The causes of poverty and solutions to this free essay sample

Abstract Poverty is the major issue all over the world. Poverty is always associated with different area such as the lack of education, poor health conditions and poor infrastructures. This report will focus on two main causes of poverty in the developing countries and indicate solutions to deal with it. It can be seen that inappropriate policies and undeveloped infrastructure widens the gap between the rich and the poor. Moreover, diseases prevalence like HIV/AIDS that reach reaches 5.6% among 2.6 million affected adult populations. Investing in roads, however, leads to about 3 persons far away  from poverty in China by every 1000 yuan investment. Other methods such investing human capital also help the poor to increase their life. Therefore, choosing a appropriate area to invest and educating the poor might direct help the developing countries to mitigate poverty. Finally, searching foreign investment to development and applying international aid might be another option. 1. Introduction Poverty is one of the highlighted issues in the world. We will write a custom essay sample on The causes of poverty and solutions to this or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Many countries have been devoting their efforts to develop the economy in order to reducing poverty. In developing countries, the government tries their best to satisfy people’s needs. The needs are ranging from every aspect of residents life. According to Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Social Workers (cited in Gien et al. 2007), poverty is defined as people lack of fundamental needs such as nutrition, clean water, shelter, medicine and education. Thus, providing basic needs to people is the prior mission to the developing countries. The purpose of this report is to examine the fundamental poverty and to suggest some possible solutions to deal with them. This report firstly describes the main factors causing some developing countries to remain a cycle of poverty, and then examines two effective solutions to reduce poverty. Finally, the benefits of attracting foreign investors to invest emerging economy as well as international aid as a recommendation will be discussed. 2. The causes of poverty There are some direct impacts on people who are vulnerable to poverty such as the lack of health care, failed policies and poor lifestyle. This might lead to the pressure of many countries overwhelmed that of individuals, because the government makes policies that are not suit for local residents lead to governments waste a lot of money. In addition to this, the lifestyle some developing countries have which is causing huge health problems ranging from parents to children. Therefore, poverty is related to different aspects of society that affects people life as well as the development of countries. 2.1 Inefficient development There is an issue that governments have many areas to develop and directly  affects people who are the target of it. Firstly, inappropriate policies may lead to residents far away from the benefits of development. Gien et al. (2007) give an example that Vietnam government carried on a reform policy for reducing poverty. However, this policy widen the gap between the rich region and the poor region resulting in rural residents as the victims of development, Ajakaiye and Adeyeye (2002) point out that this is because the process of policies reform affects economy development resulting in people easily losing their job when the policy fails. Therefore, failed policies could impose big burdens on some countries resulting in more people becoming victims of poverty. Secondly, under developed infrastructures widen the gap between the rich and the poor. As Lawal (2010) notes, poor farming infrastructures and the shortage of resources causes the program to improve agriculture are not completely effective in Nigeria. Moreover, Ajakaiye and Adeyeye (2002) point out that resources which could be used to develop physical infrastructures are lost because of they need to release debt burdens in Nigeria. Therefore, inadequate infrastructures in the agricultural sector exacerbate the situation of poverty. 2.2 Health issues To some extent, there are many countries carrying a high burden of health issues ranging from individuals to governments. Firstly, smoking-related issues have created some problems. According to Majra and Gur (2009), the poor who consumes the tobacco has high proportion of sickness and hardly to require treatment, Gajalakshmi et al. (cited in Majra Gur 2009, p. 316) note that this problems will lead 80 million males’ smokers dead ranging from 0 to 34 years old in India. In addition to this, Mudur (cited in Majra Gur 2009, p. 317) reports that the costs of smoking-related diseases including cancer, heart disease and chronic obstructive lung disease reach to US$ 5.8 billion estimated by the Indian Council of Medical Research over the government returns of approximately $ 1.5 billion in the tobacco industry in 2000. It could be seen that the illnesses leads to people have no chance to apply for an employment resulting in them to stay in the poverty. Secondly, many countries have been struggling with severe diseases. Ajakaiye and Adeyeye (2002) give a example that the high incidence of AIDS reaches to 5.6% among 2.6 million affected adult populations resulting in the sufferers cannot find a job to support their life. Moreover, Fenton  (2004) points out that lacking of education as the major cause to the poor who have little knowledge about the risk of HIV/AIDS, much less to purchase high price condoms to protect themselves. Therefore, sufferers spend huge money, which should be spent to maintain their basic needs such as food, shelter and education, to ensure survive. This process might exacerbate poverty. 