Eco-Geo Assignment I

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ANALYTICAL PART ASSIGNMENT

NAME :Tanzima Hasan


ID:18-39224-3
SCECTION:
COURSE NAME: ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

1) The Roles of microcredit programs-


Microcredit programs extend small loans to the very poor people for self-employment projects
that generate income, allowing them to care for themselves and their families. Microcredit also
called microfinance and microlensing means providing small working capital loans to the self-
employed people. Even small amounts of capital can make the difference between absolute
poverty and a thriving little business generating enough income to feed the family, send kids to
school, and build decent housing. Micro-credit refers to programs that are poverty focused and
that provide financial and business services to the very poor people for generation of self-
employment and income. Credit is a powerful instrument to fight against poverty. The role of
micro-credit in reducing poverty is now well recognized all over the world. Governments,
donors, development agencies, banks, universities, consultants, philanthropists and others have
increasing interest in it. The universal objective of microfinance is to make it possible for large
numbers of low-income people to access institutional financial services, hence the potential
benefits of microfinance has accounted for its widespread adoption as an economic development,
job creation and poverty reduction strategy. There is an on-going debate whether credit alone or
credit plus is needed for poverty reduction. There are views that credit alone on its own is
inadequate to fight against poverty. The need for other services is also important in this respect.
Such views although, do not negate the role of credit fail to appreciate the role of credit on its
own merit
Professor Muhammad Yuns is the managing director and founder of garment Bank, which
currently operates 1,148 branches providing credit to over 2.4 million poor people residing in
39,857 villages in Bangladesh. garment Bank was his creation and he continues to be a strong
advocate of micro-credit, arguing that it is only through collateral-free credit, made available in
particular to poor women, that poverty can be alleviated He started the Graeme Bank Project in
1976 and saw it to its completion in 1983, and still holds the post of managing director in the
organization in an exclusive interview with Asia Society, Professor Yuns discusses the
importance of micro-credit for poverty alleviation in Bangladesh and elsewhere First, it's
addressed to the poor. It doesn't rely on collateral, because collateral is the thing which brings a
wall between financial institutions and poor people. It is something that is designed to be friendly
to poor people, particularly poor women. Its basic principle is that people should not come to the
bank. The bank should go to the people. So it makes it enormously easy for women to do
business with someone in the home, rather than going to the office. The office is a threatening
institution for a poor person to hang around and try to find a place to get connected Also, the
repayments are designed in such a way that they are tiny installments. You can pay back your
loan over a long period. So all of this together is micro-credit. Small loans for income-generating
activity, addressed to the poorest, without collateral.Microcredit programs extend small loans to
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the very poor people for self-

employment projects that generate income, allowing them to care for themselves

and their families. Microcredit also called "microfinance" and "microlending"

means providing small working capital loans to the self-employed people. Even

small amounts of capital can make the difference between absolute poverty and a

thriving little business generating enough income to feed the family, send kids to

school, and build decent housing. Micro-credit refers to programs that are

poverty focused and that provide financial and business services to the very poor

people for generation of self-employment and income. Credit is a powerful

instrument to fight against poverty. The role of micro-credit in reducing poverty

is now well recognized all over the world. Governments, donors, development

agencies, banks, universities, consultants, philanthropists and others have

increasing interest in it.

The universal objective of microfinance is to make it possible for large

numbers of low-income people to access institutional financial services, hence

the potential benefits of microfinance has accounted for its widespread adoption

as an economic development, job creation and poverty reduction strategy. There


ANALYTICAL PART ASSIGNMENT

is an on-going debate whether credit alone or credit plus is needed for poverty

reduction. There are views that credit alone on its own is inadequate to fight

against poverty. The need for other services is also important in this respect.

Such views, although, do not negate the role of credit; fail to appreciate the role

of credit on its own merit.

