Mission

My First Year Seminar class at Pepperdine this semester is called, "Globalization and Equality." The class is assigned to read several books to survey this topic, including: "World on Fire" by Amy Chua, "The End of Poverty" by Jeffrey Sachs, "Race Matters" by Cornel West, and "Banker to the Poor" by Muhammad Yunus. Throughout the course, students have successfully wrestled with various topics ranging from international development and colonialism to social action and poverty reduction. The class also selected three loan recipients on www.kiva.org to watch microfinance in action.

One Saturday in November the class came together to teach english lessons at the Malibu Labor Exchange. The director of the exchange shared with our group his work with Cesar Chavez and the difficulties for migrant workers to find jobs in this current economic environment. As the students listened to him speak, it was enlightening to see the theoretical become real. The students worked one on one with migrant workers (some undocumented) to help them learn some practical and conversational language skills. After getting to know their language partners for the morning, several of the workers asked the students to come back, and many students reflected that they felt as though they learned more than they taught.

Knowing that education and relationships are two factors that contribute to poverty reduction, this element of service learning proved to be crucial for a class studying this topic. It also highlights the global and local aspects of globalization. Malibu is a wealthy community with migrant workers from all over the world waiting at a trailer for an opportunity to work. When the global and local collide and the tensions of wealth and poverty meet, it has the ability to help students and researchers unlearn as much as they learn.

Labels: equality, globalization, microfinance, Pepperdine, poverty reduction, service learning

Connecting universities with the overarching focus on reducing poverty is not a common refrain. It does not appeal to common sense to argue that the most impoverished areas of the world need higher education. However, in terms of long-term growth and the ability to find local solutions for local problems, higher education has the ability to contribute a piece of the puzzle in the fight against poverty.

This notion was featured in a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education: African Universities Tackle the Continent's Agricultural Crisis. The agricultural crisis is highlighted by a disease that is attacking cassava, a staple root crop common to the region. Farmers are not sure what to do about the disease and the research infrastructure that would develop a disease resistant variety is very weak. Because universities house and incubate the type of research to combat these types of problems, many parts of the African continent have been weakened by decades of constructed neglect of university education by donor agencies.

However, there are small, but positive developments that are creating a foundation for the type of network needed to respond to these agricultural problems. One scientist in East Africa, mentioned in the article, has planted about 40 different cassava varieties, some selected for their disease or insect resistance, others for their quality roots. The scientist and other students are creating hybrids that combine the best traits of different plants to build up their susceptibilities to disease. Local farmers are then able to test the varieties in their fields.

The image shown here is a photo I took of a woman outside of Kampala, Uganda. She is standing next to drying g nuts, an important source of protein, but another vulnerable plant variety. Other farmers like herself could lose an important source of income and nutrition without the infrastructure to combat evolving diseases. The model of utilizing the university for the good of the public is perhaps more visible in Africa than many other regions of the world. The benefits that come from investing in university research greatly surpass those who actually attend the university. These social benefits, highlighted by the fundamental issue of producing crops, are directly linked to reducing poverty.

-Christopher S. Collins

Labels: Africa, cassava, poverty reduction, research, universities