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McGovern-Dole Program

Priority Country Determination Factors Roundtable

Methodology Used in FY2009-10

A country needed to meet the following criteria inorder 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

StuntingStunting

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 RateYouth 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 disparityIncome 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 CountriesAngola Kenya

Bangladesh Lesotho

Benin Liberia

Burkina Faso Madagascar

Burundi Mali

Cameroon Mauritania

Central African Republic Mozambique

Chad Nepal

Congo (Democratic Republic of the)

Niger

Côte d'Ivoire Pakistan

Ethiopia Rwanda

Gambia Sierra Leone

Ghana Tanzania (United Republic of)

Guinea Timor-Leste

Haiti Yemen