Category: Weekend Reading

From the New York Times: Food banks around the country are reporting critical shortages that have forced them to ration supplies, distribute staples usually reserved for disaster relief and in some instances close. Experts attributed the shortages to an unusual combination of factors, including rising demand, a sharp drop in federal supplies of excess farm… Continue reading Food banks around the country are reporting critical shortages

Just passing on an interesting read via Marginal Revolution. Which Single Intervention Would Do the Most to Improve the Health of Those Living on Less Than $1 Per Day?

Here’s a link to a great riff on markets and philanthropy written by Brad Burnham, a New York- based venture capitalist.

Another development article on the problem with supplying high yield seeds to farmers in Africa: “You have farmers who are very willing adopters of new technologies and want to raise yields,” he added, “but are not getting access to seed, fertilizer and small-scale irrigation.” Finding a sustainable way to supply farmers with seed, he said,… Continue reading Supplying Seeds To Farmers In Africa

A very interesting development article on Africa. The big story here is that WHO abandoned social marketing as a distribution method to get the nets to people. They benched that method in favor of handing out the nets for free. Two years ago, social marketing was at the heart of a scandal when it was… Continue reading The Economics Of Malaria Nets

Weekend reading article on philanthropy in China: New millionaires are being created at roughly the same pace as in the United States. While many of the affluent are known for their lavish way of life, members of this growing generation of wealthy Chinese are developing a taste for charity.