2)The success stories of conventional development strategies-


The development strategy which we have mentioned earlier in the above expected to solve
macro-economic instability in under developed countries. Major problem of under developing
countries is found to be centered on Balance of Payment problems. Many of the underdeveloped
countries, problem originates due the particular growth strategy which they had been selected
after the independence. Growth strategy for those countries involved both inward looking and
based on basic and key industries. For getting technology and capital for such a capitalist growth
process, they had forced to import capital goods from other countries and finally remained a
situation of having anything to export. This normally leads to problems which normally had
necessitated those counties to depend on IMF and other international institutional for getting so
called conditional grants. But in the new growth strategy which we have proposed will expect to
generate more surpluses for export but it would necessitate only fewer imports. In such a growth
strategy, the most selected sector would be agriculture because it the sector where the most of the
labor forces are absorbed in the underdeveloped countries. The sectors which employs relatively
less labor forces must give a lesser weightage as compared to labor absorbing sector like
agriculture. Suppose, if we had considered those factors in the growth process, would have
expected to solve many developmental problems. Further, the growth strategy would not only
reduce absolute poverty but also address the problem of relative poverty. Inclusive growth
mainly addresses the problem of absolute poverty or the absolute improvement of poor which is
indispensable for maintaining the sustainability of conventional growth process. In the absence
any absolute improvement for mass section people, might have result socio economic and
political instability and finally it could break the conventional growth process. Therefore, we
would argue, for an ideal development strategy, we should focus both absolute and relative
poverty in equal manner. First sufficient condition is to change the structure of growth which of
course necessitates strong state action. Adoption of proper democratization for selecting each
developmental program is the second essential condition for achieving better developmental
outcome.
The recent economic trends and the challenges posed by the global crisis reinforce the
importance of implementing strategies for development as opposed to leaving the economy to
market forces. Countries need a strategic compass for long-run economic development, either
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explicitly or implicitly. Among other ingredients, this comprises macroeconomic policies,


sectoral policies institution building in key areas and development-friendly global governance.
Within a chosen medium- or even long-term strategy, governments need more policy space to
adjust to the specific social, historical and institutional context. The experience of Asia shows
that rather than implementing narrow and rigid general guidelines, experimental approaches
which require policy space are a recipe for success. Furthermore, the slow-growth periods
endured by several countries allowed inferring which policies should be avoided. The authors of
this publication share the notion that developing countries can and should learn more from each
other, as well as from their own past experience. It is important to look at comparisons between
developing countries, including both success and failure stories.
In this section a review of literature on different aspects of micro-credit

programs has been made. It is needless to say that micro-credit helps the poor in

day-to-day household-level consumption of basic necessities as well as in asset

building. It also promotes investment in human capital like schooling. It raises

awareness to reproductive health and increases both individual and household

welfare.

Microcredit programs have also, in many cases, increased mobility and

strengthened networks among women who were previously confined to the home

(Carr et al. 1996). Borrowers build solidarity through their participation in

lending circles and village organizations. This is especially important in

Bangladesh, for example, where women’s mobility is limited, and weekly

meetings can be an opportunity for women to meet outside the home and discuss

their problems. There are also studies that suggest even more far-reaching social
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impact, including decreases in fertility rates, assumed to be linked to increased

financial self-reliance and more say for women in family matters, including

family finances (Hashemi 1996).

In some instances, the impact on the poorest may in fact be negative. Paul

Mosley and David Hulme 1996, surveyed “successful” microcredit programs in

seven different countries. In all microcredit programs, the average earnings of

borrowers increased. They also discovered that, the wealthier the borrower, the

greater the income increases derived from credit. However, borrowers below the

poverty line actually had lower incomes than before joining the programs, i.e.,

the poor actually became poorer through microcredit. The reasons for this are not

clear. According to Mosley and Hulme 1996, the poor may use the loans differently, for
consumption or to invest in lower risk (and generally less

remunerative) activities. Meanwhile, the better-off borrowers tend to invest in

riskier and more productive ventures, including technological improvements. The

study concluded that “while credit may be an effective vehicle for boosting the

incomes of the poor, it may be less effective, or even counter-productive, in

helping the poorest of the poor raise their living standards. Alternative poverty
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reduction mechanisms are probably advisable for this group (Mosley and Hulme

1996). It has been observed that not only do the poorest borrowers benefit least,

but most evidence also indicates the poorest 10-15 per cent of the population are

being altogether excluded from microcredit programs, and the poorest women

face more barriers than men. A few studies have also been conducted to quantify

the impact of microfinance on poverty alleviation. For instance, based on the

counter factual combined approach, analyzed the impact of microfinance on

poverty alleviation using sample data for Indonesia, India, Bangladesh and Sri

Lanka and found that growth of income of borrowers always exceeds that of

control group and that increase in borrowers income was larger for better-off

borrowers (Mosley and Hulme 1996). Similarly MkNellyet al. (1996) found

positive benefits for the borrowers. Khandker(1995), based on double difference

comparison between eligible and ineligible households and between program and

control villages, focusing on Grameen, Bangaladesh and Bangaldesh Rural

Advancement Committee (BRAC), found that microcredit alleviated poverty up

to 5 percent annually. Furthermore, it was found that a loan of Tk. 100.00 to a

female borrower, after it is repaid, allows a net consumption increase of Tk.


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18.00. For Thailand village banks, Coleman (1997), using the same approach as

that of Khandker(1995), found no evidence of any impact of micro finance.

Another study by Coleman (1997), found that programs are not reaching the poor

as much as they reach relatively wealthy people. Khandker(1995), found that

microfinance helps to reduce extreme poverty much more than moderate poverty,

i.e. 18 percentage points as compared with 8.5 percentage points over seven

years. Welfare impact is also positive for all households, including non-

participants, as there were spillover effects. Mosley (1996), using data from Latin

American countries, found a positive growth of income and assets of the

borrowers than control group.

