By TIM KILLEEN
Yesterday morning, J.J. Gould posted an interesting piece about the use of local suppliers during disaster relief. By using local suppliers for certain goods and services, he posited, relief efforts would not just offer what was needed immediately, but could also begin to bolster the local economy. Gould wrote:
I remember shortly after the Haiti earthquake, once the rescue efforts had ended and the rebuilding and relief efforts ramped up, my mother wondered why there wasn't being more done to help local businesses to immediately get back on their feet so they could start providing their products and make money. Unfortunately, I replied, I didn't think many would-be customers existed, as the local people had little to no belongings or money with which to make purchases. However, I think her point was much the same as Gould's: if the people are using services, why not have them be provided locally and kick-start the economy? Fair point.
Perhaps, an addition to Gould's proposed "database" and a solution to the problem with my mother's point would be to add in microfinance or even direct donation systems to the local people. There may be a point, after immediate action is less a concern and rebuilding is considered, where it would be less advantageous to donate to the Red Cross if we could give our money directly to a family in an affected location. With that money, then, they could purchase the goods and services they need and become potential consumers for businesses opened by other local people. Microloans to businesses trying to get back on their feet could also come either from foreign banks or from individuals. Of course, this would take a vital infrastructure to ensure that the money actually got to the people who needed it and not to bureaucrats and NGO and NPO middlemen, but it could be an important step toward truly strengthening the local economies devastated by such disasters.
Yesterday morning, J.J. Gould posted an interesting piece about the use of local suppliers during disaster relief. By using local suppliers for certain goods and services, he posited, relief efforts would not just offer what was needed immediately, but could also begin to bolster the local economy. Gould wrote:
But what if we could speed up not just the arrival of vital supplies to a natural disaster zone, but also the integration of local content and suppliers into the recovery process? Relief providers might dream of something like a worldwide database that links them instantly to different local suppliers, depending on where a disaster happens, what the destruction is like, rural vs. urban demographics, and maybe dozens of other factors.
I remember shortly after the Haiti earthquake, once the rescue efforts had ended and the rebuilding and relief efforts ramped up, my mother wondered why there wasn't being more done to help local businesses to immediately get back on their feet so they could start providing their products and make money. Unfortunately, I replied, I didn't think many would-be customers existed, as the local people had little to no belongings or money with which to make purchases. However, I think her point was much the same as Gould's: if the people are using services, why not have them be provided locally and kick-start the economy? Fair point.
Perhaps, an addition to Gould's proposed "database" and a solution to the problem with my mother's point would be to add in microfinance or even direct donation systems to the local people. There may be a point, after immediate action is less a concern and rebuilding is considered, where it would be less advantageous to donate to the Red Cross if we could give our money directly to a family in an affected location. With that money, then, they could purchase the goods and services they need and become potential consumers for businesses opened by other local people. Microloans to businesses trying to get back on their feet could also come either from foreign banks or from individuals. Of course, this would take a vital infrastructure to ensure that the money actually got to the people who needed it and not to bureaucrats and NGO and NPO middlemen, but it could be an important step toward truly strengthening the local economies devastated by such disasters.
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