By Julián Aramburu and Lina Salazar Nothing is more annoying than a fly buzzing around your head. But flies can be much more than an annoyance: fruit flies, for example, are one of the most harmful threats to fruit production in Peru, damaging crops by laying their eggs within the fruit. Since 1990, Peru’s fruit and vegetable exports have increased at an average … [Read more...] about Small Bug, Big Trouble: The Fruit Fly Plague in Peru
What does and doesn't work in development
Would you leave your children home alone while at work?
By Claudia Piras Free daycare services do not ensure a significant increase in women’s participation in the labor market. Why? The results of an after-school activities program in Chile may have the answer. What is the most common reason given by women when asked why they are not looking for a job? Just what you might think: because they have to take care of their … [Read more...] about Would you leave your children home alone while at work?
Indigenous and mestizo women: do they receive different treatment in family planning centers in Peru?
Ten women prepare themselves: hair, makeup, clothes, and posture. They practice proper cadence for scripted answers to questions they will soon be asked. Each of them will say she arrived in Lima from an Andean town seeking a brighter future for her two children. Her partner is returning after being away for six months for work, and they do not want to have any more … [Read more...] about Indigenous and mestizo women: do they receive different treatment in family planning centers in Peru?
Habitat program: closing gaps in Mexico’s formal neighborhoods
Imagine living in a neighborhood where some families have water and others don’t. Where half the streets are paved, and only some have sidewalks. Where street lighting exists only in certain areas, making it dangerous to return home at night or go out before dawn. Or where you have to walk very far to find a park, a football field, a health clinic, or a day-care … [Read more...] about Habitat program: closing gaps in Mexico’s formal neighborhoods
The Juana Azurduy Voucher Program: health services for mothers and their children
“I didn’t go to the health center because it took a long time, and on top of that they treated me badly,” recounted a Quechua woman in the town of Oruro, Bolivia. “We have our own customs for childbirth”. She is not alone in those views. According to a recent national survey, the main reason why women avoid prenatal care is distrust of health personnel (26 percent). … [Read more...] about The Juana Azurduy Voucher Program: health services for mothers and their children