Jenny Aker

 
Profile
Jenny Aker is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Center for Global Development. She holds a PhD and Masters of Science in Agricultural Economics from the University of California-Berkeley, and a Masters of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (MALD) from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.


Full Bio
http://www.cgdev.org/content/expert/detail/16350/

Posts:

 

February 19, 2010

Despite Coup in Niger, Wrong Time to Yank Humanitarian Assistance

By Jenny Aker

Soldiers in Niger

photo by edoug / CC BY-SA 2.0

On February 18, 2010, gunfire broke out around the Presidential Palace in Niger.  According to most recent reports, President Mamadou Tandja and his cabinet are in captivity, and a military group, the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy (SCRD), has seized power to “make Niger an example of democracy and good governance.”

Niger has been here before.  With 85 percent of the population living on less than USD$2 per day, Niger is the lowest-ranked country on the UN’s Human Development Index (HDI).  This landlocked Sahelian country has a long history of political instability, military rule and coup d’etats, two of which took place in the 1990s.  After the coup in April 1999, the military leadership quickly moved to undertake democratic elections, bringing President Tandja to power.   Read More…

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November 13, 2009

The Myth of Microfinance? Why MFIs Shouldn’t Be Freaking Out (Yet)

By Jenny Aker

This is a joint post with Michael Clemens.

The headline in the Boston Globe on September 20, 2009 was catchy: “Billions of dollars and a Nobel Prize later, it looks like ‘microlending’ doesn’t actually do much to fight poverty.” The article referred to the findings of two recent impact evaluations in microfinance in India and the Philippines conducted by researchers at MIT and Yale, respectively. The studies, which were randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of microfinance interventions, found “weak and in some cases nonexistent effects” of microfinance on profits, expenditures and well-being. Privately and publicly, donors, MFIs and practitioners are expressing concern about the impact of these studies on the future of microfinance. Are they right to be worried?

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July 13, 2009

Hip Hip…Hooray? Cautious Optimism for G8 Agricultural Commitments

By Jenny Aker

Last week, the leaders of the Group of 8 pledged 20 billion dollars in agricultural aid, with the purpose of boosting agricultural productivity — especially in Africa. But will $20 billion over a three-year period help to feed many of the 1.02 billion people on earth who suffer from food insecurity? Read More…

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May 6, 2009

Tapping Mobile Phone Networks to Monitor Pandemic Flu in Developing Countries

By Jenny Aker

Mead Over recently wrote compellingly about the importance of collective action to strengthen surveillance of the swine flu and other contagious diseases. A major issue, of course, is the cost of such surveillance measures, the timely receipt of data on potential infections, and the accuracy (and completeness) of such information. Mobile phones may be part of the solution. Mexico, for example, with some 110 million people, has only 1.5 doctors per 1,000 people but by 2005 already had some 44 million cell phone subscribers. It seems a safe bet that by now half the population has a cell phone. Can we tap this huge information network for public health? Read More…

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March 2, 2009

Cash (or Food?) for Thought: The Debate on Cash versus Food Isn’t Over (Yet)

By Jenny Aker

This is a joint posting with Cindy Prieto
On February 13, 2009, the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) began distributing food vouchers to 120,000 “cash-strapped residents” in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso — representing almost 10 percent of the capital city’s population. The distribution program is part of WFP’s efforts to mitigate the impact of high food prices in the country, which have persisted after an abundant harvest. As the Country Director for WFP in Burkina Faso explained, “Sometimes it makes more sense to give people vouchers than bags of food.”

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November 3, 2008

Food Aid, With a Twist

By Jenny Aker

This is a joint posting with Rebecca Schutte
Is purchasing food aid locally the answer to higher global food prices and the inefficiencies associated with imported food aid? The World Food Program (WFP), the Bill and Melinda Gates and Howard G. Buffett Foundations seem to think so. While donors and international organizations have been purchasing food aid in recipient countries for years, the idea got a new boost in late September with the “Purchase for Progress (P4P)” initiative. The idea is simple: Rather than import food aid from the U.S. or Europe, WFP will purchase food commodities for distribution within the same country or region. As Josette Sheeran, WFP executive director, explained, “Purchase for Progress is a win-win — we help our beneficiaries who have little or no food and we help local farmers who have little or no access to markets where they can sell their crops.” The program will be piloted in twenty-one countries in 2008/2009, fourteen of which are in sub-Saharan Africa.

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