1 McGovern-Dole Program Priority Country Determination Factors Roundtable

Methodology Used in FY A country needed to meet the following criteria in order to be considered a priority country:  per capita income below $3,595 (World Bank statistics) and a population greater that 1 million  a net food importer with a greater than 20 percent prevalence of undernourishment as a proportion to the total population (FAO);  an adult literacy rate below 75 percent  government commitment to education  FAS Post coverage and FAS’ ability to monitor the implementation of the programs  no security or market issues

Improvements Needed  Government Commitment to Education  Health of Children  Female primary to secondary school attendance drop-off  Attendance Rates  Need to capture wealth disparity within a country (“pockets of poverty”)  Others?

Revised Methodology Ideas  Incorporate new indices including some of the ideas presented in the following slides  Existing programs will continue to take priority and  The following three indicators will remain:  Government commitment to education  USDA Post coverage and ability to monitor agreements  No concerns with security or market issues

Possible New Factors Gross National Income Per Capita Gross National Income Per Capita (GNI)  Countries must have a GNI at $3705 or less  Limitation: index doesn’t not take into account inequalities in income (could hide pockets of poverty), the mix of goods produced, the creation of externalities (e.g. pollution—who pays for it?), and output of the social economy

Possible New Factors Cont Stunting  Countries must have greater than 20% of children that are stunted  Limitation: index only measures malnutrition for children under five years old and may not be an effective measure of long term food insecurity

New Factors Cont Youth Literacy Rate Youth Literacy Rate  Countries must have a youth literacy rate less than 80% for both males and females  Limitation: indicator doesn’t measure literacy for children younger than 15, rather for youth between 15 to 24 years old

New Factors Cont School Attendance (Primary and Secondary) School Attendance (Primary and Secondary)  Countries must have a primary attendance rate less that 80% for both males and females and a secondary attendance rate less than 70% for both males and females  Limitation: difficult to determine the strength of this indicator as a measure of student learning

New Factors Cont Income disparity  Used as a counterbalance to the GDP in countries that meet the other criteria  Limitation: indicator only measures money, it doesn’t factor in economic size, and it is self- reported (the Gini will miss a large part of the inequality in a country where indigenous populations are excluded from census)

Other Possible Factors  Transition Rate from Primary to Secondary School  Survival Rate to Grade 5  Corruption and Transparency Indexes  Number of Teachers  Others?

Possible Countries AngolaKenya BangladeshLesotho BeninLiberia Burkina FasoMadagascar BurundiMali CameroonMauritania Central African RepublicMozambique ChadNepal Congo (Democratic Republic of the)Niger Côte d'IvoirePakistan EthiopiaRwanda GambiaSierra Leone GhanaTanzania (United Republic of) GuineaTimor-Leste HaitiYemen