Poverty is a global problem
The problem of dire poverty is solvable provided there is a collective will and a willingness to think out of the box
Khalaf Al Habtoor
It is a great shame that advocates for the almost 1.3 billion people suffering from extreme poverty are often met with deaf ears. There is much ado about terrorism, and rightly so, but the fact is that poverty-related factors claim many more lives.
Half the worlds population lives under the poverty line, which varies from country to country. The worst affected are developing countries in Africa and Asia, but 40 million Americans, seven million Britons and almost a quarter of all European Union nationals are also classed as being poor.
As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality exist in our world, none of us can truly rest, said the late South African president Nelson Mandela. If only that were so. Sadly, the poor have become the invisible and voiceless, seen but disregarded as a mere nuisance cluttering the landscape or as a burden on taxpayers.
Governments would rather spend on military hardware than on ways to lift their citizens, deprived of decent housing, nutritious food, electricity and clean water, out of their misery.
Such attitudes on the part of authorities are not only immoral but wrong-headed and short-sighted. As we have witnessed in many countries over the decades, sooner or later the forgotten coalesce on the streets to overturn leaderships.
Poverty has many other side effects apart from starvation and disease. It is known to fuel violence in the home, child abandonment, child labour, slavery, criminal gangs, substance abuse and, according to some experts, terrorism.
So what can be done about it?
The United Nations Millennium Development Goals have had some success, but the pace is far too slow to bring relief to people struggling to keeps their heads above water now. UN agencies and charities do their best, but are underfunded due to donor fatigue. The World Food Programme was forced to slash food allowances to Syrian refugees and, more recently, cut food rations to 200,000 refugees in Uganda by 50 per cent.
The problem of dire poverty is solvable provided there is a collective will and a willingness to think out of the box. When just eight of the worlds richest people own as much combined wealth as half of the human race, aiding the underprivileged should be seen as a moral and religious duty. To quote Pope Francis: We cannot wait any longer to deal with the structural causes of poverty, in order to heal our society from an illness that can only lead to new crises.
In 2011, Western Michigan University researchers found that for each $1 spent by Heifer in Albania, Nepal and Uganda, families had income gains of $2.35, $1.19 and $1.25 per year, respectively, and total asset gains of $3.37, $3.18 and $2.81, respectively. By contrast, in an article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Kevin Starr and Laura Hattendorf profiled a cash transfer programme in Uganda that gave grants to Ugandan youth in exchange for a business plan. When calculated for three-year gains, the cost effectiveness of that programme was only $1.03 for every $1 of grant money received.
We arent worried that recipients will spend cash on temptation goods. Rather, we are addressing the root causes of the problems our participants report. They cant afford high quality livestock. Improved breeds and artificial insemination materials arent consistently available. They havent been trained in animal welfare or environmentally sensitive animal husbandry. They dont have access to veterinarians. They are struggling to adapt to farming in the face of climate change.
When our participants follow our animal management practices, cows, for example, can produce up to 15 litres of milk a day compared to one litre produced per day by local breeds. Of course, there is a cost associated with improved livestock and the training we provide, but the benefits carry forward for generations as farmers pass on their knowledge, not to mention the passing on of livestock offspring. Additionally, the biggest hurdle for poor farmers to surmount is often a lack of access to markets. We help farmers create farmer-owned cooperatives and link them to markets where they can collectively bargain for better prices and share the costs of getting to market.
I would also like to turn the tables on the discussion and ask why self-reliance is not being considered as a measure of success for cash transfers. Childrens diets can certainly improve when their families are given cash. But how long can those improvements be sustained when the community is underdeveloped? Does giving a family $1,000 mean that the seven-year-old daughter will still be receiving adequate nutrition when she is of childbearing age? Thats research I would like to see.
Continually pitting cash against cows is unproductive. There are times when cash transfers are more appropriate, and times when livestock is the most fitting gift we can give. Donors must examine what effect they wish to make and give accordingly. But disparaging organisations such as Heifer International to make the case for giving cash does nothing to benefit people living in extreme hunger and poverty. One answer is the global implementation of a faith-based poverty eradication tax, requiring close cooperation between governments and religious authorities under the auspices of the UN. Reports issued by the EU, the United Nations University and the World Institute for Development and Economic Research have all concluded that global taxation is not only technically feasible but also desirable. Tithing, in which the faithful are obliged to give a percentage of their income to the poor, is the third pillar of the Islamic faith and one of the bedrocks of both Judaism and Christianity.
It is my belief that permitting religious principles to underpin our efforts will bear fruit if the following methodology is used:
An independent organisation should be formed and supervised by a rotating committee made up of representatives from member states, tasked with pinpointing areas of need in coordination with the various organs of the UN, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and various NGOs, charities, philanthropic individuals and governments.
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