Latin America & the Caribbean

Rural Poverty Is Still a Scar on the Soul of Colombia, but a New Program Supporting Agri-Entrepreneurship Can Help Heal the Wounds

By Jesus Quintana
Rural poverty and inequality continue inflicting large swaths of population in Colombia, especially in rural areas. This situation, endemic since at least the beginning of the twentieth century, was at the root of the 50-year long conflict that shattered the country, leaving 220,000 deaths and 5.7 million displaced persons, and devastating a significant part of the rural areas, where government services and infrastructure vanished.

The Superfoods of the Andes and the Himalaya

By Sonia Awale
The nutritious grain that mountain peoples of the Americas and high Asia cultivated were displaced by wheat and rice, but they are staging a comeback thanks to growing public consciousness about health.

Combining Biogas and Solar, the Best Energy Deal in Brazil

By Mario Osava
"Biogas is the best energy, it has no contraindications," and if you combine it with solar it becomes "the best energy business," at least in Brazil, says Anélio Thomazzoni.

Barbados Prime Minister Warns of Mass Migration Backlash Because of Climate Crisis

By Desmond Brown
The Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley tells IPS her patience is running thin, as she challenges the world to tackle the climate crisis.

Caribbean Adopts Remote Sensing to Prepare for Hurricanes

By Jewel Fraser
The Caribbean is currently deploying a new technology to help it build resilience to natural disasters. Known as LIDAR, the acronym for light detection and ranging, the technology is being used to gather data that will help regional governments better predict the impacts of climate-related events and determine how best to prepare for them.

In Southern Brazil, Need Becomes an Environmental Virtue

By Mario Osava
The state of Santa Catarina in southern Brazil is the largest national producer and exporter of pork and this year it also leads in exports of chicken, of which it is the second-biggest producer in the country.

Eastern Caribbean Embarks on Strategy Towards a Blue-Green Economy

By Jewel Fraser
Micro, small and medium enterprises as well as niche markets and experiences such as bee tourism may well hold the key for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States as countries of that sub-region, known as the OECS, ramp up efforts to build economies that are resilient to the impacts of climate change.

Let the World’s Future Not Turn into Ashes

By Beverly Longid
With the record rate blaze in the Amazon that struck Indigenous communities, the world is confronted by a humanitarian crisis in the midst of an ever-worsening political-economic condition.

Amazon Fires Heat Up Political Crisis in Brazil

By Mario Osava
August is the month of major political crises in Brazil, but no one suspected that an environmental issue would be the trigger for the storms threatening the government of President Jair Bolsonaro, just eight months into his term.

Producing Energy from Pig and Poultry Waste in Brazil

By Mario Osava
Romário Schaefer is fattening up 3,300 pigs that he receives when they weigh around 22 kg and returns when they reach 130 to 160 kg - a huge increase in meat and profits for their owner, a local meat-processing plant in this city in Brazil.

Mexican Women Use Sunlight Instead of Firewood or Gas to Cook Meals

By Emilio Godoy
Reyna Díaz cooks beans, chicken, pork and desserts in her solar cooker, which she sets up in the open courtyard of her home in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of this town in southwestern Mexico.

Producing Clean Energy from Pigsties in Brazil

By Mario Osava
Pigs, already the main source of income in this small municipality in southwestern Brazil, now have even more value as a source of electricity.

Using Renewable Energy and the Circular Economy to Fight Poverty in Argentina

By Daniel Gutman
On the outer edges of Buenos Aires proper, where the paved streets end and the narrow alleyways of one of Argentina’s largest shantytowns begin, visitors can find the En Haccore soup kitchen.

The Long Struggle Against the Stigma Surrounding Hansen’s Disease

By Mario Osava
At the age of 80, Yohei Sasakawa continues to travel around the world to promote solutions for some of the challenges facing humanity, such as Hansen's Disease or leprosy, wars and disabilities, factors of stigma and exclusion.

Early Detection is the Solution for Hansen’s Disease

By Mario Osava
On Jun. 27, Faustino Pinto was in Geneva, Switzerland, where he spoke to people at the United Nations about the fight against Hansen's Disease and the stigma surrounding it, at a meeting during the 41st session of the Human Rights Council.

Prejudice and Discrimination, the Uncured Ills of Leprosy

By Mario Osava
“The ambulance team refused to take my sick friend to the hospital because he had had Hanseniasis years before," said Yohei Sasakawa, president of the Nippon Foundation, at one of the meetings held during his Jul. 1-10 visit to Brazil.

A Lifelong Battle Against the “Disease of Silence”

By Mario Osava
Yohei Sasakawa has dedicated half of his 80 years of life to combating the "disease of silence" and is still fighting the battle, as president of the Nippon Foundation and World Health Organisation (WHO) goodwill ambassador for elimination of leprosy, formally known as Hansen's Disease.

Right to Information in Latin America & the Caribbean

By Luis Felipe López-Calva
Transparency is a critical element of making governance more effective. By making information available, it creates a foundation for greater accountability to citizens.

Japan Boosts Complex Fight to Eliminate Leprosy in Brazil

By Mario Osava
When cases of Hansen's disease, better known as leprosy, increase in Brazil, it is not due to a lack of medical assistance but to the growing efficacy of the health system in detecting infections, contrary to the situation in other countries.

Solar Collectors and Solidarity Change Lives in Argentina

By Daniel Gutman
"This is the best thing ever invented for the poor," says Emanuel del Monte, pointing to a tank covered in black tarps protruding from the roof of his house. It forms part of a system built mostly from waste materials, which heats water through solar energy and is improving lives in Argentina.

Chilean Schools Recycle Greywater to Combat Drought

By Orlando Milesi
Children from the neighboring municipalities of Ovalle and Río Hurtado in northern Chile are harvesting rain and recycling greywater in their schools to irrigate fruit trees and vegetable gardens, in an initiative aimed at combating the shortage of water in this semi-arid region.
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