Poverty is defined as the deprivation of those things that determine the quality of life, including food, shelter, clothing, as well as clean and safe drinking water, however, poverty is also defined as the deprivation of intangibles such as the chance to learn, to engage in meaningful employment and in addition, to have the respect of the society. There are various factors that cause poverty in Pakistan and they include: government policies, corruption, lack of education, large scale import, privatization, unemployment, terrorism, unequal distribution of land.
According to Anwar (1), the Pakistan Government is not conscious of the current conditions of the country. Government policies are based on the suggestions from officials who lack awareness regarding to the problems faced by the ordinary man. Once the policies have been implemented, they do not give effective results. Once a policy has failed, the government does not reflect on its failure, but goes ahead and declares a new policy without studying the outcomes of the last policy (Anwar 1). Unemployment and heavy taxes crushes the citizens and hence the people are enforced to live lower than poverty line. The people are not provided with suitable medical facilities thus, they are forced to find treatment from private clinics which are very expensive.
The literacy rate of this country is very low. A good number of people do not have any idea with regards to the modern earning sources. The majority of the population is incapable of adopting technology for the needs of their businesses, thus, for that reason most of their businesses do not meet the international standards. This results to a decline in the country’s revenue leading to the society experiencing poor financial conditions (Shereen 2).
The Pakistan government is not capable of managing the departments and in addition to that country has little reserve assets. Thus, in order for the country to meet its requirements some of the companies managed by the government are sold to foreign investors. The goods or services offered by these companies have become more and more expensive.
In the rural areas in Pakistan, agriculture plays a big role in the rural economy since the livelihoods of the majority of the rural people depend on agriculture (IFAD 2). The fragile ecosystems and rocky terrain makes farming not easy. Most of the Pakistan land is semi-arid, arid, or rocky, and in addition cultivation is very difficult. All throughout the whole country there is scarcity of water resources, thus making it very difficult to supply the very remote rural areas with a consistent supply of water. Moreover, a big number of people from the rural areas are poor due to unequal distribution of land (Anwar 2).
Large scale import in Pakistan is a big problem. Pakistan imports are greater than the exports. Importing of commodities each year consumes a larger part of the Pakistan’s revenue.
Poverty will in no way end unless, real solutions based on political changes and economic justice, emerge to finish it. The Pakistan government should undertake ways of ensuring that each one of its citizen is provided with food, shelter, safe drinking water, healthcare, as well as improving and increasing the number of education facilities in Pakistan to boost the literacy rate in the country.
Industrialization is one of the solutions to poverty reduction. Industrialization is able to transform the fate of the people connected to the agriculture sector. The setting up of new industries will increase employment opportunities and thus improve the living conditions of people. Likewise, it will also push the new industries to make use of the most modern technology so as to improve the yield (Muhammad 3).
There should be a full relocation of idle lands to farmers who do not own lands as well as imposing a fifty percent restriction on arable land that is devoted to goods for export per country, with the formation of an international subsidy intended for organic agriculture. Private monopoly possession of the natural resources should be stopped. There is need for at least fifty-one percent local communal ownership in corporations, which have power over such natural resources.
According to Matin (3), the development and utilization of genetically modified crops is also a solution to fighting hunger, thus fighting poverty. Genetically modified crops contribute to increase in food production and as a result improving the accessibility of food at local as well as global levels. The crops also have an effect on food quality and safety. Genetically modified crops can also influence the farmers’ economic as well as social situation, as a result improve or worsen their economic access to food.
Works cited.
Anwar Farooq Rana. Causes of Poverty in Pakistan. Change Pk, 26 August 2012. Web
18 November 2013.
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Rural poverty in Pakistan. Rural
povertyportal.Org. Web 18 November 2013.
Matin Qaim mail. Genetically Modified Crops and Food Security. Plosone.Org, 05 June 2013.
Web 18 November 2013.
Muhammad Rehan Sheikh. Ways to reduce poverty. Dunyanews, 28 Sept 2012. Web 18
November 2013.
Shereen Andleeb. Main Causes of Poverty in Pakistan. Defendpakistan.Org, 25 August 2012.
Web 18 November 2013
