The question of how social transfers should be indexed over time is a hot topic for social protection practitioners. A recent case from Bolivia reveals some of the issues at stake.

Source: http://www.pension-watch.net

Brasilia, May 16, 2013 –

Last week, on 1st May, Bolivia’s president Evo Morales marked Labour Day by announcing that the country’s universal non-contributory pension would be increased by 50 bolivanos per month. Since 2008, all Bolivians over the age of 60 have been eligible for the Renta Dignidad  (or “Dignity Pension”) which pays 200 bolivianos (US$30) per month to people with no other pension, and a reduced level of 150 bolivianos for those with other pension income. The pension evolved from an earlier scheme called the Bonosol, introduced in 1997, which had a higher age of eligibility (65) and was paid on an annual basis. These schemes have had significant impacts on the lives of older people and their families, particularly in terms of supporting rural livelihoods and reducing extreme poverty.

What does the increase mean?

On the face of it, the additional 50 bolivianos per month looks generous: an increase of 25 per cent. But deeper analysis suggests that the story is not so simple. Figure 1 shows how the benefit level has changed since social pension payments first began in 1997, with comparison to alternative scenarios. The blue line shows the actual monthly benefit for individuals who receive no other pension income. From the initial transfer of just over 100 bolivianos (and following a decrease in the late 90s) ad hoc changes have seen the benefit gradually rise to the 250 bolivianos announced last week. The pink line presents a scenario where the initial benefit in 1997 is indexed to changes in consumer prices, showing what payments would have looked like over the past 15 years if this approach had been taken. The orange line also takes the same starting point but indexes the benefit to average income (GDP per capita).

The picture is relatively clear. The similar paths of the blue and pink lines show that, since 1997, ad hoc increases every few years mean that the actual benefit level has more or less kept track with rising prices. The fact that the benefit has retained its real value means it could theoretically buy the same basket of goods as it did in 1997. However, the divergence between the paths of the orange and blue lines shows that the benefit has not kept pace with average incomes. From a high in 2002 (when the increase in the benefit to 150 bolivianos outstripped growth in average income), the newly proposed benefit is just two thirds of what it could have been had it been indexed to average income.

Bolivia can be commended for sustaining the real value of the benefit over the last decade or so, something that many other countries have not been able to do. Yet it has not been able to maintain the value relative to average incomes, particularly in recent years when growth has been strong. The new announcement of a 50 bolivianos increase in the Renta Dignidad is effectively catching up with inflation in previous years. In a country with one of the highest levels of inequality in the world, this can be seen as a lost opportunity to use the universal pension as a mechanism to redistribute gains from economic growth. This is also a distinct approach from other countries such as Brazil where social pensions are indexed to wages and have been an avenue for substantial reductions in income inequality.

Could Bolivia do better?

While a higher level of benefit would be preferable, the obvious retort is that there are major constraints in terms of affordability. This is particularly concerning for Bolivia as the Renta Dignidad is principally funded by a tax on natural gas, where price fluctuations in the international market can create significant uncertainty. But is rising cost a real concern? Figure 2 shows that from 2009 to 2011 the cost of the programme actually fell, from 1.4 to 1.1 per cent of GDP, and this is despite increasing numbers of beneficiaries over the same period. This saving of nearly 25 per cent was driven by the decrease in the real value of the benefit described above. In fact, our own estimates suggest that, even with the new benefit level, economic growth in the last two years means the newly increased benefit will still cost around 1.1 per cent of GDP in 2013. This suggests that there would be significant space to increase benefits further and still remain within the budget that was available to the scheme in 2009.

Recommendations

Figure 2

So what can policy makers and civil society take from this? The key conclusion is that the new benefit level is not a particularly generous gesture to Bolivian citizens. Instead, it represents a rather a modest effort to keep benefits in line with price inflation, while still saving money compared to 2009 spending. Two potential recommendations from this could be:

1. If Bolivia is able to save money while retaining real value of benefits, why doesn’t it put in place automatic indexing to prices on a regular basis? This would create far greater predictability for recipients of the pension. It would also create greater transparency about when an increase is a real generous gesture or, as with the current proposal, just keeping up with inflation.

