The economy of any country plays a vital role in its prosperity and development. It is no doubt, the back bone in any country’s sustainability. Whenever the system of productivity and consumption of resources is strong in any country, it provides a tool for the economic development. Less than half a century ago, many underdeveloped countries of the world like Hong Kong, Singapore, Turkey and Brazil, have made a rapid growth and are now amongst the wealthy and developed nations of the world. This is all due to some economic reforms their governments have implemented in order to alleviate their people from poverty and to make their country a prosperous one. They have focused on every possible aspect that can add up sustainability in economy; like health, infrastructure, literacy and education, living standards, productivity etc. All these factors combine to form a solid economy and a successful nation (Schavey 2001). Apart of these aspects, these countries have also focused on their leadership, i.e., their national leaders are not involved in corruption which is one of the greatest factor in several developing countries due to which they cannot get rid of poverty and other inadequate facilities of living.
Every country in the world is different from the others with respect to its geographical locations, climate, ethnic background, population, natural resources and budgets and revenues. So it would not be justified to compare each one on the same grounds as there are different key areas necessary for the economic development of each country. However, every country could imply such techniques and modifications with respect to its own circumstances by which it can progress economically and improve the living of its people. By doing so, it can move towards international trade and make itself a developed one. It is not the advancement in technology that has made the developed countries what they are today; rather it is their economical revolutions and internal techniques which has generated resources for its people and has alleviated them from poverty. Better resources of living such as healthcare, job opportunities, good infrastructure, education etc build a healthy and prosperous nation and extract the population from cruel hands of poverty (Madrick 2002).
The case study of republic of Yemen is helpful in understanding this phenomenon. The geographical location of Yemen is in the neighborhood of Saudi Arabia, Oman and the Gulf of Eden. About 85% of the population is composed of local tribes. Like any other third world country, more than two-third of the population is associated with the profession of agriculture. However, the climate does not allow enough land to be arable as water remains scarce in several areas, prohibiting the agricultural sector of Yemen to flourish. According to 2012 estimate, the nominal GDP per capita in Yemen in only $1377, which is a matter of high concern since the level of poverty in the country has drastically increased over the past few years, particularly after the uprising in the country against the inheritance of power. The annual GDP growth rate of republic of Yemen was up to 8% till 2010, which immensely decreased till -11% in 2011 due to the civil uprising in the country. Each year, Yemen is lending millions of US dollars to bolster its impoverished economy and people, but it all is going in vain (World Bank Country Data, n.d).
Yemen is the world’s 50th largest country, with an area of about 203,796 square miles. However, as most of this land is arid and the water is in negligible amount, around 45% of the entire population is living under the poverty line; with no adequate facilities of living, health, clean and drinking water. Increasing population is also a key factor in enhancing poverty in the country as it is increasing 3% annually, resulting in unemployment and lack of resources to meet the needs of entire population. Around 37% of the population is unemployed; the biggest reason being the migration of people from rural to urban areas in search of work. However, as most of the resources are kept held by the authoritative tribal people, very little of them are available freely which are not sufficient to fulfill the demand and supply system of economy (Rural poverty in Yemen, n.d).
Apart of the above mentioned causes of poverty in Yemen; there are several other factors as well which account for poverty and impoverished living in the country. As the country is majorly composed of ethnic tribes, they resist from education and do not allow their people to get qualified, particularly women. Besides this, these tribes also hold a major area in the country and resist against any kind of government intervention. Since 2004-2010, before the civil uprising, there had been continuous fights between the government and Shia rebels, which have made more than 100,000 people homeless. There is lack of shelter, water and electricity and people have nothing left to survive (Salisbury 2013). On the other hand, the government provides no security to its citizens and the judiciary is also inefficient and corrupt. Instead, there have been continuous reports about human rights violations by government’s security forces, which include abduction, harassment and threatening. Thus there is no freedom of speech throughout the country, neither from the government nor from the tribes. Republic of Yemen now stands in 151st position out of 170 in the list of world’s poor nations.
There have been so many efforts internationally to pull out poor Yemenis from this disastrous condition. Even the government tries to implement effective policies but these prove to be ineffective because of internal corruption and lack of sincerity with the people. In 2012, government has specified 80% of the total budget for salaries and subsidies, which eventually resulted in a $3.2 billion deficit in 2013 budget. This automatically implies that this year, government will not be producing any more vacancies and job opportunities. On the other hand, international funding agencies are trying hard to provide aid and finance to the bankrupt Yemeni government, by investing around $8 billion for infrastructure projects that has been devastated as a result of civil uprising of 2011. UAE and US have also provided aid in the form of food and other necessities (Salisbury 2013).
But the question arises here is that why, since the unification of north and south Yemen in 1990, the unified republic of Yemen could not pull itself out of poverty and instability? The answer is simple; there are no economic reforms implemented from any of the government since last two decades. Being the country with largest arable land on Arabian Peninsula, there can be much agricultural reforms which can produce more food for the consumption of the nationals, and also help the poor farmers to alleviate from poverty. Corruption is high on stake, as the authorities are merely filling their own pockets from government’s funds, instead of appropriately spending upon the people.
