Introduction
Although some of the world’s nations are currently to a greater or lesser degree in the grip of recession causing increased hardship for many of their citizens, the situation is often far worse for the peoples of developing countries, who in many cases simply lack life’s basic necessities. This paper investigates the factors contributing to that extreme poverty, which results in vast numbers of people being destitute and malnourished.
The Research
Downes (2012) defined extreme poverty as the situations “where people faced a daily struggle just to survive, as these people lacked basic needs, such as water, food, and shelter.” As to the causes of that poverty, from answers given to a survey, he cited the following:
Political Regimes: This cause was especially relevant in countries where wealth was controlled and retained by dictators, instead of being used for the benefit of the people. He noted that many political regimes were endemically corrupt, lining the pockets of the elite few, deepening the poverty endured by the masses, and in some cases investing in technological projects, whilst ignoring massive poverty among their population (Downes).
Exploitation by Major Powers: Many respondents blamed the western countries such as the USA and the UK, who through their past colonization policies had exploited those poorer nations, sometimes leading to religious and/or tribal conflicts and unrest, including civil war, causing further poverty (Downes). Trade in some former colonies is controlled by multi-national corporations, keeping the developing country without the means to evolve further (Downes).
Geography, Climate and Disease: The difficult climatic conditions including drought, and absence of any healthcare structure or organisation, led – in many developing countries – to crop failures (Downes). Those in turn created famine and hence mass starvation (Downes). Countries that are landlocked and without their own natural water sources are especially vulnerable in this regard (Downes). In addition, lack of decent living conditions, proper healthcare and clean water, leads to epidemics of diseases like cholera (Downes).
Shah (Jan 2013) began his article “Causes of Poverty” by providing some statistics about the plight of the poor people of the world, including the following:
- Over 3 billion – almost 50 percent of the global population – exist on a daily income of less than $2.50;
- The combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the 41 poorest countries with a total population of circa 567 millions, is less than the joint wealth of the seven richest individuals in the world;
- At the start of the current century, almost a billion people on our planet were unable to read or to sign their name;
- Half of all the world’s children exist in poverty; 640 million do not have proper shelter; 400 million cannot obtain safe, clean water; 270 million have no access to healthcare; and – in 2003 – over 10 million died before they reached five years old (that’s almost 30,000 every day) (Shah).
Shah then asks why these terrible statistics exist. Is it the fault of the poor themselves? (Shah). Is it their governments? (Shah). Although both of those possibilities exist, Shah believes that the real causes are the policies of rich and powerful people including the governments of wealthy nations or the executives of multinational corporations (Shah). He then leads on to discuss the causes in more detail in associated articles, which include the following views and information:
- Providing food aid (subsidized food to poor countries) can destroy the economy of that country by preventing indigenous farmers from making a living – a disaster in a country whose main source of income is agriculture;
- Corruption in aid programs means that a large proportion of the financial aid provided by wealthier countries never reaches those for whom it was intended (Shah).
Al Saleh (2010) published a paper entitled “The Main Causes of Poverty in The Low-Income Countries.” Describing himself as a philanthropist, Al Saleh generally echoed the views and poverty causes mentioned earlier in this paper (Al Saleh). However, he cited “globalization, Structural Adjustment Programs, and corruption in the developing countries” as the three principal causes, because following the end of World War II there was a perceived need to find new markets for American products, which in turn led to the creation of the IMF and the World Bank, and thence to globalization and the programs of structural adjustment (Al Saleh). His reason for including corruption in the top three causes is that corruption among the elite in those developing countries is a known fact, and it trickles down through the entire structure of government and administration in many instances (Al Saleh).
Conclusions
Works Cited:
Downes, James. “What causes extreme poverty in developing countries?” (Sep 2012). YouGov (market research agency). Web. 2 February 2013.
Shah, Anup. “Causes of Poverty.” (updated Jan 2013). Global Issues. Web. 2 February 2013.
Al Saleh, Abdullah. “The Main Causes of Poverty in The Low-Income Countries.” (2010). Web. 2 February 2013.