2. Could Bolivia not invest more in the Renta Dignidad? By tagging spending on the pension to 2009 spending (as a per cent of GDP), the benefit would act as a way to redistribute the increased growth of the country, thus having an impact on reducing the high levels of inequality in Bolivia.

Sources

Vice-ministry of Pensions, Ministry of Economy and Finance (Bolivia), Monthly bulletins (January 2009, January 2010, January 2011)

Economic data from IMF, World Economic Outlook Database (April 2013),

Notes

Beneficiary numbers in Figure 2 are for the month of January. Total numbers are likely to be higher as not all beneficiaries receive the pension on a monthly basis. The general trend is nevertheless representative.

Cost is estimated using beneficiary numbers from January 2011.They do not include administrative costs.

For any more information on assumptions please contact info@pension-watch.net.

For further information see the following IPC-IG publications:

Three Models of Social Protection (reference to Bolivia’s cash transfer programmes)

Impacts of the Continuous Cash Benefit Programme on Family Welfare

A Methodology for Local Economy-Wide Impact Evaluation (LEWIE) of Cash Transfers

Analytical Framework for Evaluating the Productive Impact of Cash Transfer Programmes on Household Behaviour – Methodological Guidelines for the From Protection to Production Project

A Methodology for Local Economy-wide Impact Evaluation (LEWIE) of Cash Transfers

Can Social Protection Help Promote Inclusive Growth

This article is made available by the researchers of INCT-CITECS and published by the British magazine The Lancet

Foto: Bruno Spada/MDS

Newly published research assesses the relationship between the Bolsa Família Program (BFP) and the reduction in mortality among children below five years. The research, which focused on the study period between 2004 to 2009, aimed to evaluate the effect of BFP on the mortality rates of children under five years of age in select municipalities. The study focused on poverty-related causes such as malnutrition, diarrhea and respiratory infections, as well as some of the potential intermediate mechanisms, such as immunization, antenatal care and hospital admissions. Data from almost 3000 municipalities and advanced analytical methods were used.

According to the results of research published in The Lancet, Bolsa Familia has reduced the overall mortality of children in counties where coverage was high by 19,4% . This reduction was even greater when specific mortality causes as malnutrition (65%) and diarrhea (53%) were taken into consideration. The Family Health Program (FHP) also contributed to the reduction of mortality in children under five years of age through a synergistic effect with the BFP. The explanation for the effect of BFP is that the rising incomes made possible by the transfer of benefits allows enhanced access to food and other goods related to health. These factors help in reducing household poverty, improving living conditions, and eliminating difficulties in access to health. Combined, these factors all contribute to reducing deaths among children.

The world has witnessed the proliferation of conditional cash transfer programmes similar to BFP in various developing countries. Thus there exists a significant international interest in better understanding the various impacts of this policy on issues such as public health. The results of the Brazilian study demonstrate that a small improvement in income may have a significant positive impact on infant mortality. The discoveries made through this study contribute to the understanding of social determinants on health and will certainly stimulate the adoption of similar policies in countries with significant rates of infant mortality and other social problems associated with poverty.

The research was conducted by Davide Rasella, Master in Community Health and Doctor of Public Health (ISC-UFBa) as part of his doctoral program at ISC and with the collaboration of Rosana Aquino, MD, MPH in Community Health and a PhD in Health Public (ISC-UFBa) and researcher at the ISC-UFBa; Antonio Carlos Santos de Souza Teles, Doctor of Public Health (ISC-UFBa), assistant professor at the State University of Feira de Santana and researcher ISC-UFBa; Romulo Paes-Sousa , PhD in Environmental Epidemiology (University of London), Center Coordinator Rio + for Sustainable Development, a partnership between UNDP and the Brazilian government, and research associate at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK. The team was led by Mauricio Lima Barreto, MD, MPH Community Health (UFBa), PhD in Epidemiology (University of London), Professor of Epidemiology Public Health Institute of the Federal University of Bahia, AI researcher of CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technology), and coordinator of inct-CITECS (multidisciplinary network of scientific research based in Bahia of international scope, focused on innovation, development and evaluation of health technologies) and a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Sciences of Bahia.

