Poverty Mapping

Globally, there are over 6 billion people of which 20 % live below the poverty line and have only 2% of the world income[1] (Human development trends 2005). General trends indicate that the poverty reduction goal of halving the poverty rate by year 2015 can be met on a global level, particularly because of fast progress in Asia. Conversely, Africa and Latin America see little growth while income increases in Asia and OECD and decreases in East Europe. In 2000, Africa is the home of one third of all poor. In 2015, Africa will account for the majority of the world poverty.

Three quarters of the poor live in rural[2] areas where agriculture remains their main source of income. They form the core of the informal sector where the productivity is low.
[1] UNDP, Human Development Trends 2005
[2] IFAD, Rural Poverty Report 2001: the Challenge of Ending Rural Poverty; and World Bank, Rural Finance Services: Implementing The Bank’s Strategy to Reach the Rural Poor

FW: Follow up on market nodes project in Ethiopia

Subject: RE: Follow up on market nodes project in Ethiopia

Hi Yetnayet,

This is rather encouraging, knowing that you are making real progress. You have now client positive experience you can build on: the higher price farmers were able to negotiate due to the availability of market information. Too bad that you could not find a business advisor to work with you! It may take longer to implement, but this will provide ample room for incremental institutional learning for CARE. Your only constraint will be the donor contract term.

On other topic: have you ever considered developing a project in the field of technology in microfinance; using technology ( smart card, fingerprint identification or other biometric technology, etc) to push the frontier of productivity and offer cost effective, less expensive and viable financial services (loan, savings, insurance and money transfers –remittances) to poor household in remote areas. Please read these:

http://www.cgap.org/docs/IT_smart_card.html

http://www.cgap.org/docs/IT_bio.html

www.digitaldividend.org, read the case study of Prodem FFP in Bolivia.

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What is revolutionary is that these technologies make it possible to develop inexpensive point-of-sale devices, thousands of which are already being used in rural retail outlets throughout India, Brazil, Bolivia and Philippines. This means rural retail outlets (like our market nodes) will become business centers, providing proximity financial and non-financial services to farmers. I hope you see the intimate link with the concept of Market Nodes.

Please, let me know what you think.

Thanks, Vincent

Accounting for Non-Accountant (1)

What is an accounting system?

Accounting is the method in which financial information is gathered, processed, and summarized into financial statements and reports. An accounting system can be represented by the following graphic, which is explained below.

1. Every accounting entry is based on a business transaction, which is usually evidenced by a business document, such as a check or a sales invoice.
2. A journal is a place to record the transactions of a business. The typical journals used to record the chronological, day-to-day transactions are sales and cash receipts journals and a cash disbursements journal. A general journal is used to record special entries at the end of an accounting period.
3. While a journal records transactions as they happen, a ledger groups transactions according to their type, based on the accounts they affect. The general ledger is a collection of all balance sheet, income, and expense accounts used to keep a business's accounting records. At the end of an accounting period, all journal entries are summarized and transferred to the general ledger accounts. This procedure is called "posting."
4. A trial balance is prepared at the end of an accounting period by adding up all the account balances in your general ledger. The sum of the debit balances should equal the sum of the credit balances. If total debits don't equal total credits, you must track down the errors.

Finally, financial statements are prepared from the information in your trial balance. Reports and analysis are also generated from financial statements to support management decision making. The processing may be automated, semi-automated or manual. All together, they form the management information system (MIS).

Analyse socio- économique de l'Afrique

Ce tableau (voir sources en bas du tableau) indique l’évolution de paramètres clés (taux de fertilité, part de la force de travail dans l’agriculture, la croissance de la force de travail en général, création de valeur ajoutée par le secteur agricole, et la croissance industrielle) de la structuration socio-économique de certains états africains. Nous en présenterons l’analyse plus tard.

Attention : ces indicateurs ont trait à la période 1990 à 2000 avec des projections allant parfois jusqu’en 2010.

Je vous invite d’ores et déjà à quelques comparaisons dans la zone ouest africaine : le Ghana, la Côte d’Ivoire, le Nigéria, le Sénégal, le Togo, le Burkina et le Niger.

A bientôt !