Yemen is a politically unstable, insecure, economically mismanaged country with inadequate and insufficient economic reform policies. The government’s composition of expenditure in different sectors of the society is bizarre and biased; also it lacks a thorough research about what is needed and where most needy people are located across the country. This clearly depicts the lack of leadership skills in Yemen government. Yemen needs to implement its anti-poverty programs on urgent basis and with appropriate budgeting techniques, but first it has to get rid of its insecure and politically unstable environment. Only then the inflation could be controlled and food could be produced with appropriate agricultural reforms, so that the infrastructure and other basic necessities of life could be provided to those who are suffering with poverty (Enders 2001).
Let us compare the situation of Yemen with one of the recently developed countries, Turkey. Turkey is a modernized, Islamic republic with very few natural resources just like Yemen. However, the geographical location provides an edge to Turkey as it is the gateway of Europe and is bordered by eight countries, three of which are European and five are Asian countries. Thus turkey shares its border with countries which are different in culture and traditions and therefore, Turkey itself is also a mixture of Islamic enlightenment in a stark contrast with Yemen. Turkey has a vast area as compared with Yemen, i.e., 302,535 square miles. However, Turkey is now regarded as one of the world’s newly developed economies which is growing with a fast pace. According to a 2012 estimate, the nominal GDP per capita in the country is $10,609, whereas the economy is growing at the rate of 2.2% on the whole. If we glance over the past years, it would be astonishing to note that the average GDP growth rate for the years 2002-2011 was 5.2%, and with the same average, it was expected to be 6.7% for 2011-2017 (World Bank Country Data, n.d).
But the question is that how Turkey has achieved such a remarkable economic growth rate and alleviated most of its population from poverty? The most evident differences from Yemen are of political environment, population distribution, educational and political reforms, which have made Turkey one of the growing economies of the world. Unlike Yemen, there is no tribal system amongst the Turkish population, and no particular group is holding over the resources. Also, turkey has tried hard to introduce reforms in its political environment, to become a strong candidate for the European Union. These political reforms which include amendments in constitution and laws against corruption and mismanagement by the leaders have assisted turkey to improve its economic conditions and to alleviate its people from poverty. It has now been estimated that not only absolute poverty rate has fallen in the last two decades, there is an increase in health, safety and educational conditions of the population (The World Bank, n.d.). All of this became possible on the total account of political, educational and economical reforms by the sincere leaders of the country.
The era of economic reforms is Turkey started in 1980s, when the initiative of economic freedom was taken and the government decided to loosen its grip over the trade market. A new currency was launched in order to cope with the global financial crisis, and the private sector was liberalized. In this way, foreign investment in the country increases which reduced unemployment and poverty on a large scale. The country established major industries in the construction and mining sector and major contracts were held with the foreign direct investors. All these economical reforms resulted in reducing high inflation rates and poverty, thus allowing a majority of population to get rid of poverty and enjoy the basic necessities of life. Apart of the economical reforms, the country also introduced educational reforms, which enabled a large number of women to achieve higher levels of education. Currently the literacy rate of the country is 87.4% out of which 95.3% are males and 79.6% are females. Better education produced better high skilled people, which played their part in country’s economic growth and sustain better living of their own (The World FactBook, n.d).
Hence to conclude, it could rightly be argued that poverty in any country results from poor economic reforms, mismanagement in creating vacancies according to the requirement, tribal or caste system, and a number of other factors that arise due to improper implementation of strategies. Countries like Yemen who have struggled against poverty but are still in those developing nations in which poverty is an on-stake issue; should implement appropriate economical reforms with respect to their needs, as what the recently developed countries did. Political structure must be stabilized too, so that no one would be able to disturb the on-going policies of government and people would have liberty of speech. Only in this way, such developing countries can bring themselves out of the disastrous and protracted effects of poverty.
Works Cited
Enders, Klaus-Stefan. Republic of Yemen: Selected Issues. Washington, D.C: International Monetary Fund, 2001. Print.
Madrick, Jeffrey G. Why Economies Grow: The Forces That Shape Prosperity and How We Can Get Them Working Again. New York, NY: Basic Books, 2002. Print.
Rural Poverty in Yemen. Rural Poverty Portal. (n.d). April 19, 2013. http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/country/home/tags/yemen
Salisbury, Peter. Half of Yemen trapped in poverty. (January 28, 2013). Politics and Society. April 19, 2013.
Schavey, A. "Why Economies Grow." Ideas on Liberty. 51.11 (2001): 47-52. Print.
The World Bank. Turkey: Economic Reforms, Living Standards and Social Welfare Study. (n.d). April 24, 2013. http://go.worldbank.org/QD1Q37AWA0
The World FactBook. Turkey. (n.d). April 24, 2013. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/tu.html
World Bank Country Data. Turkey. (n.d). April 24, 2013.
World Bank Country Data. Yemen. (n.d). April 19, 2013.