Bangladesh Government and Non-Government Organization (NGO) always

try to alleviate the poverty. Many NGOs are providing microcredit to the poor

people and they argued that poverty is alleviating day by day by taking

microcredit (Hashemi et al 1996), (Bhattacharya, et al. 1996), (Hossain,

M.,1988), (Khandker, S. R., 1998), (Yunus, M., 1999).

3) SDGs have Choose two goal from End Hunger and Healthy Lives and Well-
being-
End Hunger: Bangladesh has achieved considerable success in increasing agricultural production
several folds including production of rice, vegetables, culture fisheries, poultry and eggs which
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along with increase in general level of income has helped reduce the burden of hunger and
malnutrition in the country. A prosperous agriculture will be necessary to meet the growing
demand of all types of food due to population growth and growth of income. The later will create
demand for some non-cereal foods at a faster rate because of their income elastic demand. 50
General Economic Division Public Investment in agriculture: The Government will continue to
invest in agricultural research for development of stress tolerant crop varieties in respect of
water, fertilizer and time economy, global warming, and GM technology and adoption of modern
agricultural practices by farmers; and expanded use of surface water for irrigation and expanded
use of renewable energy for small scale irrigation. Investment will also be made in rural
infrastructure which facilitates easy access to inputs and marketing of agricultural products and
ensures better price for small producers by connecting them to countrywide markets.
Healthy Lives and Well-being: Health sector in Bangladesh continues to grapple with the
existing issues of increasing access to, improving quality of and achieving equity in health care
services for all. There is also the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases such as
diabetes, cardio-vascular diseases and cancer contributing to increasing morbidity and mortality.
New challenges facing the sector include increasing incidence of injuries including burn and acid
injuries, drowning and other accidents including road traffic injuries, ageing and geriatric
diseases, spread of infectious diseases such as Hepatitis B and C, health effects of geo-climatic
disasters. Against this background, the health sector has the following structural challenges
Demographic Transition Demographic transition includes, population shift to the urban area
where PHC services are not as well organized as in the rural area. Expansion of city areas up to
Upazila level, Bangladesh SDGs Progress Report 2018 59 rural-urban migration and a rising
urban population pose new challenge for effective urban PHC service delivery. Absence or
paucity of PHC service facilities in urban areas means that the disadvantaged are the worst
sufferers, which is evident from the health status of urban people living in slums. Coordination
between the two ministries of MOHFW and MOLGRDC for developing an effective urban
health services delivery mechanism with functional referral between PHC providers and
secondary/tertiary health care facilities MOHFW remains a challenge.
In 2015, 193 countries adopted Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable
Development Goals. The SDGs build on the Millennium Development Goals but there are
significant differences between them and the processes leading up to their adoption. The process
leading up to the adoption of the SDGs involved considerably broader participation. The SDGs
expanded the focus by integrating a wider development policy agenda addressing many aspects
of economic, social and environmental sustainability. In addition, while the MDGs were mainly
relevant for developing countries, the SDGs apply to all countries. The 17 SDGs and 169 related
targets form an overarching development framework meant to guide government and non-state
actor efforts at different scales, from global to local, until 2030. The SDGs and their targets form
a complex, integrated system with clear sectoral emphases, but also strong interlinkages among
goals and targets. The agenda does not explicitly address these interlinkages, or the synergies and
trade-offs among targets. Forests provide ecosystem services that are crucial for human well-
being and, as such, are critical for reaching the SDGs. Yet, forests are only explicitly mentioned
in two SDGs. SDG 15 focuses on the protection, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial
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ecosystems and halting the loss of biodiversity. The other, SDG 6 calls for the protection and
restoration of forests in one of its targets Due to the interrelated nature of the SDGs and targets,
the implementation of the SDG agenda will inevitably influence forests and forest-related
livelihoods and the possibilities to achieve the forest-specific targets. Understanding the potential
impacts of SDGs on forests, forest-related livelihoods and forest based options to generate
progress towards achieving the SDGs, as well as related trade-offs and synergies, is crucial for
efforts undertaken to reach these goals. It is especially important for reducing potential negative
impacts and to leverage opportunities to create synergies, which will ultimately determine
whether comprehensive progress towards the SDGs is accomplished.The idea was simple
enough: By giving a very small loan to someone living in a poor country, you could help them
expand a small business, which would lift their family out of poverty. When they pay back the
loan, the money can be cycled to more borrowers, getting more families out of poverty.

Organizations offering microcredit to poor borrowers — many living on $2 or less per day —
took off in those decades. Investors and donors poured money into microcredit, hundreds of
organizations offered loans, and the number of borrowers worldwide skyrocketed to 211
million by 2013.