3. Solutions to poverty Although the developing countries are facing big challenges, two effective ways may help them to alleviate those problems. Especially, focusing on the weaker section of development in the developing countries, including investing in infrastructures and providing social services, could be spread to many nations to mitigate poverty. 3.1 Investing in infrastructures To some degree, there is a closely connection between infrastructures and poverty alleviation, thus the governments should choose to invest in appropriate sectors and execute it effectively. Firstly, choosing appropriate area to invest might be more effective. As Lawal (2010) points out that shifting current focus to rural region rather than wide-range development is more available, Fan et al. (cited in Ogun 2010, p. 255) give an example that they analyzed the statistics from different sectors involving electricity, agriculture and road, and then they found that investing every 1000 yuan in rural roads leads to approximately 3 persons far away from poverty in China. Moreover, Jahan and McCleery (cited in Ogun 2010) report that investing infrastructure helps residents enjoying better health care, which providing people better protection away from diseases and natural hazard, and qualified education. This is the basic requirement that poor people need, and let them benefit from the improvement of roads, schools and hospitals. Secondly, poor people could join the process of development through work. According to Lawal ï ¼Ë†2010ï ¼â€°Ã¯ ¼Å'the development should encourage the poor to participate and be identified not just the task of government but also as the key of poverty alleviation for themselves, Ajakaiye and Adeyeye (2002) found that the sustainable labour market creates an opportunity to break the cycle of poverty and to increase income. This means that developing countries might maintain the development of labour market in terms of providing training for unskilled people. In addition,  Colclough (cited in Awan et al. 2011) found that investing human capital is benefit for the poor who can increase their life derives from education and health endowments. Hence, investing in the road, agriculture and labour marker might directly affect the poor through encouraging participation of development and boosting human capital, after that the poor acquires their basic skills and knowledge of living. This could help them away from poverty. 3.2 Education programs If one looks more closely at the poverty that providing education as an available way to reduce poverty. Firstly, education can help the poor improve their life. Lawal (2010) notes that building education and training institutions gives opportunities to the poor that they can learn basic knowledge about living, Ogun (2010) go further and notes that investing in education and health can improve human capital as well as increasing social welfare. Especially, International Institute For Population Sciences (cited in Majra Gur 2009) points that education is not just benefit for individual far away from poverty, but also it has good effect on parents who pay more attentions to their children’s health. This means that education could inform the poor the basic knowledge of health helping them to reduce the cost of illness. Secondly, training programs can directly provide the essential knowledge to the poor. Gien et al. (2007) note that Vietnam government has a long-term program providing training ranging from job creation to local-based health services to social workers in order to helping the poor people and continuing educate new social workers, especially, this course increases the awareness of social works among trainees and is directly good for poor community in Vietnam. In addition, most of social workers and medical experts are women in Vietnam, thus more and more rural women could away from poverty as the result of improving women’s education and job opportunities, Cranswick (cited in Gien et al. 2007) points that women who are the key of reducing poverty and improving health in the family. Therefore, education may provide an effective approach to developing countries to alleviate poverty as improving employability skills and health popularizing health knowledge. 4. Conclusion There is a closely relationship among poverty, education and health. While the governments try their best to reduce poverty, the basic of poverty is related to different aspects. The report indicates that inefficient development leads to developing countries waste a lot of money and efforts. More importantly, the spreading of diseases is associated with poor education make poor countries to stay in the poverty. However, the government invests in infrastructure and provides appropriate education programs might reduce poverty and improve residents’ standard of living. Thus, the government might take the local situation of poverty to consideration when they make a plan in order to suiting for local environment and encourage teachers to educate the poor. Due to poverty involves different areas, the report therefore recommends that searching foreign investment to development and applying international aid could be considered.