the founders of Facebook, is one contemporary media mogul out to imitate the Facebook model to create what I would term another "middleman enterprise". Facebook acts as a platform to link the interests of online users to specific business or service organizations with the potential of catering to their needs. Based on this model, Jumo links the interest of donors online to specific charities that they would like to contribute to. This enterprise has already grabbed the headlines of many traditional publications and social media platforms, and will probably have to cater to the incoming tide of registrations.

However, as Jumo is a non-profit enterprise which survives largely on advertising profits, it is likely that many charities leveraging onto this platform will be inclined to spend money on advertising. Well-known charities with more money will be pressured to create a budget for it, and the bigger the charity, the more spending power it will have to monopolize airtime on the website. If caps are not implemented and the priorities of charity organizations not adhered to, social media platforms can potentially skew donations to one side, and donations become channeled to advertising instead of their target group.

Clearing the Air? Try Harvesting Methane Instead

 New York Times: To Fight Climate Change, Clear the Air

Ever since the greatest climate negotiation "failure" at Copenhagen, it is hard to blame anyone for having low expectations towards the outcomes at Cancun, which has just begun. Academics Ramanathan and Victor have made an important point however, on the fact there are many other factor issues that negotiators at this round of talks should discuss about i.e. gases such as HFCs and methane. During the run-up to the event, media publicity and debate have been circling around the emission of one major contributor: carbon dioxide. Talks about carbon taxes, cap-and-trade etc. have grabbed the headlines, ignoring other significant contributors to global warming.

There is a lot of potential for the gas methane. The disadvantage, as stated in the article, is that "the accounting systems used in climate diplomacy are cumbersome and offer relatively few incentives for countries to make much effort to control methane". Nevertheless, that excuse of "accounting inconvenience" can also be used to demolish the authors' argument for using clean air as a common platform for negotiations at Cancun! There is no internationally-agreed method to calculating the cost of human lives as a result of polluted air. Many developing countries will even argue that the attracting of coal-reliant industries and destruction of rain forests would probably save more lives from hunger and poverty in the short-term.

The IEA's latest World Energy Outlook 2010, the discovery of unconventional gas in the United States and Qatar's efforts to promote its natural gas as a increasingly important energy resource all indicate that this resource will be playing a huge role in the transition to a renewable energy economy over the next few decades. What this also means is that there is a potentially enormous market for the collection, transportation and resale of methane gas. Energy companies and engineers should not let themselves be setback by the lack of accounting procedures, but instead aim to devise instruments for the collection and storage of methane. There are profits to be made from the sale of effective instruments and re-sale of methane gas especially to developing countries where their use is still significantly prominent. Global economic trends show that entrepreneurs and pioneers are most likely to emerge from immigrants or migrants from developing countries who have social ties that will enable the sale of methane gas back home. An opportunity like this is a clear example of how entrepreneurship and private investment in a global economy can contribute to the environment.

As for air pollution and health, it is only useful so far as it rides on buzz phrases advocating human rights such as "improving the quality of life for our citizens and future generations" and "clean air for all". Although it is true that there is collective interest among the governments to doing so like the authors have pointed out, as long as critics can show that it is disadvantageous to economic growth and production, there will most certainly be delays and worse still, even lower expectations for future climate talks. But we must do what we can now, and that is to find solutions that flow easily with the economic tide until slightly later, when circumstances become hopefully ripe for a united effort to save the planet.

Rethinking the Social Auditing Movement in India's Fight Against Corruption

IHT: India's fight against corruption goes local

New York Times journalist Lydia Polgreen wrote an article on rural India "social audits", an experiment in the local grass-roots democracy that has been gaining momentum recently. Backed up by the recent right-to-information law she outlined how this movement could have "broad implications for India's quest to lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty" in the country with the largest number of poor people in the world. She quoted V. Vasanth Kumar, Andhra Pradesh's minister for rural development as saying that "social audits statewide have found $20 million worth of fraud over the past five years, and 4,600 officials have faced administrative or criminal charges".

Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi once estimated that only 15 percent of every rupee spent on the poor actually reaches them, which is a terrible statistic in the light of the Indian government's plans to spend a quarter of a trillion dollars to help the rural poor over the next five years, and such social audits are indeed crucial to reducing waste and fraud. Although Lydia has every right to be hopeful about such a movement, her article is written based on a "Western", anti-corruption perspective. Her idea of an effective democracy that India should work towards is that of an educated, information-rich model based on that of developed countries with long histories of understanding rights as well as relatively equal social statuses.

