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Poverty and its effects on development in countries
How has poverty contributed to african underdevelopment
How has poverty contributed to african underdevelopment
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Underdevelopment of Africa
Underdevelopment in Africa is a problem that has been plaguing the countries all over the continent for a very long time. It has so many negative effects on Africans. It has brought about so many consequences, but of all, the economy is the most affected sector because the economic sector controls all other aspect of the society. Underdevelopment in Africa is as a result of many contributing factors which include poverty, illiteracy, very large extended families, corruption and lack of accountability.
Poverty is one of the causes of underdevelopment in Africa. Unfortunate events such as slave trade, wars and other bad incidents. After wars people lose their belongings, properties and even family members. they do not have shelter, food to eat or other basic necessities of life. This is especially evident in war-torn countries around Africa. As mentioned above, illiteracy is also one of the contributing factors to underdevelopment in the country. The illiteracy rate in countries around Africa is very high. Poverty is also a cause of illiteracy.
In the...
Africa is the second largest of the earth's seven continents, covering about twenty-two percent of the world's total land area. From its northern most point, to its southern most tip is the distance of nearly five thousand miles. Africa is both north and south of the equator. The Atlantic Ocean is located west of the continent, and the Indian Ocean is on the east. Width of the continent is also nearly five thousand miles. Although Africa is so large, much of it is inhabitable. Desert soils, which have little organic content, cover large areas. The Sahara Desert, in the northern part, covers more than one fourth of Africa, and the Kalahari Desert is in the southern part of the continent. These two deserts are a natural detriment to the African continent because they make it difficult to reach the inland where most of the people live. Although Africa is relatively close to Europe, travel by land over the Sahara desert is very prohibitive. Another topographical feature that also isolates the central region of Africa is the coastline.
One of the main causes of poverty is the lack of education. The U.S. education system denies students in poverty the opportunities and access it affords to most other students. Without good education, most people would encounter challenges in finding income-generating work, especially when there are few employment opportunities during an economic downturn.
Problems began for Africa when there was the “scramble for Africa. Africa was extremely divided throughout the continent. There was no nation intact. Even though they were divided into colonies, they still had no sovereignty. Since they had no form of nationalism it made it impossible to succeed as a nation. This really hurt Africa economically. If they would have been able to come together as a nation they could have pulled all of their assets together and exploit them in order to make money. By not doing this it allowed the government to exploit the people. This is why there are starving people in Africa on television. The states of Africa were created in order to make money by exporting all the various resources, whether it was slaves, minerals, or agriculture. There was much to gain by owning a chunk of land in Africa. This reason being because Africa is so rich in their resources for trade. After the race was over it left Africa severely divided.
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney, was one of the most controversial books in the world at the time of its release. The book seeks to argue that European exploitation and involvement in Africa throughout history. This is the cause of current African underdevelopment, and the true path to the development is for Africa to completely sever her ties with the international capitalist economy. Rodney describes his goal in writing the book in the preface: “this book derives from a concern with the contemporary African situation. It delves into the past only because otherwise it would be impossible to understand how the present came into being and what the trends are for the near future” (vii). Rodney writes from a distinctly Marxist perspective by arguing that the inequalities inherent in European capitalism and required exploitation of certain countries in order to sustain capitalism.
There are many causes of poverty, starting with corruption. Corruption is a deceptive conduct by those in power who try to keep those who are in poverty trapped within their situations. When people think of corruption, they think of politics and rich leaders. Leaders from wealthy countries tell those who are already in poverty about loans and aid that they can offer. The less fortunate, not very aware of what they put themselves in are building a deeper hole with debt. The leaders from those wealthy countries are making more money also by taxing the less fortunate and receiving the money that they loaned to them. Those who are already poor try hard to provide for their families with the money they make from their jobs. Many of them lack education so it is hard to have well-paying jobs. “Poverty is the state for the majority of the world’s people and nations. Why is this? Is it enough to blame poor people for their own predicament?” (“Causes of Poverty” 5) Therefore, corruption is one cause of poverty.
There are many causes of poverty that do not stem from an individual’s choice, but from society as a whole. Causes of poverty include changing trends in a country’s economy, high divorce rates, overpopulation, epidemic diseases, environmental conflicts, low-income rates and lack of education.
Poverty is the root cause of hunger, disease, and lack of shelter. It is concentrated in pockets in areas such as South Africa and South Asia. Children, who must live in these areas, face, on a daily basis, parasitic waters, lack of adequate medical help and malnutrition.... ... middle of paper ... ...
There is no doubt that European colonialism has left a grave impact on Africa. Many of Africa’s current and recent issues can trace their roots back to the poor decisions made during the European colonial era. Some good has resulted however, like modern medicine, education, and infrastructure. Africa’s history and culture have also been transformed. It will take many years for the scars left by colonization to fade, but some things may never truly disappear. The fate of the continent may be unclear, but its past provides us with information on why the present is the way it is.
Urbanization is the movement from a rural society to an urban society, and involves a growth in the number of people in urban areas. Urban growth is increasing in both the developed but mostly in the developing countries. Urbanization is associated with the problems of unemployment, poverty, bad health, poor cleanliness, urban slums environmental deprivation. This causes a very big problem for these developing countries and who are some of poorest countries. Africa urbanization is not as big as most developing countries but is on the rise for it outbursts in city growth lately. (Saundry, 2008).
Easterly, William Russell., and Ross Levine. Africa's Growth Tragedy: Policies and Ethnic Divisions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Institute for International Development, Harvard U, 1996. Print.
Underdevelopment can be understood in relation to development. Development is explained by the Oxford Dictionary as the process of developing or developed in a specified state of growth or advancement. Underdeveloped, as according to the Oxford Dictionary, is ‘not fully developed or not advanced economically’ which is meant for a country or a region. We can certainly see the difference between underdeveloped and developed, where the changing situation emerges from the economic point of view. To be more specific, worlds within the world were created i.e. the nomenclature of First World and Third World came into picture.
Overall Central Africa’s dependence on agriculture could improve the wellbeing of the people but a long history of corruption, violence, and prevalent transportation issues have hindered an improvement in the economy resulting in poverty among the region. Poverty will not subside unless these issues are dealt with and improved.
Poverty is one of the greatest problems facing South Africa. South African families live in very unsatisfactory conditions. The South African government works hard to bring down the rate of poverty but it also seems to increase as they try.
The main cause of poverty in South Africa is the lasting effects of apartheid. People didn’t get proper education and skills training during the apartheid era. As a result, most of them are unemployed because with the lack of proper education and skills, they can’t find jobs that will give them the means to a better life.