Poverty in Africa: Difference between revisions

{{refimprovemore citations needed|date=September 2017}}

[[File:Nairobi Kibera 04.JPG|330px|thumb|[[Kibera]] is the largest [[slum]] in [[Nairobi]], [[Kenya]].]]

'''Poverty in Africa''' is the lack of provision to satisfy the [[Basic needs|basic human needs]] of certain people in [[Africa]]. African nations typically fall toward the bottom of any list measuring small size economic activity, such as income per capita or [[GDP]] per capita, despite a wealth of natural resources. In 2009, 22 of 24 nations identified as having "Low Human Development" on the [[United Nations]]' (UN) [[Human Development Index]] were in [[Sub-Saharan Africa]].<ref>[http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/ International Human Development Indicators] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130112042847/http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/ |date=12 January 2013 }}. undp.org</ref> As of 2019, 424 million people in sub-Saharan Africa were reportedly living in severe poverty. In 2022, 460 million people—an increase of 36 million in only three years—were anticipated to be living in extreme poverty as a result of the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] and the [[Russo-Ukrainian War (2022)|Russo-Ukrainian war.]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bank |first=European Investment |url=https://www.eib.org/en/publications/finance-in-africa-navigating-the-financial-landscape-in-turbulent-times |title=Finance in Africa - Navigating the financial landscape in turbulent times |date=2022-10-19 |publisher=European Investment Bank |isbn=978-92-861-5382-2 |language=EN}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Africa might have dodged a bullet, but systemic warnings abound for poverty reduction efforts on the continent |url=https://blogs.worldbank.org/developmenttalk/africa-might-have-dodged-bullet-systemic-warnings-abound-poverty-reduction-efforts |access-date=2022-10-28 |website=blogs.worldbank.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Extreme poverty rises in West Africa due to COVID-19 pandemic {{!}} World Food Programme |url=https://www.wfp.org/news/extreme-poverty-rises-west-africa-due-covid-19-pandemic |access-date=2022-10-28 |website=www.wfp.org |language=en}}</ref>

In 2006, 34 of the 50 nations on the UN list of [[least developed countries]] were in Africa.<ref>[https://www.un.org/special-rep/ohrlls/ldc/list.htm LDCs List] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131026045553/http://www.un.org/special-rep/ohrlls/ldc/list.htm |date=26 October 2013 }}. un.org. Retrieved on 31 October 2011.</ref> In many nations, GDP per capita is less than US$5200 per year, with the vast majority of the population living on much less (according to [[World Bank]] data, by 2016 the [[island nation]] of [[Seychelles]] was the only African country with a [[GDP per capita]] above US$10,000 per year<ref>[https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD GDP per capita (current US$)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701072201/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD |date=1 July 2019 }}, [[World Bank]] website, retrieved 9 January 2018</ref>). In addition, Africa's share of income has been consistently dropping over the past century by any measure. In 1820, the average European worker earned about three times what the average African did. Now, the average European earns twenty times what the average African does.<ref>* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060728035445/http://www.prosi.net.mu/mag98/356sept/sachs356.htm A New Partnership for Growth in Africa]</ref> Although GDP per capita incomes in Africa have also been steadily growing, measures are still far better in other parts of the world.

There is no consensus on what the optimal strategy for land use in Africa may be. Studies by the National Academy of Sciences have suggested great promise in relying on native crops as a means of improving [[Food security in Africa|Africa's food security]]. A report by Future Harvest suggests that traditionally used forage plants show the same promise.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20061005040201/http://www.futureharvest.org/pdf/leafy_feature.pdf With Time Running Out, Scientists Attempt Rescue of African Vegetable Crops]. Future Harvest. 29 November 2001, </ref> Supporting a different viewpoint is an article appearing in ''AgBioForum'' which suggests that [[smallholding|smallholder]] farmers benefited substantially by planting a [[Genetic modification|genetically modified]] variety of maize.<ref>[http://agbioforum.org/v9n1/v9n1a02-gouse.htm AgBioForum 9(1): Three Seasons of Subsistence Insect-Resistant Maize in South Africa: Have Smallholders Benefited?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060626080942/http://www.agbioforum.org/v9n1/v9n1a02-gouse.htm |date=26 June 2006 }}. Agbioforum.org (31 May 2006). Retrieved on 2011-10-31.</ref> In a similar vein is an article discussing the use of nontraditional crops for export published as part of the proceedings of a Purdue University symposium.<ref>[http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ncnu02/v5-086.html Nontraditional Crop Production in Africa for Export] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216213104/https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ncnu02/v5-086.html |date=16 December 2019 }}. Hort.purdue.edu. Retrieved on 31 October 2011.</ref>

