Jobs: Regional Wisdom and Ways

Farmers in Cyungo, Rwanda, Africa

Source: http://www.wfp.org/stories/rwanda-terracing-hailed-key-hunger-solution

About nine out of ten Rwandans earn money from farming, so agriculture plays an essential role in Rwanda’s economy. Rwanda’s main crops include plantains, sweet potatoes, cassava, potatoes, sorghum, beans, maize, coffee and tea, and farmers maintain these crops for their livelihood and work year round.

In Cyungo, a town in central Rwanda, farmers have begun to use terraced farming techniques. Terraced farming is used on hills to allow farmers to plant their crops on “steps” so the rain does not wash them away. The terrace farming is helping Rwandans feed themselves and their families. The World Food Program (WFP) took the initiative to help the farmers in Cyungo to build terraced farms. Since the WFP terraced farm initiatives, the amount of land being farmed increased from 25% to 95%. The region is now producing enough crops to feed themselves and sell for profit.

The Rwanda Beehive website, created by One Global Economy, offers agricultural and other information in Kinyarwandan. Sosthene Nkundimana, 24, is a farmer from the southern Rwanda town of Gitaama. Sosthene found out about the Rwanda Beehive while searching online for information on farming. In addition to finding information about advanced methods of potato growing, Sosthene used the Rwanda Beehive to learn how to start and manage a small business. The Beehive guided Sosthene through the process of obtaining a small business loan from the bank which he used to start his business. He also followed the Beehive’s step-by-step guide to potato growing, and as a result, he has had great yields this year. He now makes a good living from his business, and he attributes much of his success to the information that he learned on the Beehive. “The Beehive really helped me with my business,” Sosthene says. To see Sosthene tell the story in his own words, see this brief video.

Entrepreneur Careers, India, Asia

India is no stranger to professionals working in the medical, information technology, and engineering field. The country hosts numerous professional development institutes in a variety of career fields. A newer field, entrepreneurship, is also catching on in India. Jaipur, a city cultural center for learning and technology, hosts major international corporations and continues to develop its business industry. To support new business initiatives and support and educate Indian entrepreneurs, the Jaipur government established the Entrepreneurship and Management Development Institute. The Institute evidences the city’s dedication to creating a supportive government and business environment for entrepreneurship and technology. Jaipur and its surrounding areas have grown from Jaipur’s increasing popularity as a major tourist and business center and supporting local entrepreneur education.

The National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development also helps business owners in India enhance resources and prospects for young entrepreneurs. The tools that young entrepreneurs need to be successful are important to learn early in their development so they can build a good business plan and learn important strategies for success. By supporting new entrepreneurs, India can help its people to learn practical business tools to be profitable.

Nursing Professionals, United Kingdom, Europe

The UK depends on nurses to support its national health system, the NHS. The NHS is the governmental health system for the United Kingdom and provides health support for the entire country. In recent years, the NHS has projected a shortage of nursing professionals in the NHS system and has been encouraging UK nationals to enter into the profession and stay in the nursing profession. To remedy the shortage, the UK began relying on the recruitment of overseas nurses to fulfill their nursing needs. This strategy has helped the numbers increase, but it still has not been a full remedy for the shortage since UK nationals are the targeted group to fulfill their needs.

The UK has stated that it needs to improve the lives of working nurses so that it becomes a more attractive career choice for young people and make older nurses want to stay working longer. The UK is still working to encourage more young people to enter into the profession.

Jobs and Careers during the economic crisis in the U.S., North America
The economic crisis shattered the U.S.’s booming job market beginning in late 2008. Thousands of people lost their homes and jobs, sending the country into a recession that continues to plague the nation. Unemployment in the U.S. has reached 9.8% in November 2010, and it is unclear how and when the market will recover.

President Obama instated the 2009 Economic Stimulus Bill to help propel economic growth and save Americans jobs. The Bill encourages consumer spending by offering tax breaks for spending. Although the unemployment has been the highest in years, the Stimulus Bill has helped the U.S. keep afloat and protect it from falling further into dismay. It will take time for the U.S. to recover from the difficult times in the past few years, but a quick solution had to be made to prevent people from completely distrusting the financial industry.

Child Labor, Iraq, the Middle East

In Iraq, there has been an increase in the number of child laborers as poverty rises in the country after the war. Many children have turned to the streets to support their families because have lost their fathers in the violence there and they have no one to care for them. Children often sell small items such as candies and pens and work almost half of the day. They are not enrolled in school because they are working to support their families. According to the UN Children’s Agency (UNICEF), approximately 11% of Iraqi children under the age of 14 are working. The high number of children working correlates to the fact that 25% of Iraqis live below the poverty line, and this number continues to increase.

To combat child labor and take children off the streets, Iraq’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs partnered with UNICEF to assist street children. The program’s main goal is to support children and find ways in which to offer financial help for families so the children can go back to school. The program has encountered resistance from some gang groups who were using children as fighters and drug dealers. The effort to take children off the street in Iraq is a difficult task to complete, but efforts are continuing to be made to eliminate child labor in Iraq.