A successful strategy to reduce poverty in developing nations has been the use of conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs. CCTs attempt to reduce poverty while also changing behavior and building human capital by providing families with cash in exchange for certain requirements, such as enrolling their children in school. These incentives have been employed … [Read more...] about Lessons from Honduras’ CTT program: conditionalities matter
What does and doesn't work in development
Using job training to prevent teen pregnancy in the Dominican Republic
Greater self-esteem and opportunities can reduce the risk of teenage pregnancy. That is a lesson of a job training program advanced by the Youth and Employment Program in the Dominican Republic. The country has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Latin America and the Caribbean, with 104 births per 1,000 people between the ages of 15 and 19, almost equal to that of the … [Read more...] about Using job training to prevent teen pregnancy in the Dominican Republic
Short-term triggers of agricultural productivity in Bolivia
Thanks to the implementation of CRIAR's program, beneficiary households diversify their crop portfolio, producing nontraditional crops with greater value added in larger areas. At the same time beneficiary households are modifying their household economy, moving from self-sustainment toward a more market-oriented structure. Carlos Pacheco is one of 17,000 beneficiaries … [Read more...] about Short-term triggers of agricultural productivity in Bolivia
How to evaluate a tourism reform without a time machine?
Endowed with rich and diverse natural and cultural resources, Argentina’s Salta Province has long been known to have tremendous but untapped tourism potential. Located at the intersection of such natural attractions as the Andean highland plateau (the Puna), the Chaco forests, and the subtropical forest in the Yungas Biosphere Reserve, Salta’s landscape is graced with … [Read more...] about How to evaluate a tourism reform without a time machine?
Protecting the Mesoamerican Lung
by Joseph Milewski* After decades of abuse in Guatemalan jungle, the IDB launched a program compatible with the conservation of the Maya Biosphere Reserve. It develops alternative activities for the inhabitants in the fields of agriculture, tourism, environment and culture. In Guatemala, the deafening chatter of macaws and guttural shrieks of monkeys are but two of … [Read more...] about Protecting the Mesoamerican Lung