India's caste system however has been firmly entrenched for centuries, most significantly in the rural areas where mindsets have not altered at the expected pace. A social audit is a "Western" accounting process that assumes the ability to highlight and deter corrupt practices with the use of government funds by corrupted officials, but from a local perspective, that begets the question of the definition of "corruption". The image of "corruption", as often projected by the media and NGOs, portray a picture of a greedy official altering account records so as to embezzle government funds for personal gain. Such actions should rightfully be condemned and portrayed as such, social audit movements can only bring about greater benefit for the rural poor.

However in Indian society (as that of many Asian societies in general), the cultural emphasis on business and social networking has not been understood clearly by "Western" media and NGOs. The importance of entrenched hierarchies and guanxi relations has no monetary value that audits can valuate. The free market economy model assumes an equal standing between negotiating parties that is not reflective in reality, much less in caste-system India. Money exchanged under the table could be used to forge relationships with benefits far beyond what the amount is worth. For example, a village mayor might choose a less valuable construction proposition if along with it comes "unofficial" money that could be used for the development of education and sanitation facilities or increased probability of further ties with the company's partners that could translate into projects that provide jobs for the villagers.

If taken unawares, champions of social auditing might find themselves tools of certain politicians in the government searching for an excuse to rid themselves of rivals and uncooperative officials. With a history of networking and guanxi involved in every dealing, social auditing might become the most accessible way of "discovering" corruption and cronyism in between the lines of every accounting document.

Less Relief Aid to Disasters that Unfold Slowly

Awareness of the flood has brought more donations, but as winter approaches, more than seven million people are homeless and malnutrition is rising. As schools reopen, families sheltered in them will again be on the streets. Photo courtesy of the New York Times.

New York Times: The Special Pain of a Slow Disaster

For the layman with a good heart, philanthropy is, undoubtedly, very much pegged to emotional strings and the economics of media channels. However, Lydia Polgreen made a very sharp observation supported by statistics which show overwhelmingly that donors are more likely to give to causes raising funds to aid areas with high immediate death-rates, as opposed to disasters that destroy means of livelihood and infrastructure.

Although in this case, U.S. sentiments and politics play a significant role influencing the stream of financial and material aid from Western countries to Pakistan, a lot of it depends on the organization of charity organizations and international aid foundations, and especially the way they view their role in providing assistance.

Charity organizations almost always have a target group of people they would like to help, and their donors and supporters both constrain and drive their mission at the same time. Many donors are also not shy to make demands and influence the channeling of funds, without considering the fact that they have little experience in the field. In so doing, financial and material assistance become disproportionately distributed to places around the world that need them. The floods in Pakistan, for example, may not seem to be as "disastrous" as the Haiti earthquake, but the media, in their rush to cover the situation on the ground, sensationalized the death toll without considering numerous other factors. Driven by the same forces that drive these publications, social media duplicates the same observations and multiply the emotion-factor, and what results is a well-meant but inaccurate description of the situations.

Two things must happen in society.

Firstly, there is a need for greater emphasis on logical analysis and evaluation of disaster areas, as well as the impact on the country and world economy. Although it will be difficult to remove the emotion-factor that drives many charities and foundations, a large portion who hold on to religious and moral principles, there is a need for organizations to provide the media and public a clear, logical picture of the situation on the ground, with projections of what the future could hold if investments and aid are not properly channeled and distributed. The media and the public are most turned off by complex statistics, abundant jargon and numerous models. Neither is there enough awareness of the importance of staff payroll, transportation costs etc., necessities that donors are most reluctant to give to.

Secondly, there is a need for donations to be unpegged from social status i.e. more anonymous donations and less public declarations, as well as greater trust in charities and aid-relief organizations to make decisions as to where funds should go. Philanthropists must understand that they cannot demand for immediate results, and that effects can only be seen if these charity organizations are constantly supported over a period of time instead of having to make rash decisions for fear of a loss of support. As for these organizations, their goals must be aimed at the long-term welfare of the target group and not just making the best of whatever they have got.

Such mindsets will take a long time to change, but only with a concerted effort from members of the public, charity organizations and the media can we be seen to take a step towards improving disaster-relief as we know it.

Taxing the Way to Cancun?

 The Financial Times: UN wants taxes to fund climate change fight

At the Singapore International Energy Week, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced the country's willingness to implement a carbon tax, a forward step for the prosperous nation as the world anticipates the global climate talks soon to occur at Cancun, Mexico at the end of this month.