To access the full article please click here.

The Lancet
First launched in 1823, the Lancet is one of the most important scientific publications in the world of healthcare. Headquartered in the UK, the Lancet was responsible for the disclosure of some of the most important medical advances in the past two centuries, such as those related to the principles of antiseptics by Joseph Lister (1867) with shock therapy Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (1918), the importance of penicillin (1940), the relationship between thalidomide and birth defects (1961), among others.

About IPC-IG
The International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) is the global forum of the United Nations Program for Development (UNDP) in partnership with the Brazilian government to facilitate dialogue and South-South learning about innovative policies for inclusive growth. From its headquarters in Brasilia, the UNDP IPC-IG is dedicated to the promotion of knowledge between developing countries with the aim of formulating, implementing, and evaluating policies and programs that lead to a process of growth with social inclusion.

Brasilia – May 15, 2013

Source: Development Pathways UK

We are delighted to share the tenth in the series of ‘Pathways’ Perspectives’, papers that provide people with the opportunity to debate key issues in international development.

In the latest Pathways’ Perspective Senior Social Policy Specialist Nicholas Freeland writes about the myths of social protection.  The paper aims to dispel some of the more common myths about social security systems in developing countries. By clarifying two distinct ideologies, the neo-liberal ‘tea party’ approach to social protection and the universalist approach the paper takes each deadly sin and myth in turn.

The paper can be found on our website here.

You’ll also notice that Development Pathways has ‘revamped’ its website! Feel free to check it out at www.developmentpathways.co.uk. We welcome you to read and comment on the Perspective Blog, “Just KIDDing”, as well as peruse our social protection resource centre. 

Alternatively if you’d prefer a PDF copy, please email admin@developmentpathways.co.uk.

About the Author

Nicholas Freeland graduated from the esoterically-named ‘School of Arts and Humanities’ at Cambridge many years ago. This is the first time he has been able to combine the two disciplines in a single article.

About Development Pathways

We are a group of international development practitioners who specialise in the fields of social protection and social development, working with a range of development organisations and country governments across the developing world. Our aim is to provide creative and context-specific solutions to the social and economic policy challenges facing developing countries. We believe that policy and programming should be evidence-based and aligned to the political realities of countries, which may mean challenging prevailing orthodoxy to deliver the best policy and programme solutions.

Brasília – 3 May 2013

In recent years, nearly 40 million Brazilians have been incorporated into the middle class – those with a per capita income between R $ 291 and R $ 1,019 – a segment that now accounts for more than half of the country’s workers. This new configuration of the population brings a new dynamic to the economy and has direct effects on the socio-political relations of Brazil.

To better understand this phenomenon, the United Nations Development Programme in partnership with the Caixa Economica Federal and Strategic Affairs Secretariat (SAE) developed the publication “Voices of the New Middle Class.” This publication consists of bimonthly studies with information on the development, values, behavior and aspirations of the Brazilian middle class to subsidize the formulation of public policies directed to the sector.

The third edition of the publication, launched last Monday the 29^th, seeks to understand the entrepreneurial side of this portion of the population, with the theme “Entrepreneurship and the Middle Class.” The study focuses on the contribution of small entrepreneurs to the expansion and rise of the Brazilian middle class.

The following findings are highlighted in the publication and lead to the conclusion that progress is being made towards a more equitable society:

• Increase in available jobs
• Growth of the Brazilian working class
• Decrease in the income gap between employees in small enterprises and their employers

During the launch of the publication, the UNDP presented the results of the analysis about the profits of individual entrepreneurs and microentrepreneurs; wages of people employed in small businesses; rents divided by their families; risks and opportunities for social mobility, experienced according to their characteristics and profile of their enterprises. Small entrepreneurs, for example, account for 39% of total remuneration in the country, which exceeds R $ 500 billion. The study also points out the importance of small enterprises in the formal labor market and for sustainability. According to Marcelo Neri,  Interim Chief Minister of the Strategic Affairs Secretariat (SAE) of the Presidency of the Republic of Brazil and the President of the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA), the fuel behind the expansion of the middle class is not domestic consumption but rather the creation of job opportunities: “the great symbol of the new middle class is the ‘Portfolio of Work’ and labor rights.” The business of subsistence, in the words of Marcelo Neri, are being exchanged for formal jobs and businesses with greater potential for accumulation and growth. Of the six million jobs created by small business ventures between 2001 and 2011, 95% were formal.

