As we continue researching the poverty situation surrounding Brazil, we found it important to identify our top ten most helpful sources.  The content of these sources ranges from general poverty to the work of Fabio Rosa, a social entrepreneur in Brazil who is working to alleviate poverty in Brazil by providing electricity to rural areas.  We hope you find these sources helpful, and continue to check back for more updates.

 

 

Ashoka is an organization which supports and enables social entrepreneurs, and publishes profiles on many of their “Ashoka Fellows.” Fábio Luiz de Oliveira Rosa is a notable change-maker who works to raise the standard of living for rural and poor Brazilians. Specifically, Fabio’s “Project Light” aims to provide cheap and affordable electricity to rural communities in Brazil. His profile contains a biography, information on the poverty problem in Brazil, as well as Fabio’s innovative strategy and approach to helping the poor. 

 

 

Earth Trends is an information portal which contains data and statistics on poverty in many regions throughout the world. The site contains many maps depicting poverty in Brazil, which illustrate which regions are the most destitute. In addition, the page has valuable statistics, like the percent of people living on $1 and $2 a day in Brazil. Lastly and most importantly, the site contains useful and applicable links for more information and reports on the poverty situation in Brazil.

 

This exceptionally well written article from The Economistprovides an overview of the income disparity in Brazil. Through the careful presentation of relevant statistics, the author weaves credible figures into the story of poverty in Brazil to couple hard evidence with brief anecdotes of life inside Brazilian slums. Even though the scope of this article is relatively wide, the author presents research on government social programs and the effects of poverty relief efforts in the slums of Brazil.

 

This article is actually a case study that was prepared at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business school in order to illustrate and stimulate discussion on Rosa’s unique approach to social entrepreneurship. Since this article is written from a business perspective, it provides a unique viewpoint on Rosa’s work in Brazil. Furthermore, it provides a financial details and projections while also outlining the sources of funding Rosa uses to finance his projects.

 

This website highlights the fact that while many have attributed the reduction in poverty and income inequality levels in Brazil to the Real Plan, the results actually suggest that there are limits to how such macroeconomic stabilization can improve the distribution of income, as measured by the Gini coefficient. This is important because poverty and income inequality remain severely high by international standards and is rooted in structural causes, such as lack of equal access to education and land ownership. Furthermore, several government policies, including educational policies have contributed to this high degree of inequality. Thus, in order to achieve real substantial improvements, Brazil will need to address these root causes of income inequality.

 

 

This article addresses why Brazil is one of the countries with the greatest inequality gap that exists between the rich and the poor. The slums in many areas of Brazil have become such dangerous and lawless places that the police are afraid to enter, and authorities have considered the idea of isolating those who live there within walls. The author asserts that achieving peace in such extremely violent settings cannot be accomplished without eliminating the root causes of poverty. The author attributes these effects to an economic and social system that is not producing jobs or providing adequate access to education. Moving towards more equal educational opportunities would mean a reduction of the inequality in Brazil, and would thus promote a significant reduction of the violence and hunger that underlie the extreme poverty prevalent throughout the country.

 

 

This site gives a brief description of the organization’s business by providing short descriptions of future and past projects. The site utilizes media links to articles related to social entrepreneurship as well as links to other business partners in order to expand the scope of the site. In addition, these links give a very detailed description of the business environment of IDEEAS. Finally, descriptions of IDEEAS team members gives an interesting overview on their backgrounds and their responsibilities within the organization.

 

 

This article gives an overview of how Fabio Rosa turned non-for profit projects in Brazil into a for- profit organization. Specifically, this article highlights Fabio Rosa’s ability to come up with simple and creative ideas to implement electrification in rural areas. Rosa’s new approach of doing business is in sharp contrast with large companies neglecting rural areas because of the absence of high profit margins. Furthermore, the article describes potential risks for Rosa’s way of doing business and how Rosa is handling them.   

 

 

The website details poverty among rural and urban households in Brazil, providing evidence thorough vivid descriptions of living conditions. Furthermore, it identifies key factors that have posed obstacles to poverty reduction, such as macroeconomic instability in the 1980s. Additionally, the site provides suggestions of viable ways to build a foundation that can begin to improve the lives of Brazil’s poorest, including addressing malnutrition, expanding child care and preschool facilities, generating employment programs in the off-season, and analyzing statistical trends to better monitor and develop poverty reduction strategies.

 

 

This article examines and challenges many of the existing points of view on poverty in Brazil. Specifically, it provides evidence of the large disparity and differences among the rich and poor in Brazil. This disparity is compared with other developing countries in South America and around the world as it gives statistics of the Gini Index and health implications of poverty. Additionally, the paper touches upon poverty in Brazil from a historical standpoint, describing the racial tensions that are largely responsible for this divide. Moreover, an assessment of the role of politics is also included in the paper as it is stated that the party currently governing Brazil must define its position on social democracy in order to close the country’s long-enduring wealth gap.