Fiona Harvey (an eminent journalist from the Financial Times I had the honor to meet at the International Energy Week) noted that some of the measures set up by the international panel led by Jens Stoltenberg and Meles Zenawi to get rich countries to help poor countries to cut emissions are "controversial". This is understandably so, since none of the rich countries will voluntarily handicap their economies to aid a developing country with the potential of becoming a future competitor. With the US and China, the two largest economies in the world, unwilling to participate in a global carbon market, carbon taxes and carbon trading will have little meaning or positive impact on climate change.

With the Republicans regaining political control in the United States, the climate outlook seems pretty bleak. Obama's push for the development of locally-situated clean energy industries has been hamstrung, and China continues to power theirs on with enormous subsidies. In addition to that, the surge in support for the Tea Party (both financially and numerically) came significantly from two very powerful groups of people: coal miners whose jobs are being threatened, and factories owners who are only too happy to pick the cheaper option of coal power. Behind such a sociopolitical backdrop, policy makers are turning their gaze towards China to set a positive example and lead in the set up of a global carbon market.

But can China do it? Depending on what perspective one takes to view the country, China is not ready to implement a country-wide carbon tax on its industries. Given that carbon taxes are borne by consumers, implementing such a regulation might lead to the total collapse of the already-crumbling mini-economies that pervade the rural countryside. Many of the laborers, most significantly the rural migrants who come to the cities in search of a livelihood, do not have the financial capacity to feed themselves, much less pay the levies as a result of carbon taxes.

However, China is a huge country, and with time, it might be possible to levy carbon taxes on the products sold in certain areas, especially in the rapidly urbanizing cities. A carefully calculated move will propel industries to consider moving to specially demarcated "carbon tax-free zones", and populate the areas currently seen as "ghost towns" where large capital was spent on infrastructure but were never populated by industries. This will also redirect migration flows, lower urban crime rates, develop specific areas, and decentralize the political leadership.

By considering the potential of these possibilities, China has much more to gain than it realizes through the readjustment of its economy. It is also likely that the moment the Chinese juggernaut shows a firm desire to lead the rest of the world towards a global implementation of a carbon tax, the other rich countries will have little choice but to follow along. Thus, two things remain in the way: The overpowering desire for greater profits and the entrenched mindset that carbon taxes must be implemented nationally without considering their relative geographical and economic situations.

Social Media for Non-Profits

Social Media for Nonprofits

For those of you who are more inclined towards social media e.g. Facebook, Twitter etc., especially if you have experience in the third sector or education in this direction, please feel free to send me advice that you think might be useful for the author! All ideas will be put uploaded on this blog for comments from the public, and if possible, structured over time to get handed as a suggestion to Nonprofitorgs for their perusal.

To start the ball rolling, social media impact generally tends to travel faster, and rides on emotionality, making it extremely viral. However, whatever is viral tends to die off quicker too, given that there are an infinite amount of information in cyberspace at any point in time. Impact-wise, there is still much debate on who has a stronger impact, with most people divided on credibility vs. publicity.

Something to think about, feel free to email me your ideas! Looking forward to reading them!

Sustainability and Scale

Harvard Business Review: Social Entrepreneurs' Tricky Issue of Sustainability and Scale

For all the budding social entrepreneurs out there, the Harvard Business Review has pointed out two very important concepts not to be neglected during the planning process: Sustainability and Scale.

Regarding "scale", the article notes that: Therefore, for social ventures, our search for scalability is a search for the definition of what works, for procedures and interventions that can be replicated — perhaps still with high-energy investment, but in a consistent way in each new place to generate consistent impact.

Regarding "sustainability", two definitions: Firstly, "soundness of our organizations' financial footing" and secondly, "the durability of that social benefit".

Note that both definitions point, albeit indirectly, at one thing: the organization's bottom-line.

The importance of "scale" emphasizes the need to "generate consistent impact", which can only be brought about by continuous adaptation to changing circumstances as well as environmental and consumer pressures. Investment must be channeled proportionately to cater to a reasonable estimation of growth. Too high an estimate leads to a losing war against economies of scale, too low an estimate leads to customer dissatisfaction.

The importance of "sustainability" is clearly depicted in the emphasis on the "soundness of financial footing", but not so clearly in terms of "the durability of social benefit". While proper scaling brings about the necessary profit from consumers to carry the business forward, the impact on the targeted community varies from group to group, ensuring the necessity of customization of efforts. Customization is, unfortunately, not free-of-charge, and may require a certain amount of monetary investment to conduct pilot tests, surveys and research to ensure sustained impact.

