Tackling Chronic Food Insecurity in Malawi
One of the key institutions that farmers have looked to for support when buying maize or fertilizer is the country’s grain marketing board, ADMARC. Even though the commercialization of ADMARC (implemented under pressure from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, both of whom provide the government with large development loans) was announced in 2002, the institution’s social marketing functions – and thereby its potential to support the most vulnerable members of society – have still not been determined.
It is important to acknowledge the role of Malawi’s development partners and foreign donors play in funding humanitarian activities, as demonstrated in the current food crisis response. Beyond saving lives, donors should refocus and increase their aid towards preventing crisis and promoting livelihoods by supporting subsidies towards agriculture and broader food security interventions – which are well-known to be cheaper and more cost-effective over time than a large-scale emergency response.
War on Drugs Still a Top Priority for State
The state’s [Hawai’i] Drug Control Plan calls for a coordinated and comprehensive approach to combat drugs through aggressive and effective prevention, accessible and quality treatment and vigorous law enforcement. The editorial’s characterization that our administration favors law enforcement over prevention and treatment is wrong.
We have implemented numerous prevention programs targeting young people, including…We also implemented direct social marketing strategies and programs addressing the danger of drugs and alcohol through successful TV commercials featuring youth adult role models.
Include Sex Workers in National Strategy Planning
Sex workers should not be left out when national [Swaziland] strategies for the prevention of HIV and AIDS are drawn, an activist in the fight against the spread of the pandemic has observed. Gcebile Ndlovu told the United Nations Implementation Support Plan to the National Response workshop yesterday that sex workers were prone to the spread of the virus if left uneducated on how it can be mitigated.
Meanwhile, Jele said the condom promotion strategy would reap successes if the country were to establish a collaborative framework with the private sector to increase condom accessibility. “We have to define a condom distribution and social marketing strategy and provide training of one peer educator on condom usage in each area,” he said.
Marshfield
Clinic Gets Fund for Tractor Safety Program
The National Children's Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety, part of the National Farm Medicine Center at Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation, has received funding for its role in a new national initiative to reduce tractor deaths and injuries…The Marshfield program will use its funds to retrofit installation of rollover protective structures on tractors.
In addition, the National Children's Center will participate in the social marketing portion of the initiative by conducting focus group research with farmers and agribusinesses in Wisconsin.
Technorati Tags: Drug Control and Prevention, Food Insecurity, HIV/AIDS Prevention, Rural Health, Social Marketing, Tractor Safety
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