Poverty is a complex issue

Manalika
Maharaja Sawar Man Singh Vidyalaya
India

Poverty is never a pleasant thing. Unfortunately, over 1.2 billion people around the world, or one in every five, have to face this unpleasantness everyday. Although poverty is a very complex issue, dependent on many factors, and thus difficult to define, in simple terms, it can be explained as 'a situation suffered by people who do not have the money to buy food and satisfy other basic material needs.' However, poverty is not only the absence of tangible resources, it can also result in the absence of non-material needs, like strength to do useful work, self-reliance and a sense of belonging to society. As has been stated above, poverty is a very complex issue and there are many causes and effects of poverty, of which the most obvious is hunger. Millions of people, including six million children under the age of five, die every year as a result of starvation. Ability to procure and access food is often the basis on which a human being is classified as poor or well off. Although hunger is a direct result of the absence of money, it can also be seen as a cause of poverty. Hunger affects a person's mental and physical growth, and results in smaller and undernourished body types. People who are affected in this way earn less money when they work as physical labourers. It therefore contributes to the overall poverty of a country.

Poverty also affects the psychology of the victim almost as much as it affects them materially. This is exacerbated when poor people experience powerlessness, since they often have absolutely no say politically and are often exploited by the state. The rich are given more amenities, while the poor are often ignored. The lack of power that poor people have is a continuous cycle that is difficult to break.

Now that we are aware of the causes and effects of poverty, it is time to look at ways to eradicate poverty. As hunger is one of the most dominant issues relating to poverty, it is logical to assume that eradicating hunger would result in the cessation of poverty itself. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that 'Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services'. Since the Declaration is viewed as being a legitimate international agreement on the rights of humans, it can be argued that food, along with other basic necessities, are basic human rights, and if some human beings are being denied or are not able to procure food, then it puts a big question mark on the government responsible for their welfare. The UNDP Human Development Report 2003 states that there are six basic policies that should be implemented by the governments in order to help countries reduce poverty. Firstly, countries should 'invest early and ambitiously in basic education and health while fostering gender equality. These are preconditions to sustained economic growth.' Secondly, countries should 'increase the productivity of small farmers in unfavourable environments [environments where hunger and famine are a problem]'. Thirdly, countries should 'improve basic infrastructures [...] to reduce the costs of doing business and overcome geographic barriers.' However, carrying out these policies might not prove as successful in the real world as much as it seems in theory, as not all the responsibility can be placed just on the governments of the countries. Also, due to inevitable corruption in governments, it cannot be taken for granted that the benefits will reach the poorer people. Another step the poor nations of the world can take towards alleviating poverty is to export goods and services in which they hold comparative advantage, and thus can make a profit, and import goods that other countries can produce at a low cost. Although this appears feasible in theory, the problem with it is that it falls apart when applied in the real world. For example, many poor countries can produce large amounts of coffee to export, but since there are many producing coffee, the global rate for coffee is forced to go down and it ends up that the poor nations are producing more coffee for less money. It appears that this idea, which is also promoted by the World Bank, the UN and the IMF as a method for alleviating and reducing poverty, needs to be worked upon some more. There are no perfect answers for development. Poverty is a complex issue. The key is that we do not ignore those living in poverty but help in whatever way we believe is best. We are obliged to try our hardest to make circumstances better for them.

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