A little planning can go a long way, and the results of good intentions can potentially be multiplied by spending a little more time considering these two valuable concepts.

Food Production and the Development Issue

Climate threats to the food system: floods in Pakistan have destroyed millions of hectares of farmland. Photo courtesy of Getty images.

The Financial Times Special Report: World Food (PDF)

The Financial Times has just published a special report on the recent hike in food prices around the world and the devastating effects especially on poorer countries. According to the article, the good news is that "while the number of people who will suffer chronic hunger this year has fallen slightly (by 98m) to 925m in 2009, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), that still means a child dies every six seconds as a result of hunger-related problems".

Within the report, the article "Idea of self-help starts to gain momentum" by Harvey Morris relates the problem to the decline in public investment on agricultural research during periods of food surpluses, which was redirected to processing and other technologies geared to consumers in the rich "north". Simply put, during periods of drought and famine in food production countries, Europe and the United States began investing heavily in research to increase supply, and the beneficiaries were mainly third world countries. During periods of high production, these very investments were channeled back to their homelands to reap investment surpluses from local consumers who were willing to spend more on food variety and quality.

A strand of sociological thought e.g. World Systems Theory condemns the idea of development as necessary, arguing that when the rich "north" provides aid to the poor "south" in terms of research investments, infrastructure, capital and advice, the main intention is to plug the beneficiary country into the world economy. When this happens, the receiving country's farms and ranches are turned into production sources that feed not just the locals, but whose surpluses can be exported back to the rich "north", pushing food prices down. In turn, the rich "north" sells advanced equipment and manufactured products back to this poor countries in the name of development, adding on to their already high level of dependency. When periods of drought and famine strike, the rich "north" then offers to pay more for food (by a little bit only, really), and the poorer nations have little choice but to sell because firstly they risk angering the richer nations who are still controlling investment flow, and secondly they need the money to import food to feed their own population.

Immediately, food prices increase tenfold in these poor countries while only increasing by a few cents in the rich "north". A drought in Russia that forces the government to restrict food exports and increase imports causes famine in Malawi (even if there were no droughts there!) Emergency aid from NGOs is quickly flown in to feed the poor, and if food prices continue to maintain at the same level (or worse still, increase) past a critical point, a significant and increasing portion of the populations sinks into chronic hunger, leading to higher government expenditure needed to handle riots, health care and crime.

Besides having a centralized global food coordination system, rich nations need to be run by benevolent governments who are able to convince its population to make sacrifices for the sake of those starving in poorer countries. Despite the positives of capitalism, there is an incredible wastage of food everyday which, if managed properly, can be used to feed hungry mouths on the other side of the globe. Immense obstacles ranging from racism, consumer rights and a basic lack of empathy have dominated political mindsets, pressuring parties to prioritize local preferences over moral stands when it comes to such issues. Unless these are overcome, education and awareness creation have not achieved their goals.

It then leaves the decisions to two groups of people, consumers/voters and for-profits/states in rich countries to do something about it. It would be terrible if it takes a world war to provide a global experience of poverty and hunger, and in so doing, traumatize people all over the world to come to the conclusion of a need to purposefully make sacrifices for their neighbors and brothers of mankind. States and international organizations must do something, but so does each and everyone of us, starting with our very basic choices.

Food.

Food Inc.

Food Inc. (The Movie, approx. 1.5hrs)

Warning: A real eye-opener, but definitely not for the faint-hearted.

Essentially, this movie encapsulates what sociologists would call the "McDonaldization" of food. There is a moral price to pay for "consumer choice" and efficiency on numerous levels from basic food and health to corporate monopolization and global poverty and hunger. What people need to know is not simply where and how their food comes about, but that their demands for "choice" and "variety" have negative resonating impacts on areas as far as the other side of the globe.


The irony of consumer capitalism is that while some people in the world can choose to eat whatever they want to eat, there are others who are unable to have a decent meal, much less ponder between choices. Peaks and troughs in food prices are caused by fluctuating demands in the taste of consumers from the former group, but this has the consequence of affecting imports and exports from the latter countries. The difference of a few cents in the price of 1 kilogram of tomatoes can lead to the loss of livelihood for thousands of farmers, and if severe enough, political and social unrest that only gets 30 seconds of airtime on the 6pm news broadcast.


