The series of economic issue is aimed at making the availability of a broad readership of none- specialists that are produced by economic research on topical issues by the International Monetary Fund. The causes of rural poverty are complex and multidimensional (Khan). They include cultural practices, climate, public policy, gender, and markets for the products. Additionally, poverty in rural areas is diverse concerning the problems they face and the possible remedies to the above problems. Therefore, this paper will discuss the causes of rural poverty, factors that are accounting to its persistence, economic policies for poverty reduction in developing nations. The causes of rural poverty are complex and multidimensional. They include cultural practices, climate, public policy, gender, and markets for the products. Additionally, poverty in rural areas is diverse concerning the problems they face and the possible remedies to the above problems.
The broad economic stability, public investments, and competitive markets in the physical and social infrastructure are recognized widely as the essential requirements for the achievement of sustained economic growth and reduction of rural poverty (Miller, Benjamin and North). Moreover, since the link to poor people in rural areas to the public economy differ considerably. Therefore, public policy should emphasis on matters such as access to natural resources like land, education and health facilities, support services, and the right to food through a well-designed public program and other mechanisms. Over one-fifth of the global population are affected by poverty and this society live on less than a dollar every day. However, poverty is not only an existence state, but it is also a process that has several dimensions and complexities. It can either be persistent or transient, but transient poverty is acute and can trap the upcoming generations. Therefore, the poor society should adopt all kinds of strategies to moderate and cope with poverty.
In understanding poverty as a public economic issue, it is important to examine the economy and social trend including institutions of a nation, markets, the households, and markets (Miller, Benjamin and North). The differences in poverty cuts across gender, age, ethnicity, the location (rural and urban), and the source of income. Concerning the households, children and women always suffer as compared to men. In any community, the marginal ethnic and religious groups will suffer more than the majority groups. Consequently, poverty in rural areas will be higher than the urban areas. This is because, in rural areas, the landless wage workers will suffer more than the small landowners. Therefore, the differences among the poor people will highly reflect the complex interactions of cultures, markets, and public policies.
The total population of poor people accounts for about sixty-three percent (63%) around the globe. However in some nations like Bangladesh it reaches ninety percent while in sub-Saharan Africa, it ranges between sixty and ninety percent (Heshmati, Masouri and Wan). In contrary, this pattern is an exception in Latin American nations where poverty is concentrated in urban regions (Khan). The condition of poverty in most countries regarding consumption and access to education, health facilities, water and sanitation, transport and communication, and housing faced by rural population is worse than those faced by the urban community (Ellis and Freeman). Therefore, the persistently high level of rural poverty with or without the overall economic growth have led to the rapid growth rate in population and migration to urban areas. Consequently, most of the urban poverty cases have been due to the efforts of poor people from the rural areas to get into the cities. However, the distorted policies of the government such as neglecting the infrastructure in rural areas are the major contribution to both rural and urban poverty.
The alleviation of absolute poverty must meet certain conditions such as the occurrence of economic growth. That is income have to increase on a substantial basis. Secondly, the economic growth must be neutral on equal distribution of income. Otherwise, poverty cannot be reduced if the growth of the economy does not take place. However, a highly and unequal distribution of income is not good for the economic growth and poverty reduction in any public economy. Therefore, if a country has put in place the incentive structures and some complementary investments in ensuring that there are better health and education to higher incomes, the poor will always benefit through the increased consumption and future higher incomes.
The pattern and economic stability is also a factor. For instance, if the biased growth in urban areas and the import-substituting products induced by the government policies on pricing, public expenditure, and trade will not assist in alleviating poverty. Moreover, the growth rate in the agricultural sector especially in a low concentration of land ownership and the application labor-intensive technologies will reduce the level of poverty in the economy. Lastly, the sharp decrease in growth of the economy as a result of shocks and adjustments in the economy may also increase some incidences of deficiency issues. As the economic growth rate resumes, the occurrence of poverty may not increase because the income inequality has been degraded by the economic crisis.
Policies for Poverty Reduction in Rural areas
The achievement of growth in the agricultural sector through the application of new technologies is the major factor for poverty reduction in rural areas (Jonathan). However, the impact of the agricultural efforts in rural areas depends on the initial conditions, the incentives, and the relevant structures of the institutions. According to the research, stagnation of agricultural sector has affected poor people in rural regions of the sub-Saharan Africa through the creation of food shortages and higher prices, and this has reduced their ability to purchase food and find jobs. The experience with the Green Revolution indicates that fast progress in the agricultural sector has led to a significant difference in poverty reduction in rural areas of South Asia. According to this (paper), higher crop yields can reduce the number of both poor people in rural areas and the severity of rural poverty.
In conclusion, the major components that are required for poverty reduction are the comparative markets, the stability of macroeconomics, and public investment in both physical and social infrastructure. They are widely recognized as the key requirements for a sustained economic growth and poverty reduction. Besides, the most needed strategy to reduce the level of rural poverty is the provision of the enabling environment and resources for people in rural areas that are engaged in the agricultural production sector and distribution system. However, other components for the national strategies involving the government, and the civil society in poverty reduction are information gathering, focus on asset creation, and decentralization of food programs. Concerning information gathering, people in rural areas are facing different issues. Therefore, a sustained effort in should be made in gathering relevant information regarding a particular problem they face so that the issues can be addressed properly.
References
Ellis, Frank, and Ade Freeman. Rural Livelihoods and Poverty Reduction Policies. New York: Routledge, 2004. Print.
Heshmati, Almas, Esfandiar Maasouni, and Guanghua Wan. Poverty Reduction Policies and Practices in Developing Asia. Springer, 2015. Print.
Jonathan, Brooks. Agricultural Policies for Poverty Reduction. OECD Publishing, 2012. Print.
Khan, Mahmood. "Implications for Public Policy". Rural Poverty in Developing Countries 26.1 (2001): n. pag. Print.
Miller, Roger, Daniel Benjamin, and Douglas North. The Economics of Public Issues. 19th ed. Pearson, 2015. Print.
Miller, Roger, Daniel Benjamin, and Douglas North. The Economics of Public Issues. 18th ed. Pearson, 2013. Print.