Jorge Chediek, UNDP Resident Representative and Coordinator of the UN System in Brazil, argued that this middle class, fortunately, is rising, but it may become stagnant and even return to poverty. Therefore, according Chediek, the project’s goal is to “know the expectations, the vision of the middle class, not only through the studies generated from outside, but also through their views.” Chediek emphasizes that academic studies conducted with the middle class in Brazil should serve as an example for other developing countries, so that we can achieve “a global middle class.”

The third edition of “Voices of the Middle Class” is available here.

The video of the conference proceedings is available here.

Source: UNDP

The survey examines 42 countries with available labor market data from last year and has its starting point in the period immediately subsequent to the global economic crisis of 2007.

Will a reduction from 7.6% to 5.5%, Germany appears in the second position in the ranking. According to the IMF, in only 15 of the 42 countries the unemployment rate has dropped. In Portugal, Spain and Bulgaria, the rate has more than doubled in the same period.

Source: Gleisi Hoffmann webpage (In Portuguese).

Read more:

Brazil Unemployment at 10-Year Low

IPC-IG related publications:

Brazil explains flagship programme to eradicate extreme poverty by 2014

Social Policies and the Fall in Inequality in Brazil: Achievements and Challenges

Employment Policies in Brazil: History, Scope and Limitations

The Welfare Impacts of Changes in the Brazilian Domestic Work Market

The Employment-to-Population Ratio as an Indicator of Participation and Inclusiveness

What Impact Does Inflation Targeting Have on Unemployment?

Photo: ESCAP 2013

Brasília, 11 April 2013 –  Amidst widening income inequalities and depleting natural resources, the Asia-Pacific region is facing subdued growth in 2013. The United Nations Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2013 analyses a wide range of areas including economic growth, trade, inflation, employment, and labour migrations. The 2013 Survey will be presented at the Seminar “Asia and Brazil: Perspectives for Inclusive Growth” jointly organized by the Brazilian Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA) and the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on April 18^th, 9h am in Brasilia.

The Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific, the oldest and most comprehensive annual review of economic and social development in the region, analyses the short and medium-term challenges for the region and the outlook for the year ahead. The special theme of 2013 argues for a shift in the macroeconomic policy paradigm to achieve more inclusive and sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific.

NOTE TO EDITORS:

You or your representatives are cordially invited to the launch of the 2013 ESCAP Survey. The report launch will be followed by a question and answer session.

What: Seminar “Asia and Brazil: Perspectives for Inclusive Growth” – Release of the Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2013 in Brazil

Who: Mr. Claudio Hamilton dos Santos, Director of Macroeconomic Studies and Policies, the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA) 

Mr. Jorge Chediek, United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Brazil

When: Thursday, April 18, 2013 at 9 a.m.

Where: Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA): SBS, Quadra 1, Edifício BNDES, Auditorium 16º floor – Brasília – DF, Brazil

Agenda

For further information about the Press Conference or to set up separate interviews, please contact:

Ms. Mariana Hoffmann
Communications Officer (IPC-IG)
T: (+ 55 61) 2105 5036
M: (+55 61) 81256469
E: mariana.hoffmann@ipc-undp.org

Ms. Lauren Core
Communications Assistant (IPC-IG)
T: (+ 55 61) 2105 5022
M: (+55 61) 92464645
E: lauren.core@ipc-undp.org

‘Ghana Child Ambassadors on youth radio show in Washington DC.’ Photo: Ubantu Village Inc./IPC-IG

Brasília, April 04, 2013 –  Friday April 5th marks 1000 days until the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are anticipated to be achieved. Momentum 1000 is a worldwide rally organized by the UNDP that aims to enhance cooperation and advocacy throughout the final leg towards achieving the MDGs.