Although many activists (at least those deemed to be in the right-state of mind) are working very hard to promote organic food or "food with a conscience" in an effort to redeploy consumer choice as a weapon against multinational food corporations, one must understand that unless such efforts are also aimed at narrowing the inequality gap, these movements only have the effect of reproducing and enlarging a cultural divide based on food choices. After all, the consumers purchasing genetically-enhance produce are not from the upper-class who have the additional purchase-power to buy their "integrity" or "moral conscience". It is the lower classes who, in an attempt to save money for other basic necessities, are forced to prioritize cost savings and pick the unhealthier but cheaper alternatives for their family members. If it is truly like they say, that our choices are like votes, then this is little difference from countries like Rwanda and Congo where AK-47s are used at the election polls.


Going to Congress is unlikely to bring about big changes, given that both Republican and Democratic parties and senators are largely funded by these corporations. To be fair, they are indeed facing more short-term pressing issues at home such as high retrenchment rates and revamping their collapsing health-care system. No president can afford to stay in office very long if they are unable to project a positive future for the very citizens who have voted them into office.


With such a background in mind, is there really no hope for the fight against world poverty and hunger? Would it be possible to avert such crises with the establishment of a global food coordinating center with the information and political leverage to dictate production and supply based on knowledge of geographical seasons, transport capacity and unique cultural circumstances? Social scientists and historians may be quick to point to the collapse of Communist Russia and China as evidence that central coordination cannot supersede the power of capitalist markets. But lest we discard the idea too quickly, let us not forget if we continue to ignore this impending disaster, the rise of the proletariat might come bearing national flags.

Ensuring the Future of Food

Mercy and Restoration

Two boys look out over a relief camp. More than 12 million flood victims remain reliant on food handouts.

South China Morning Post: Landlords Show No Mercy

In flood-ravaged Pakistan, one huge obstacle preventing maximum utilization of economic aid from goodwill individuals, organizations and nations is the complex political web that is deeply embedded in the country. The goal of economic aid is not to create a pipeline of funds and resources that maintains the current situation, but to rebuild the necessary infrastructure for resuming progress for the good of society.

As the flood victims are forced by the landlords to evacuate their homes because of their inability to pay rent, they have begun to cluster in relief camps with little opportunity to find work. According to the article, 12 million people are still relying on handouts to survive. The lack of permanence in terms of shelter, nutrition and livelihood only instills fear, anger and desperation that will increase the burden on relief workers as well as the demand for resources.

Democracy is unlikely to take place, given that the country's most power institution is the military. The protocol reward for retired generals is still land ownership, and many of them continue to wield great influence after retirement. From a landowner's perspective, chasing away peasants who are unable to pay rent benefits them in the short-term as market supply and demand dictates that those who can pay will get to use the land. The flood also happens to be an undisputed excuse to displace the peasants and carry on with plans to rent the land out to big capital. Thus, without shouldering any responsibilities in the name of economics, their ex-tenants are now being fed by global organizations while landowners continue to make money from private capital.

With their vested interests and inclination towards profit combined with the lack of moral responsibility, there is no pressure on landowners to do anything about the flood victims. However, the congregating of displaced peasants in relief camps is likely to form a critical mass of dissidence which may bubble into social unrest that will inevitably repel investors and big capital, no matter how much assurance the military gives or how strong they are. If this happens,the landowners will be the ones to lose out. Should among them however, one landowner show mercy to flood victims by providing land for settlement-building while pushing back rent payment to later dates, he stands to reap benefits not available to his neighbors.

Firstly, with the assurance of a home to stay in, the peasants are likely to cooperate to clear away the rubble, and are less likely to come into conflict with the landowners should relocation be required. Such a landowner will actually gain power in terms of dictating who should stay where, which in time will actually become an institutionalized process, unlike the past where folk culture and religion made such issues extremely thorny to handle. With proper planning, the rebuilding of an entire town can be made suitable for the entry of capital.

Secondly, with democracy nowhere in sight, most landowners are inclined to underestimate the power of their people's allegiance. By providing a place to stay and pushing back the rent payments to later dates, such a landowner will be able to "purchase" the allegiance and support of the people, which will eventually root his position in the territory as a leader. Generally, one can expect fewer conflicts to emerge from the territory and this is a big attraction to capital, which will actually raise the demand and eventually the cost of renting out the land. Less land set aside for capital does not necessarily mean lower returns, as demand plays a huge factor in pushing rents up and down.

Nonetheless, the landowners have a vested interest to cooperate with one another to maximize the benefits for themselves, and it is unlikely that one of them will try something different for fear of backlash from the others. It will indeed take a lot more convincing to get them to realize that standing together might keep them strong for now, but should they fall, they will all tumble together. The good news is, should one of them be courageous enough to walk down the lonely road of mercy, circumstances might just force the rest of them to follow suit, with the pioneer reaping the biggest rewards.

