Poverty in the Developing Economies

Essay by sandrakUniversity, Bachelor'sA, January 2012

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The main causes of poverty in developing countries and policy measures to reduce such poverty.

1.0 Introduction

Poverty has been described as the worst enemy of the human race but then, it is still very much existing in the developing economies in chronic and dire measures. According to IFAD (2001) nearly 1 billion people are impoverished and are denied access to basic needs of life. Therefore, there is need for urgent and combined action to fight poverty. In spite of this fact, poverty has continued to threaten the human race in the developing economies by encouraging diseases, malnutrition including health problems. For this reason, it is imperative to understand what the underlying factors that contribute to poverty in the developing economies are. With this in mind, this essay is divided into two sections following the present section. The first one explores and discusses the causes of poverty in the developing economies while the second proposes policy actions and measures that can be adopted by policy makers in the developing economies.

The last section concludes this essay based on the highlights and main ideas of the ideas explored in section 2.

2.0 The Underlying Causes of Poverty in Developing Economies

There are prominent scores of empirical research on the causes and consequences of poverty in the developing economies but surprisingly only a small number agree on its main causes. Some past researchers have identified the causes of poverty as those incessant wars and conflicts which characterises many developing economies as in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Others have used the socialistic and political nature of third world countries to justify its root and cause of poverty. Several other researchers have explained the political manoeuvrings of the west as the root causes of poverty in the developing economies in what they describe...