The International Policy Center for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has published a number of publications related to better understanding how to achieve each of the eight MDGs. In line with this, the following IPC-IG publications apply a critical lens to the development framework presented by the MDGs:

Global Development Goal Setting as a Policy Tool for Global Governance: Intended and Unintended Consequences

MDGs: Misunderstood Targets?

Measuring MDG Achievements: Rate of Progress Matters Most

Achieving the Millennium Development Goals: A Measure of Progress

Towards an MDG-Consistent Debt Sustainability Concept

How Should MDG Implementation Be Measured: Faster Progress or Meeting Targets?

The MDGs and Beyond: Pro-Poor Policy in a Changing World

The aforecited IPC-IG publications serve to inform policymakers in advancing human development and to leverage policy research on inclusive growth in the pursuit of achieving the MDGs. The featured research attempts to address the key challenges presented by each MDG, ranging from development innovations to gender equality. The IPC-IG invites you to visit the following links provided below each MDG that may help critically inform efforts to improve lives around the world. In addition to relevant news and publications, each MDG is accompanied by illustrative photographs from the IPC-IG’s Humanizing Development Global Photography Campaign.

MDG 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger 

Photo: ‘Humanizing Development Global Photography Campaign’/IPC-IG

Bolsa Família after Brasil Carinhoso: an Analysis of the Potential for Reducing Extreme Poverty

Analysing and Achieving Pro-Poor Growth

MDG 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education

Photo: ‘Humanizing Development Global Photography Campaign’/IPC-IG

Covariates of efficiency in education production among developing pacific-basin and Latin American countries

Social Innovation: Tackling Poverty through Home Grown School Meal Programmes

MDG 3: Promoting gender equality and empowering women

Photo: ‘Girls in the hairdressing class at Pro-Link Danfa School in Ghana’/Alice Wong of Canadian Crossroads International

Greening the Economy and Increasing Economic Equity for Women Farmers in Madagascar

The Implications of Water and Electricity Supply for the Time Allocation of Women in Rural Ghana

The Role of Gender Inequalities in Explaining Income Growth, Poverty and Inequality: Evidence from Latin American Countries

MDG 4: Reducing child mortality rates

Photo: Inter-American Social Protection Network (IASPN)

Monetary Transfers for Children and Adolescents in Argentina: Characteristics and Coverage of a “System” with Three Components

No Child Left Without: A Universal Benefit for Children in Brazil

MDG 5: Improving maternal health

Photo: ‘Humanizing Development Global Photography Campaign’/IPC-IG

Regression Discontinuity Impacts with an Implicit Index: Evaluating El Salvador’s Comunidades Solidarias Rurales Transfer Programme

IPC-IG Joins UNFPA on the 7 billion Actions Global Campaign

MDG 6: Combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other disease

Photo: ‘Humanizing Development Global Photography Campaign’/IPC-IG

Scaling-up HIV/AIDS Financing and the Role of Macroeconomic Policies in Kenya

Gearing macroeconomic polices to manage large inflows of ODA: The implications for HIV/AIDS programmes

The Macro-Micro Nexus in Scaling-Up Aid: The Case of HIV and AIDS Control in Kenya, Malawi and Zambia

MDG 7: Ensuring environmental sustainability

Photo: ‘Humanizing Development Global Photography Campaign’/IPC-IG

Raindrops for Education: How To Improve Water Access in Schools? 

Managing Resource-Dependence Amidst Opportunities and Challenges: Defining a New Sustainability Narrative for Caribbean Coastal Economies 

Low-Cost Technologies Towards Achieving the Millennium Development Goals: The Case of Rainwater Harvesting