Empowering Entrepreneurship

 India: Poor Women Stitch Together New Futures

One of the biggest breakthroughs in terms of economic creativity in poverty-stricken areas is the positive use of micro-entrepreneurship. The case study of "Mahila Sanatkar" or the "women entrepreneur" in India is a positive demonstration of how innovative business people have adapted their ideas to not only help the poor, but also grow their enterprise so as to maintain the impact on the community.

By providing women with jobs, micro-enterprises have brought about more than just gender empowerment. Like some pioneering banks would already know, women are shown to spend money more prudently than men, be it on their families or for long-term investment purposes. Increased spending power provides a demand for basic necessities such as health-care and education, which will benefit the community as a whole in the long-term.

Importantly, entrepreneurs must be strongly conscious that however good their intentions may be, if the enterprise strategy is not directed towards economic development and market presence, and if the balance sheets do not show eventual profits, the endeavor will eventually die out. Most early entrepreneurs are unable to afford the expertise and advice from high-level consultancies, and often, they lack the credibility to attract investors to put money into their "ambitious" projects. There are two possible ways to work around this problem:

Firstly, research on micro-entrepreneurship is still lacking. There is also no basic template to follow, especially since the socio-cultural circumstance of each rural area tend to be more varied in comparison to others as they become highly dependent on things such as natural geography and religious practices. A careful study of the area is necessary, and gaining the trust of locals to act as surveyors and provide in-depth information is crucial. This may seem time-consuming, but if the locals are receptive to the business proposal, the information and advice they provide could be far more valuable than hiring even the finest global consultants.

Secondly, most people think of investments in monetary terms, and in so doing they find it hard to attract outside investors, many of whom are inclined to see such an endeavors as risky and unproven. Entrepreneurs need to direct their resources inwards, such as towards building social capital among the locals. It is also vital to present their projects as feasible, long-term and beneficial towards the community, and once their trust have been gained, they might just chip in with whatever resources that they have. Investments from social capital can be translated into motivational force, financial input and political leverage that could provide a strong edge over huge capital enterprises perceived to be monolith invaders.

In Hyderabad, India, gender differences and cultural circumstances are crux points for entrepreneurs to leverage on, with benefits of social empowerment to be reaped by locals. Perhaps in the future, more of such micro-enterprises will rise up to bring improvements to impoverish communities around the world.

Wind Beneath Our Wings

With renewable power, Tocco da Casauria, in central Italy, produces more electricity than it uses, making money off the surplus.

New York Times: Ancient Italian Town Has Wind at Its Back

Elisabeth Rosenthal wrote an article for the New York Times which is truly an inspiration for ideas linking the use of renewable energy and rural poverty eradication. There is little evidence against increasing urbanization, and as the forces of necessity push people to migrate towards cities, multiple dimensions of social imbalance is produced.

Demand for energy security in cities and inevitable transition to renewable sources of energy mean that an economically feasible solution is required in the near future.Tocca da Casauria is a shinning example of how countries with the potential to produce power from wind energy in rural areas can actually solve multiple problems at once.

Firstly, the generation of power means employment for people living in the villages and other rural areas nearby. Statistics from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have shown positive results in terms of economic well-being for rural villages nearby power generators, provided they have no ill effects on the health of the people there.

Secondly, the generation of power from renewable sources means that experts will have to relocate with their families to the area. Given a few years, demand for education and other commodities will increase, creating a base for entrepreneurship and upward social mobility. There is also a possibility that it might stem the rural exodus a little more.

Thirdly, the town of Tocca da Casauria has proven that it is possible to generate more electricity to push back into the electric grid and actually earn an income from it. Most urban areas do not possess the land and space to generate power from renewable sources like wind and solar, but consume more than what fossil fuel plants can provide. Their dependence on excess production from rural areas will bring in money that can be used to build up basic infrastructure like clean water, educational facilities and transportation grids.

Lastly, spreading out renewable energy generation facilities around the country provides energy security from a military and safety perspective. Renewable sources such as wind and geothermal mean that generators have to be spread out in many rural areas, as compared to nuclear and fossil fuel plants which are usually concentrated to prevent widespread pollution and/or damage.

It is therefore highly possible that the complex answer for eradicating poverty could incorporate the use of renewable energy generation. Of course, many political and socioeconomic obstacles stand in the way, but it's all about the ideas first!