KEY POINTS:
• Economic rewards come from successful trading activities
• In many economies, very small increases in income can
have big impacts
Background:
There are many international organizations, which seek to
assist developing countries, and the individuals within those
countries expand their economic opportunities. This effort
takes many different forms including craft cooperatives, micro-loans,
Internet marketing initiatives and so on. While some of these
activities may not result in international trade in a direct
sense, they are examples of how international agencies concerned
with world economics can impact local communities in a positive
fashion.
ACTIVITY:
Create a business plan that could help alleviate poverty
(grades 7-12, adjust expectations to grade level)
| A. |
Students
research the various sites (see “Research links”)
to gain a better understanding of what different organizations
are doing in the effort to alleviate poverty and raise
living standards. Students should pay close attention
to what resources are being made available by these various
organizations, how the various organizations are structured
and how easy (or difficult) it is to find the information
they need. |
| B.
|
After
gaining a better understanding of what various organizations
do to alleviate poverty, and after studying the results
(success or failure, cultural or financial impacts,
and so on) of these organization’s efforts, students
create a business plan for a micro business appropriate
to a developing economy. The business should be based
on the following criteria:
| 1. |
What
skills do they personally have that would allow
them to make money? |
| 2. |
What
natural and other resources might be available? |
| 3. |
Who
would they sell their products to, and do those
people have any money? |
| 4. |
How
long would it take them to make (or grow) their
product? |
|
Research
links
A very basic and very successful concept is “micro-credit,”
a movement that began in Bangladesh and has now spread to
over 40 countries. Under “micro-credit,” workers
borrow tiny amounts of money to jump-start small local enterprises.
The leading organization in this movement is the Grameen Bank.
http://www.grameen-info.org/
http://www.citechco.net/grameen/bank/micro/index.html
One
of many international organizations that does a tremendous
amount of work to help individuals in developing countries
is Oxfam. For example, at the Oxfam GB site there is this
mission statement:
“Oxfam
GB is a development, relief, and campaigning organization
dedicated to finding lasting solutions to poverty and suffering
around the world. We believe that every human being is entitled
to a life of dignity and opportunity; and we work with poor
communities, local partners, volunteers, and supporters
to help this become a reality.”
There
are many examples of how Oxfam funds small projects, a wide
variety of educational resources, a lot of other interesting
trade-related information plus links to many similar organizations
on their web sites at:
http://www.oxfam.org/uk
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/
http://www.oxfam.org
The
World Bank is a fairly high-profile organization that expends
vast resources aimed at economic development. Their web site
is somewhat chaotic, but has a huge amount of in-depth information
on specific issues related to poverty alleviation. There are
a variety of scholarly position papers, stories on specific
issues, and so on.
http://www.worldbank.com
The
United Nations has been actively involved in poverty alleviation
since its inception. Today there are hundreds of programs
large and small that relate to this issue. The first step
in discovering what the UN is doing is to visit this web link:
http://www.un.org/esa/
Additionally,
some of the organizations mentioned in Unit 2/Lesson 2 promote
cooperatives, direct selling to consumers and other networking
opportunities that help individuals benefit from trade.
Bata
shoes, http://www.bata.com,
has in the past been a good resource for information on how
a specific international company adapts its operations to
different countries and attempts to “fit in” with
local needs and customs.
|