Christina Animashaun/Vox
The microcredit movement has been undeniably successful in opening up financial services to
poor people across many countries. But what has its track record been when it comes to lifting
people out of poverty?

Over the past decade, this question has occupied researchers, who have conducted randomized
studies across a variety of countries and settings. The findings have not supported the original
hope for microcredit: They can’t find evidence that the loans have been lifting families out of
poverty on average. Many concluded that the classic conception of microcredit was based
much more on anecdotes than on robust evidence. Those results have in turn cooled the
development community’s enthusiasm for microcredit.

But does this mean that microcredit has been a failure? Hardly.

Rather than see microcredit as it was portrayed in its heyday — as a way to get people out of
poverty — we should see it through a different lens: as a way to expand options for poor
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people by offering more reliable financial services. Extremely poor people need these services
just like everyone else, and the availability of capital to deal with irregular and at times
unpredictable incomes is a huge help to them. This benefit, along with its impressive growth
around the world, arguably makes microcredit a success.

4) International trade will be affected due to corona pandemic in the recent Time-
The Covid-19 virus is the latest factor affecting international trade and according to experts, it’s
creating a grim economic outlook for the future of global trade too The virus has now infected
over 2000000 people and the death toll has surpassed 126770 worldwide, with both expected to
rise as the outbreak spreads. Efforts are being made to develop a cure for the virus, which is
more dangerous for the elderly and people with weakened immune systems, but no resounding
progress has been made yet Governments are struggling to cope with the challenges the virus
poses to the global economy and with the social disruption that has befallen on the world. Not
only has the coronavirus initiated a global health crisis but having originated in China, which is a
central manufacturing hub for many businesses across the world, the repercussions of their halted
economy is going to disrupt international trade and global shipping. Many businesses are now
operating on a ‘just in time’ model by relying on regular imports and holding low stock of
products, ingredients or materials for international trade to reduce warehouse costs. This has
resulted in labor deficits and a deceleration in production time as businesses are using global
shipping services on a means necessary basis. As a result, less goods are being exported and at
the importing stage of the cycle, heavy quarantine procedures/health checks are being carried out
at ports which is prolonging the delay Businesses aren’t the only ones reluctant to spend too, as
recent Gross Domestic Product growth figures have shown a decline in consumer spending
across the globe. This has become most apparent in the retail and tourism sectors, perhaps due to
a loss of income, fear of contagion or increased anxiety around the virus’s developments. This is
a barrier to international trade as lower demand limits production which could result in job cuts
as well as reduced shares.  vendors are relying heavily on goods imported from China, they are
now having to seek alternative sources of production, which is resulting in a backlog. This has
reduced space in shipping containers and increased shipping costs, both of which are
contributing to the delay in supply.it Britain is plugged into all the large economies and in recent
years, has increased international trade with China. Many British businesses now rely heavily
upon exports from China and the depress in global shipping services due to the epidemic is
putting pressure on international business and trade Immediate effects have been seen on the
supply and demand for oil, agricultural goods and metals in the global market. China is the
world’s largest oil importer and when Chinese President, Xi Jinping, issued a lockdown, the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries suffered severely as a result, with production
falling 600K barrels per day Crude oil, agriculture and metals are just some of the many
commodity markets impacted by the coronavirus, which is also threatening to push the global
economy into recession. On Monday, global shares were subject to their worst day since the
2008 financial crisis, with declines in London taking some £125bn off the value of major UK
firms. Whilst many citizens feel like they won’t be affected by stock market chaos, pension pots
are influenced by their performance so it is important to watch financial markets and export and
import commodities The National Institute for Economic and Social Research reported that the
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epidemic could add around £5 billion to the UK deficit British Chancellor, Rishi Sunak faced
increased pressure ahead of releasing Wednesday’s new budgets. He confirmed that the UK will
be putting emergency measures in place designed to support small businesses and households
throughout the outbreak. Business rates will be slashed for companies in the leisure and
hospitality sector, a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme will be introduced and the
UK government will also be extending sick pay and boosting NHS funding.
In order to alleviate barriers to international trade, businesses will have to identify other trading
markets. Countries such as Mexico, India and Malaysia have opened competitive markets if
businesses need alternative sources of production A medical spokesman in China has reported
that the country has made it through the worst of the outbreak, with new cases dropping sharply
in recent days and workers returning to businesses. Whilst this is good news, the impact the virus
is now having on the rest of the world is likely to inhibit manufacturing and exporting
capabilities in China as central governments continue to assess and respond to the virus, global
trading companies may need to adjust production by altering logistics routes, avoiding critical
supply chain disruptions by not stockpiling on supplies and reducing spending to prevent barriers
to international trade.

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