MDG 8: Developing a global partnership for development 

Photo: ‘Humanizing Development Global Photography Campaign’/IPC-IG

South-South Cooperation for Inclusive Green Growth

South-South Cooperation in Times of Global Economic Crisis

China and The World: South-South Cooperation for Inclusive Green Growth

‘Vegetables.’ Source: Emmanuelle Graciet

Brasília, March 28, 2013 – The International Policy Center for Inclusive Growth has published a working paper (number 106) that aims to analyse Brazil’s Food Acquisition Programme (Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos – PAA) in terms of the implications for improving food security for the Brazilian population and promoting fair markets for rural smallholder producers. The paper focuses on a particularly impoverished sector of society in Brazil: small-scale farmers that often lack adequate market access and fair prices. Compounded with a varying agro-climatic landscape due to climate change and landholding inequalities, the situation for smallholder food security presents a formidable challenge. The idea is that a public food procurement scheme such as the PAA may help address these challenges on the production side through government purchases from small-scale farmers in Brazil and distributing food to social protection networks like food banks, community kitchens and schools.

The working paper, entitled “Scaling Up Local Development Initiatives: Brazil’s Food Acquisition Programme,” was authored by Ryan Nehring and Ben McKay of the IPC-IG/UNDP. The research was informed by fieldwork in Piaui and Ceara in the northeast of Brazil, a region with the highest concentrations of extreme poverty and hunger in the country. The study explores the efficacy of the PAA at the scale of the family farm unit as an underutilized, productive class in Brazil’s agricultural sector when considering crop diversity of production. Smallholder resiliency is revealed by the fact that “despite inequities of the land distribution, family farmers already produce 70 percent of all food products consumed by Brazilians daily” (IBGE, 2009). Study participants hailed from a range of backgrounds, such as rural workers’ unions, cooperatives, associations, and non-affiliated producers. The data collection was primarily comprised of semi-structured interviews that enabled the researchers to have a consistent understanding of the local stakeholders’ views as well as the challenges and opportunities of the programme on the ground.

For a brief backdrop, the PAA was incepted in 2003 as a:

“government-sponsored food procurement programme that utilizes the productive capacity of family farms to contribute to meeting the nutritional needs of people living in food insecurity, by supplying food to local public school feeding programmes, food banks, community kitchens, charitable assocations and community centers for the needy” (CAISAN, 2011).

The analysis aimed to assess whether the PAA has been able to “guarantee access to food in the proper quantity, quality and regularity according to the needs of populations living in food and nutritional insecurity, as well as to promote social inclusion in rural areas by strengthening family agriculture.” In line with this, the main objectives of the working paper are outlined as follows:

Objective 1: Provide first hand documentation of the design and operations of the programme – which includes the observed physical actors – involved in the design and implementation;

Objective 2: Identify the potential for scaling up the programme in country and the possibilities for south-south knowledge building.

‘Mais de 330 produtos da agricultura familiar são vendidos no PAA’ Source: Government of Brazil/MDA

Following an overview of the ‘design, operations, and trajectories of the PAA’ in Brazil, the working paper demonstrates that acute disparities exist with respect to both income and landholdings in Brazil’s agricultural spaces. The publication also indicates that the following dimensions of the PAA are matters of particular importance: targeting and coverage; timely payment delivery; organization of farmer capacities; and transportation. For example, in terms of transportation, that paper poses the following question: “who can and should take on the responsibility of transporting the produce, especially in communities where both the producers and the consumers are challenged in this regard?”

In line with this, the paper highlights that heightening social initiatives for smallholder farms may not only help alleviate poverty but may also stimulate economic and social equality – while supporting rural livelihoods. Compellingly, the working paper suggests that the PAA is in fact able to improve the income of local farmers by empowering local capacities, communities, and economies. Of particular interest is the ability of the PAA to enhance the productive capacity of smallholders and boost the local economy through the revitalization of locally integrated production and consumption, increased family incomes and more competition in the food supply-chain. However, challenges still remain with respect to “lack of knowledge about the programme, lack of institutional participation and weak institutional capacity.”

Although there is progress to be made in terms of improving measures for food security, the study concludes that the decentralised system of food acquisition presented by the PAA is a promising model for a participatory and inclusive approach to food security. The working paper states that the PAA “design creates a new market for the commercialisation of family farm products with the aim of expanding additional market opportunities and improving linkages and new supply chains beyond the programme’s designed parameters.”

