Jimmy Lombardo
Leslie Jewkes
English 102
December 10, 2012
Rural Poverty
“Today 1.2 billion people live in ‘extreme’ poverty…The great majority – 75% – work and live in rural areas” (Rahman and Westley). With the vast majority of those living in poverty residing in rural areas such as Sub Sahara Africa, the answer for reducing and eliminating world poverty becomes obvious; one has to start with the rural populations. With that in mind, the question which needs to be addressed is; how does one reduce poverty in rural areas? Poverty can be eliminated in rural areas by providing education and the tools necessary for those communities to become self sufficient. This approach is far more beneficial that just simply providing money or food.
One of the most common solutions to helping those in poverty is to give donations. Giving donations in an easy thing to do, in fact most businesses such as grocery stores, gas stations, local coffee bars, etc., make it very convenient to add money to your purchase strictly for donating to those in poverty. Does providing aid to countries in efforts to eradicate poverty help? This is an often debated question. According to Moyo in her book Dead Aid,
More than one trillion dollars that in the past 50 years have been transferred as development assistance from rich countries to Africa have not improved the standard of living of its inhabitants. Actually, Aid has helped make the poor poorer, and growth slower (XIX).
If sending money does not help, then how can one really help? One might argue that sending money does in fact help, and most would agree. Providing aid gives immediate relief to those in need. Without this aid, those in hunger would probably not get the one meal a day they receive. The arguable point is, the efforts of giving need, needs to be re-directed. The best way to end poverty is provide an education system, provide a helthcare system, and provide a way for those in need to become self sufficient.
Most of the areas living in mass poverty have the potential to thrive and prosper. The missing ingredient is the knowledge and ability to make the first step. According to Sara Morgan with the IFDA, “With good soils, plentiful rain and water available for dry season cultivation, Guinea’s productive potential is enormous. Maize, oil palm, onions, potatoes, rice and rubber are just a few of the agricultural products that can be grown in abundance” (1). Based on this information, one would expect Guinea to be a fairly prosperous region of Africa. Surprisingly, according to the world bank, “Guinea’s poverty rate is 76.8%” (1) If Guinea has the potential to produce so much valuable products, why is their poverty rate so high? Sara Morgan suggests, “They lack credit to buy quality seeds, fertilizer and other inputs, while limited basic infrastructure makes storage, transport and processing costly and difficult” (1). According to Glenn Hubbard and William Duggan, “…to bring people out of poverty, the other type of aid, the one for development, must be directed toward the building up and strengthening of the business sector. Only business can help countries move from mass poverty to mass prosperity” (259).
The way to eliminate world poverty is to start in rural areas. The first step would be to produce a system to educate these rural communities and teach them to be self sufficient. This will require both the co-operation of the local governments and the involvement of wealthy corporations. Providing financial aid and food supplies is beneficial for short term relief but in no way should be relied on as the end all solution. The long term solution to end poverty is through education, economic growth, and creation of businesses. This argument is strongly made by the comments of Atiqur Rahman and John Westley ,
the only way to achieve the target of halving poverty by 2015 and reaching other development goals as set out in the millennium declaration is to focus on rural poverty reduction, to reverse the decline in the flow of resources to the rural and agricultural areas and to ensure that the institutions in the rural areas are developed to increase the capabilities of the poor to help themselves (p. 554).
Today, poverty is prevalent all over the world, especially in rural areas. “Today 1.2 billion people live in ‘extreme’ poverty and the great majority – 75% – work and live in rural areas” (Rahman and Westley). As a quick fix to reduce the pain and suffering caused by poverty, aid and donations are very helpful and those who contribute must continue to do so. Yet, as pointed out, the way to permanently reduce and eliminate poverty is to first focus on developing rural areas. The problem with providing aid, as has seen through research is aid does not create a better long term living environment, and aid does not provide a long term solution . The way to end poverty is to rally local governments, non-profit organizations and large wealthy corporations together to provide and create viable long term solutions in rural areas. These opportunities would provide a way for those to grow produce, create a system of storing and purchasing seeds, and a method of marketing and outsourcing those goods. This approach would provide good paying jobs, a sustainable source of food and improved working conditions. This will eventually provide hope to those living a poverty stricken life.
Works Cited
Bank, World. Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty line (% of population). 2006. Data. 18 November 2012.
Hubbard, Glenn and William Duggan. The Aid Trap: Hard Truths about Ending Poverty. New york: Columbia Business School Publishing, 2009. Book.
Kouakou, Sara. "Stories From the Field." n.d. Rural Poverty Portal. document. 18 November 2012.
Moyo, Dambisa. Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and HowThere Is a Better Way For Africa. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2009. Book.
Rahman, Atiqur and John Westley. "The Challenge of Ending Rural Poverty." Rural Poverty Report (2001).
unknown. The Global Poverty Project. n.d. foundation. 28 Oct. 2012.
