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> Donating money directly almost never helps in the long run. What? The debate about the benefits of direct cash-transfers vs. more managed forms of aid is ali

> Donating money directly almost never helps in the long run. What? The debate about the benefits of direct cash-transfers vs. more managed forms of aid is alive and well in 2015.

dingo_bat 11y ago
Do you think donating some money to farmers is going to help in any way? The government has been doing that for a long time (through subsidies and minimum purchase prices), at a much larger scale than any single person is capable of. And it hasn't improved anything much. I think it is clear that the only way to improve conditions is to enable farmers to convert their business into a sustainable one. And for that, cheap/free internet access could prove to be the turnaround factor.
- o0o0_ooo 11y ago
  Stop calling it "free internet". That's absolutely not what Facebook is offering. > Do you think donating some money to farmers is going to help in any way? The government has been doing that for a long time (through subsidies and minimum purchase prices) You're talking about two different things. Subsidies are different than unconditional cash transfers, the latter of which there has been recent promising research on: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconditional_cash_transfer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconditional_cash_transfer https://www.princeton.edu/~joha/publications/Haushofer_Shapiro_Policy_Brief_2013.pdf https://www.princeton.edu/~joha/publications/Haushofer_Shapi...
- kbart 11y ago
  "Do you think donating some money to farmers is going to help in any way?" Of course it would. They could buy new, better equipment, tools, fertilizers, seeds, animals etc. My country (Lithuania) joined EU in 2004 and started direct payments to farmers via projects, that helped A LOT. Now we have big, modern cooperatives and companies that sell products worldwide instead of small, inefficient farms. What I don't understand, how could Facebook (and friends) help them? I doubt that even an unlimited Internet would be useful without an extensive education, as most older/uneducated people struggle to use even a simple cell phone.

> Donating money directly almost never helps in the long run. What? The debate about the benefits of direct cash-transfers vs. more managed forms of aid is alive and well in 2015.

dingo_bat 11y ago

Do you think donating some money to farmers is going to help in any way? The government has been doing that for a long time (through subsidies and minimum purchase prices), at a much larger scale than any single person is capable of. And it hasn't improved anything much. I think it is clear that the only way to improve conditions is to enable farmers to convert their business into a sustainable one. And for that, cheap/free internet access could prove to be the turnaround factor.

o0o0_ooo 11y ago
Stop calling it "free internet". That's absolutely not what Facebook is offering. > Do you think donating some money to farmers is going to help in any way? The government has been doing that for a long time (through subsidies and minimum purchase prices) You're talking about two different things. Subsidies are different than unconditional cash transfers, the latter of which there has been recent promising research on: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconditional_cash_transfer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconditional_cash_transfer https://www.princeton.edu/~joha/publications/Haushofer_Shapiro_Policy_Brief_2013.pdf https://www.princeton.edu/~joha/publications/Haushofer_Shapi...
kbart 11y ago
"Do you think donating some money to farmers is going to help in any way?" Of course it would. They could buy new, better equipment, tools, fertilizers, seeds, animals etc. My country (Lithuania) joined EU in 2004 and started direct payments to farmers via projects, that helped A LOT. Now we have big, modern cooperatives and companies that sell products worldwide instead of small, inefficient farms. What I don't understand, how could Facebook (and friends) help them? I doubt that even an unlimited Internet would be useful without an extensive education, as most older/uneducated people struggle to use even a simple cell phone.