The efficacy of the PAA in Brazil depends on catering the social protection programme to the local context, including components such as agro-climatic conditions, cuisine preference, and economic landscape. The dual needs of enhancing market access and improving food security may be achieved through an inclusive social policy aimed at tackling food acquisition. Overall, the Brazilian PAA experience illustrates that it is possible to improve local agrarian economies while also establishing a progressive and effective national food security strategy.

Source: IPC Working Paper 106

Check out this video to better understand what the PAA’s smallholder farmers have to say about supplying food to the programme:

Refer to the following publications released by the IPC-IG to learn more about food security, social policy, and agriculture:

Market Alternatives for Smallholder Farmers in Food Security Initiatives: Lessons from the Brazilian Food Acquisition Programme [IPC-IG Working Paper]

Public Support to Food Security in India, Brazil and South Africa: Elements for a Policy Dialogue [IPC-IG Working Paper]

The Food Security Policy Context in Brazil [IPC-IG Country Study]

The Food Security Policy Context in South Africa [IPC-IG Country Study]

South Africa’s ‘Food for All’ Campaign: A Promising New Plan to Tackle Hunger and Malnutrition? [IPC-IG Article]

East Africa Food Crisis: Understanding the Importance of Smallholder Agriculture [IPC-IG Article]

Supporting Food Production and Food Access through Local Public Procurement Schemes: Lessons from Brazil

“On this first International Day of Happiness, let us reinforce our commitment to inclusive and sustainable human development and renew our pledge to help others. When we contribute to the common good, we ourselves are enriched. Compassion promotes happiness and will help build the future we want.”

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Message for the International Day of Happiness, 20 March 2013

‘Boys enjoy water in Vietnam’ Source: Emmanuelle Graciet

The role of ‘happiness’ is increasingly important in national agendas around the world.  In Bhutan, for example, “Gross National Happiness” (GNH) serves as a key indicator of national prosperity. Although many interpretations of ‘happiness’ exist, this article will present photographs from the IPC-IG’s ‘Humanizing Development’ global photography campaign that may exemplify visual representations of the happiness concept. In addition to the photography below, the IPC-IG has made available a range of publications on social protection, pro-poor growth, and a variety of topics which may relate to enhancing happiness.

It is hoped that the following images shed light on a world in which happiness and well-being serve as central fulcrums of national agendas. Behind each photograph is a unique narrative of how ‘happiness’ may manifest in manifold ways.

Happiness: A Global Photo Essay

‘As Children Should Be’ Source: Philip West/Australia

This photograph shows primary school children celebrating happiness, peace, and learning in a poor area of Banjarmasin City, Kalimantan Island, Indonesia.

‘Doctores Bola Roja’ Source: Marco Simola/Lima, Peru

The photograph provides a glimpse into the lives of the doctors of Bolaroja who have graduated from the Bolaroja Clown School in Lima, Peru. A typical day for a Bolaroja clown-doctor includes entertaining young patients with music, toys, and bonding activities. Unique games are also created that cater to the unique interests and needs of individual patients.

‘Rural India talks’ Source: Divyangana Rakesh/Khunti District, Jharkhand, India

A woman smiles as she displays her handiwork at a public meeting about the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) held in Khunti District, Jharkhand, India.

‘A Smile’ Source: WONG Chi Keung/Hksar, China

The farmer shown here, Uncle Ming, resides in the mountain region of Yunan in China. Due to the climatic context, the options for farming in Yunan are limited in scope.  Thus Uncle Ming cultivates corn and consequently carries the produce to the local market to gain profit.

‘Business as Usual’ Source: Rolando Villanueva/Rural Bailundo, Angola

The smiling faces displayed in this photograph are microfinance clients in rural Bailundo, Angola, that are carefully tending to their livelihoods despite the rainy conditions.

Read more about the International Day of Happiness

Please find here the message from the UN Secretary-General in a meeting on ‘Happiness and Well-being’

See how the IPC-IG may help to promote happiness through research on issues such as enhancing access to basic services and inclusive growth:

The Life Development of Young People Engaged in the Oportunidades Programme

Green Equity: Environmental Justice for more Inclusive Growth

Securing Greater Social Accountability in Natural Resource Management

Dimensions of Inclusive Development