What is poverty?
Poverty is more than just an unequal distribution of wealth. Poverty stems from being unable to access basic human needs such as healthcare, education, water, and housing.
What are some causes?
1. Corruption is one of the main causes of poverty in developing nations. Corruption "weakens public service delivery, misdirects public resources, and holds back the growth that is necessary to pull people out of poverty... [corruption] undermines the driving forces behind reform. Vital resources are siphoned off shore (World Bank)." Society pays the price for unethical practices within the public sector; bureaucratic corruption and inefficiency has caused hundreds of millions of dollars worth of loss in terms of unrealized investment and income (Gupta, S). If nations do not actively strive to combat corruption, a large portion of potential income cannot be invested in programs that can help communities emerge out of poverty.
2. The lack of education. Poverty is a multidimensional issue that is rooted by the lack of accessibility to quality education. Education provides nations a way to develop human capital. Education is a means to to increase earnings, quality of jobs, and the quality of life. Rates of return as high as 16% per year are realized with the effect of education (Ishikawa, M, p231-243). The lack of ability to develop knowledge that is necessary for the workforce leads to low earnings and an increased poverty level. There needs to be more focus on improving human capital of developing nations.
3. Ineffective government policies are preventing individuals from escaping from poverty. Within some goberning bodies, the ruling party are often indifferent or against policies that utilize their income to enact pro-poverty policies. These individuals in power are only acting in their own self-interest. Decisions that do not revolve around the interest of the public are costly. For example, taxation policies in Tanzania have been costly; cotton exports would have been 50% higher if crop exports were not taxed (Dercon, S.).
4. Geographical characteristics are a substantial cause of poverty. While some characteristics are largely uncontrollable - the effects of climate change cannot be understated as one of the contributors to poverty. In Africa, drought is one of the main factors to why millions are starving each day. Emergency food aid and donated food are necessary for the survival of many citizens in Africa. In countries that are landlocked and surrounded by national borders, trade is not effective even if they have good relations with a neighbouring country. Adverse climate also leads to a loss of available agriculture and ultimately, food sources.
What are the possible solutions?
There is no one overarching strategy to reduce the effects of poverty. We must identify causes such as the ones above and develop a solution that strikes at the root cause. The success of these actions can help a substantial amount of individuals overcome their poverty status and improve their quality of life.
Possible Solutions:
1. In order to combat corruption, there are many possible solutions. First, within a democracy, there must be an increase in transparency. Promoting transparency between donors and the country receiving aid will boast tremendous benefits. It will lead to trust for the governing body and understanding of what policies will be enacted with the aid provided. In order to carry this out, the donor can play a larger role in how their aid is used in the developing nation. The donor can also help educate citizens so they understand wrongdoings and act in the face of corruption. Promoting transparency in government budgets can also serve to reduce the amount of corruption in a nation.
2. The lack of education is a crucial problem to be solved in order to eradicate poverty. A proposed solution would be to increase literacy programs for the poor. The promotion of education especially in sciences and technology will promote growth within a nation and reduce poverty. Contribution is a must from wealthier nations and the government within the nation.
3. To drive governments in a direction where they are more effective, they must be more responsible for their actions. Valuable policies must be enacted to eradicate poverty. To integrate these policies, the governments must create a framework for economic growth and transformation. Promoting private sector investment and increasing foreign direct investments can help reduce the impact of poverty. If governments are able to control public expenditure, money can be spent on improving the quality of life for poor.
4. It is possible to control some aspects of natural and geographical characteristics that contribute to poverty. In order to combat disasters such as drought, emergency food aid can be given to nations such as Africa. More contribution to programs such as the World Food Program can help assist these nations. Improving agricultural systems can serve to directly improve the quality of food and quantity of food sources for developing countries. Technical and financial assistance can be given to the agricultural industry in order to streamline productivity and improving output of food.