Development Blogs.com

In the article “Don’t Turn Your Back on Reforms: Can Democratic Market Economies Take Root in Latin America?” that was published by CIPE, I mentioned that one of the biggest challenges for Latin America is to make people feel that they are part of the system. This is the case in Peru where according to recent opinion polls, 86 percent of Peruvians between 18 and 27 are either unhappy or extremely unhappy with democracy, and 80 percent are not interested in issues related to democracy. Since about 30 percent of the Peruvian population is between the ages of 15 and 24 years old, this presents a significant challenge for the future of democratic institutions in the country. Peru is generally viewed as a successful economic model with some of the highest growth rates in the region in...

from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Reporter: Pip CourtneyBRENDAN TREMBATH: As the world reels from rising rice, wheat and corn prices, one expert recommends the humble potato be taken more seriously.A top potato scientist says the world food crisis can't be solved by rice and grains alone.The United Nations has declared 2008 to be the International Year of the Potato.Pip Courtney from the ABC TV show Landline has been in the great potato producing nation of Peru and she filed this report.(Sound of llama bells ringing)PIP COURTNEY: High up in the Andes mountains in Peru - the home of the potato, its harvest time.Potatoes have been grown in the highlands for thousands of years, for the villagers here, here spuds are the key to survival.VILLAGER (translated): We eat potatoes...

from Reuters By Maria Luisa PalominoCUZCO, Peru - Pregnant with her seventh child, Benigna Condori hiked for hours through Peru's Andes mountains to a health clinic that mixes modern medicine with indigenous practices like giving birth standing up.After five births at home, Condori, 37, decided to have her latest two babies at one of hundreds of new clinics that have started allowing women to deliver on their feet rather than on their backs.The hope of the program is to cut high rates of maternal mortality by encouraging poor, mostly indigenous Peruvian women to place themselves under the care of professionals.Condori said she did not want to take any chances and that hiking through the mountains was a safer bet than having her baby at home."I'm here because I know a woman who almost...

from The Lake Elmo Leader by Andy BlenkushA woman named Sonny grows basil in the St. Croix River Valley. Miguel farms coffee in Peru. At Freeset Bags in India, women seeking freedom from the streets of Calcutta’s red light district can find work at Freeset to earn wages in a safe environment.These people share a common denominator – they seek a fair price for their work.Fair Trade is not a buzzword. It is an international movement gaining momentum across the globe, nation, state and St. Croix River Valley. Fair Trade networks strive for equality within international trading. It seeks to give farmers and artisans who struggle in today’s economics humane working conditions, educational resources and livable wages that allow them to compete in various markets worldwide.River Market...

Government Obstacles, Misinformation Impede Access The Peruvian government’s deliberate refusal to streamline procedures and approve guidelines for legal abortion is endangering the lives and health of women and girls who are often forced to use unsafe solutions for risky pregnancies, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. Although international attention has been drawn to these violations, the Peruvian government has failed to abide by recommendations of the United Nations Human Rights Committee and others....

While many adults in the US are still in a state of denial over global warming, young schoolchildren in villages deep in the Peruvian Amazon are learning about the effects climate destabilization is likely to have on their way of life. That’s just one thing I learned during a recent three-week trip to the Loreto region (northeast corner) of Peru, with a Peace and Conflict Studies class from Pacific University in Oregon. We spent much of our time in Peru staying in small villages, where we learned about the culture and way of life of the people there – as well as the threats they are likely to face in coming years. Based on my, admittedly very brief, exposure to life in Peru’s Amazon, it seems climate destabilization is not a “debated” issue there; people in the rainforest...

from the BBC By Dan Collyns Leaders from 50 European, Latin American and Caribbean nations are meeting in Peru to address poverty and the rise in world food prices.There have been few signs of compromise in trade negotiations ahead of the summit. Talks will be held in private.Simmering regional conflicts in Latin America threaten to overshadow any final agreement.Some 50,000 police have been drafted in for the summit, the fifth meeting of its kind in 10 years.Even before his arrival in Lima, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has already ruffled feathers both in Latin America and Europe.Free trade pushHe has upped his hostile rhetoric towards Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and he has accused the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, of being supported by the same German political right as...

The 35-year sentence for grave human rights abuses of the former head of Peru’s intelligence service is an important step for justice, Human Rights Watch said today....

