Policy Prescriptions that Could be Enacted to Counter Extreme Poverty in Africa - Case Study Example

Policy Prescriptions that Could/Should be Enacted to Counter Extreme Poverty in Africa Introduction Poverty is a multifaceted concept as thus has no universally agreed meaning. One of the definitions of poverty is that it is a “problem in unmet human physical needs”. That is, people are said to be poor when they lack the services and goods that are necessary to support and sustain life and the income to buy services and goods what would satisfy those needs (Edegbe, 2014). Worldwide poverty measured by the number of people living on less than $1.25 per day has been declining since the 1980s (World Bank, 2010). The proportion of the population subsisting on under $1.25 per day fell by ten percentage points to 42 per cent in 1990 and then dropped another 17 percentage points from 1990 to 2005. The number of individuals who live in extreme poverty declined from 1.9 billion to 1.4 billion between 1981 and 2005 (World Bank, 2010). It is also noted that from 1990 to 2010, the number of people living in extreme poverty across the world fell by almost one billion people (“The world’s next great leap forward,” 2013). However, according to the World Bank (2010), the considerable decline in extreme poverty over the period between the 1990s and the 2000s conceals large regional differences. In particular, a recent report by the World Bank Group titled “Poverty in a Rising Africa” suggests that although Africa has experienced a significant improvement in economic growth since the mid-1990s, a big proportion of the population in the continent “continues to live below the international poverty line of $1.90 a day” (Beegle, Christiaensen, Dabalen & Gaddis, 2016, p. 21). For example, although the rate of poverty in Africa declined from 57 percent to 43 percent between 1990 and 2012, the number of poor people in the continent rose from 288 million to 389 million over the same period (Beegle et al., 2016). The number of people living in extreme poverty was even higher in 2016. The reality is that measures to reduce poverty in Africa significantly lag those in other developing nations (Beegle et al., 2016). Against the background information above, this essay seeks to discuss policy prescriptions that can or should be implemented to counter the grave situation of the rising extreme poverty in Africa. The discussion will entail an overview of the factors that cause poverty in Africa and measures that can be implemented to contain the situation. Overview of the causes of poverty in Africa The reasons why there is extreme poverty in Africa are many and complex. The causes of poverty may be social, economic, or political; and the levels of poverty in any country are different depending on the region or place in which the affected people are located (White, Killick, Kayizzi-Mugerwa & Savane, 2001). However, the key issue that underlies all forms of poverty in Africa is the lack of access to opportunities and services as well as inadequate endowments (White et al., 2001). This implies that lack of services such as education and healthcare, lack of access to employment, lack of resources such as land or farm inputs and many other factors can cause a population to become impoverished. As well, many of the situations that lead to inadequacy of resources and opportunities stem from poor political decisions and lack of political commitment to make decisions that give the population an opportunity to empower itself socially and economically and thus uplift itself from poverty. For instance, corruption, poor governance or biased decisions in the allocation of resources can lead to social and economic problems such as unemployment or underdevelopment in certain regions due to lack of amenities like electricity and infrastructure like roads (Agola & Awange, 2014). It is also argued that there is a link between political instability and poverty (Odekon, 2006). This is because when there is political instability, people are unable to undertake economic activities such as farming, and as such, the affected countries have to contend with issues such as food insecurity and lack of incomes among the population. For instance, Somalia has been ravaged by political instability for years and is one of the countries with the highest rates of poverty in the world since a large section of the country’s population is unable to work as a result of the civil strife (Odekon, 2006). Climate change and destruction of the environment are also other factors that contribute to poverty in Africa. African countries are highly vulnerable to climate change since the effects of climate change, such as droughts, floods, and other environmental hazards, severely affect food production and destroy people’s livelihoods (Hope, Sr., 2009). For example, Kabubo-Mariara and Kabara (2015) note that climate change is expected to affect food security in Kenya due to the country’s reliance on rain-fed agriculture and thus increase the levels of poverty in the country. As well, destruction of the environment through practices such as charcoal production, for instance in Somalia, leads to deforestation and makes people even poorer since the population relies on the same land for grazing their livestock and other economic activities (Odekon, 2006). Prescriptions that can or should be implemented to counter extreme poverty in Africa As noted above, there is a wide variety of causes of poverty in Africa, and as such, multiple solutions are required to counter the situation. It is argued that reduction of poverty in Africa will be achieved through the use of a combination of measures that promote high levels of growth and make it possible for poor people to benefit from and make a contribution to the growth process (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), 2005). According to UNECA (2005), the most direct and perhaps most significant way through which growth can help in reducing poverty in Africa is the creation of more employment opportunities. This is because it is by and large accepted that income from employment is the major source of revenue for the poor individuals. Whether the income is derived from direct employment or from other activities such as self-employment through businesses or other economic activities, the income goes a long way in helping people get the services and goods that are necessary for supporting and sustaining their lives (UNECA, 2005). In other words, when poor people become empowered to participate in activities such as direct or indirect employment, they are able to make their own incomes and thus uplift themselves from poverty. Empowerment can be defined as the capacity of people, particularly the least privileged, to have access to resources that can make it possible