AGRORED PERU es el metasistema de información agraria diseñado para la gestión de la información y el conocimiento agrícola en el Perú.Desde su creación, AGRORED PERU ha realizado eventos anuales para orientar y planificar sus actividades, contribuyendo a la formación de los profesionales que conforman las entidades de la red en los nuevos conceptos de gestión de la información y el uso de herramientas avanzadas. En este año 2008, AGRORED PERU acomete la tarea de desarrollar la plataforma de intercambio de información y el buscador acotado que servirá de base para la consolidación del sistema de información agrario en el país.El Taller tuvo como objetivo general, Planificar las actividades del año 2008 considerando la consolidación institucional de la red de información...

from Bloomberg By Karla Palomo and Alex Emery Peru's economy, which may expand as much as 8 percent in 2007 on surging mining and agricultural exports, will receive an additional boost from a $5 billion natural gas plant and a U.S.-Peru trade agreement, the Andean country's former president, Alejandro Toledo, said.The Hunt Oil Co.-led gas project will add 2 percentage points to gross domestic product growth by 2010, Toledo said in a Nov. 30 interview in New York. The free-trade agreement, scheduled for a final vote in the U.S. Senate today, will add 1.5 percentage points, he said.During Toledo's 2001-2006 administration, Peru reduced debt, trimmed annual inflation to a region-low 1.5 percent, tripled exports and pushed annual economic growth to 5 percent. Peru has created jobs by...

A couple of weeks ago, thanks to CIPE’s friends at the Institute for Liberty and Democracy (ILD), I was able to visit a very special shopping center in Lima, Peru. The name of the shopping mall is Polvos Azules: it derives its name from the street where a group of informal vendors used to be located. These informal vendors are now the owners of the Polvos Azules shopping center. In the 1980s, approximately 5,000 street vendors were forced by the city to abandon their business locations and move to the Polvos Azules area. At that time, these poor entrepreneurs were widely considered a nuisance. Hernando De Soto’s organization, ILD, came to the aid of these entrepreneurs, recognizing their desire to make an honest living, improve their lives, and thereby make a productive contribution...

from CECU.deLIMA (Dow Jones)--Peruvian President Alan Garcia, in his annual state-of-the-nation address Saturday, reiterated many of the goals that his government hopes to attain, including lowering foreign debt levels and cutting poverty.Garcia said the government's goal is to reduce poverty to some 30% by the end of his term in 2011, from the about 50% level in 2005. The Garcia administration had earlier spoken of reducing poverty to some 40% by the end of its mandate.The president added that by the end of his term, Peru's foreign debt - as a percentage of GDP - would fall to 13% from some 24% now.He also said that Peru would have $30 billion in international reserves, by 2011, compared with some $23 billion currently.Those goals were stated against the backdrop of the strong...

Judge’s Ruling Ignores Critical Evidence The ruling by Chilean Judge Orlando Alvarez denying Peru’s request for the extradition of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori is fundamentally flawed, Human Rights Watch said today....

A group of 42 information specialists from various organizations participated in the course on 'Open Archives for Development' held June 11 through 13, 2007, organized by AGRORED Perú and coordinated by AIBDA Peru and E-LIS Peru with the collaboration and technical support of FAO. Representatives of the FAO and IICA Country Office in Peru also participated in the course. Participants from Lima...

from The EmbassyPeru and Canada could start discussions for a bilateral free trade agreement as early as February, according to Peruvian Agriculture Minister Juan Jose Salazar.During a visit to Ottawa last weekend, Mr. Salazar said the talks would begin when Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper considers the time opportune, stressing that Peru has great expectations in achieving such an agreement, having done initial evaluations into the benefits of such a deal.Mr. Salazar is the highest-ranking official from Peru to come on a working visit to Canada since former president Alberto Fujimori in 1998.Mr. Salazar told Embassy his visit was first and foremost a political gesture. Peru wants to be closer to Canada, both politically and economically. He expressed his government's awareness of...

Failure to Disclose Pseudonyms in Humala Case Reflects a Deeper Problem Peru’s military has systematically failed to provide courts and prosecutors with the identities of military personnel under investigation for human rights abuses committed during the country’s armed conflict, Human Rights Watch said in a letter released today to Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo....

El viernes 17 de febrero se llevó a cabo en la ciudad de Lima el Taller Nacional Encuentro de Experiencias sobre Redes de Información Agraria y Ecológica en el Perú. El evento fue organizado conjuntamente por la Red de Bibliotecas Agropecuarias y Ecológicas del Perú (REBIAPE), la Asociación Interamericana de Bibliotecarios, Documentalistas y Especialistas en Información Agrícola (AIBDA – Filial Perú), la Dirección General de Información Agraria del Ministerio de Agricultura, el Programa de Innovación y Competitividad para el Agro Peruano (INCAGRO), el Consejo Nacional de Camélidos Sudamericanos (CONACS) y el Consejo Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Tecnológica (CONCYTEC). El objetivo del evento fue identificar a las fuentes generadoras de información...

A recent BBC news item reports on a pilot project in Peru that uses podcasting to get important agricultural information to farmers. Led by Practical Action Latin America (in spanish), telecentres in remote parts of Peru download audio files from the Internet. These are then broadcast to farming communities via local radio stations. The programme content is tailored to local needs and interests. In Chanta Alta, for instance, the programmes provide information about cattle raising and dairy production, while in Chiliete they concentrate on growing grapes and beans. The language is kept simple, to make the broadcasts more accessible than technical leaflets. You can listen to the podcasts; more information on the podcasting project is on the Practical Action website. Tags: agricultural...