for them to acquire the services and goods that they need and to make contributions to development processes and decisions that affect them (Misaro, Wanyama, Jonyo, Birech & Kiboro, 2014). Therefore, as noted by UNECA (2010), mainstreaming the creation of jobs and promoting activities that promote long-term growth is crucial in enabling the African continent to ensure that poverty is reduced or alleviated, particularly in the rural areas and among groups that are regarded vulnerable. It is also pointed out that reducing poverty through generation of employment opportunities requires purposeful action (UNECA, 2010). Specifically, it calls for the coordination of the demand and supply of labour since employment-intensive growth is required but it is not sufficient. In other words, it is improbable that the poor people have adequate skills to enable them capitalise on new employment opportunities. For instance, today, there are many construction projects in many African countries such as Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia, but most of the jobs are taken by foreign companies and their people working on such projects since many Africans do not have the skills required for employment in such projects. As such, many people in these countries remain unemployed because they do not have the skills required for emerging job opportunities. Therefore, as suggested by UNECA (2010), governments have a responsibility to come up with policies that promote sufficient efforts in ensuring that poor people have access to programmes that enhance human capital development and that such people get the skills that are required in the labour market. Another key area where focus should be placed to reduce poverty in Africa is engaging in sustainable agriculture. The African Union (AU) in conjunction with the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) has already recognised the important played by agriculture through the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) of 2003 (Tekere, 2012). This initiative regards agriculture as one of the key areas that have the potential to alleviate poverty in Africa, considering that over 70% of the continent’s population lives in the countryside (Tekere, 2012). In accordance with the CAADP programme, agriculture-driven development is critical in the reduction of hunger and consequently reducing poverty and promoting economic growth (Tekere, 2012). While initiatives to promote agriculture especially in rural areas are important, it is equally important to have policies that address the reasons for poor agricultural production and food insecurity in Africa. For instance, some rural areas are ravaged by drought and cannot produce adequate crop yields. Equally, there are areas that receive a lot of rain but still produce meagre yields because of poor farming methods and lack of adequate methods to effectively use the available water resources (Barker, Van Koppen & Shah, 2000). Therefore, governments and the private sector have to invest in practices such as irrigation in drought-prone areas and educate people on modern methods to use and conserve water for maximum yields in areas that receive adequate rainfall. Another important policy that needs to be implemented is to increase the education of people in rural areas, and especially women. This is because education empowers people through skills that they can use to seek employment and take part in other economic activities such as doing different types of businesses. Notably, women are an important component of Africa’s development and poverty eradication efforts since they provide about 70 percent of the labour that is used in agriculture and also create a significant portion of the food that is generated through agriculture (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2016). Yet, many of the women in Africa have not received adequate formal education (Lukalo, 2013). Therefore, investing in women’s education will help ensure that women are able to play a bigger role in economic activities and thus help in efforts to alleviate poverty. This point is emphasised by the World Bank Group (2015), which has noted that promoting the education of women can be a game-changer for Africa, given that such investment significantly improves the women’s own life outcomes as well as those of their children. The implication of the statement by the World Bank Group is that educated women are more likely to play an active role in ensuring that their children are well fed, receive medical attention when needed, and are educated. This can in turn help in empowering future generations and help the educated children to escape poverty (Haq, 1995). Education is important for breaking the cycle of poverty that has characterised many families and societies in Africa. Notably, many children are unlikely to get formal education when their parents, and especially their mothers, did not receive formal education (Lukalo, 2013). This creates an intergenerational poverty trap (Lukalo, 2013). However, the poverty cycle is likely to be broken when parents take their children to school and the children in turn pass the same advantage to their children. Conclusion Although Africa has experienced significant economic growth in recent years, many people on the continent still live in abject poverty. This is attributed to factors such as lack of employment, poor governance and political instability, and climate change given that the continent largely relies on rain-fed agriculture. To deal with the issue of extreme poverty in Africa, this essay has discussed a number of policies that can and should be implemented. First is to address the issue of unemployment by empowering the poor people with skills that enable them to seek employment directly or through self-employment initiatives such as operating businesses. It has also been discussed that governments should align human capital development with the skills that are required in the labour market so that the poor people become relevant for the jobs that are available or that are emerging. Secondly, there is need to invest in ways to make agriculture more sustainable given that the majority of the people in Africa live in rural areas. Such initiatives should include practices such as irrigation and modern farming practices to increase crop yields and enhance food security. Thirdly, it has been pointed out that African governments should promote education and especially the education of women. This is because educated women have better prospects of engaging in economic activities and are also likely to ensure that their children have better life outcomes, which is critical for breaking the cycle of poverty between generations. References Agola, O., & Awange, J. L. (2014). 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