OverBetween 1960 and 1997,<ref name=":1" /> foreign nations sent over $500 billion (U.S.) has been sent to African nations in the form of direct aid.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Ayodele |first=Thompson |last2=Nolutshungu |first2=Temba A. |last3=Sunwabe |first3=Charles K. |date=September 14, 2005 |title=African Perspectives on Aid: Foreign Assistance Will Not Pull Africa Out of Poverty |url=https://www.cato.org/economic-development-bulletin/african-perspectives-aid-foreign-assistance-will-not-pull-africa-out |access-date=2023-09-23 |website=www.cato.org}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20051214132542/http://www.house.gov/jec/publications/109/12-09-05galliotcorruption.pdf Aid to Africa at Risk: Covering Up Corruption]. (PDF) . Retrieved on 31 October 2011.</ref><ref name=":1">[https://web.archive.org/web/20070928020616/http://www.odiousdebts.org/odiousdebts/index.cfm?DSP=content&ContentID=14272 Africa's reform efforts]. Odious Debts. Retrieved on 31 October 2011.</ref> The consensus is that the money has had little long-term effect.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/04/9824422/|title=Why foreign aid fails – and how to really help Africa|last1=A. Robinson|first1=James|last2=Acemoglu|first2=Daron|website=The Spectator|access-date=14 January 2019|quote=The idea that large donations can remedy poverty has dominated the theory of economic development — and the thinking in many international aid agencies and governments — since the 1950s. And how have the results been? Not so good, actually. Millions have moved out of abject poverty around the world over the past six decades, but that has had little to do with foreign aid. … In the meantime, more than a quarter of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa are poorer now than in 1960 — with no sign that foreign aid, however substantive, will end poverty there.|archive-date=24 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190924163858/https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/04/9824422/|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Cato Institute]] argues this is because, rather than increasing development, financial aid creates dependence on foreign investments.<ref name=":2" /> For example, as of 2005, the budgets of [[Ghana]] and [[Uganda]] were more than 50 percent aid-dependent.<ref name=":2" /> In 2002, then-president of Senegal, economist [[Abdoulaye Wade]], stated, "'I've never seen a country develop itself through aid or credit. Countries that have developed - in Europe, America, Japan, Asian countries like Taiwan, Korea and Singapore - have all believed in free markets. There is no mystery there. Africa took the wrong road after independence.<nowiki>''</nowiki><ref name=":2" />

Another example of misspent money is the [[Aswan High Dam]]. The dam was supposed to have modernized [[Egypt]] and [[Sudan]] immediately. Instead, the block of the natural flow of the [[Nile River]] meant that the Nile's natural supply of [[nitrate]] [[fertilizer]] and organic material was blocked. Now, about one-third of the dam's electric output goes directly into fertilizer production for what was previously the most fertile area on the planet. Moreover, the dam is [[silt]]ingsilting up]] and may cease to serve any useful purpose within the next few centuries. In addition, the [[Mediterranean Sea]] is slowly becoming more [[saline water|saline]] as the [[Nile River]] previously provided it with most of its new [[fresh water]] influx.

In the end, foreign aid may not even be helpful in the long run to many African nations. It often encourages them not to tax internal economic activities of multinational corporations within their borders to attract [[foreign direct investment|foreign investment]]. In addition, most African nations have at least some wealthy nationals, and foreign aid often allows them to avoid paying more than negligible taxes. As such, [[wealth redistribution]] and [[capital controls]] are often seen as a more appropriate way for African nations to stabilize funding for their government budgets and smooth out the boom and bust cycles that can often arise in a developing economy. However, this sort of strategy often leads to internal [[political dissent]] and [[capital flight]]. Sub-Saharan Africa's [[government debt]] rose from 28% of [[gross domestic product]] in 2012 to 50% of gross domestic product in 2019. The [[COVID-19 pandemic]] caused it to rise to 57% of [[gross domestic product]] in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |title=COVID-19 and Africa: Socio-economic implications and policy responses |url=https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/covid-19-and-africa-socio-economic-implications-and-policy-responses-96e1b282/ |access-date=2022-10-28 |website=OECD |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=For Sub-Saharan Africa, Coronavirus Crisis Calls for Policies for Greater Resilience |url=https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/afr/publication/for-sub-saharan-africa-coronavirus-crisis-calls-for-policies-for-greater-resilience |access-date=2022-10-28 |website=World Bank |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mukhopadhyay |first=Abhijit |title=The Search for Sustainable Solutions to Debt Accumulation in Sub-Saharan Africa |url=https://www.orfonline.org/research/the-search-for-sustainable-solutions-to-debt-accumulation-in-sub-saharan-africa/ |access-date=2022-10-28 |website=ORF |language=en-US}}</ref>

The greatest mortality in Africa arises from preventable [[Waterborne diseases|water-borne diseases]], which affect infants and young children greater than any other group. The principal cause of these diseases is the regional [[Water scarcity|water crisis]], or lack of safe [[drinking water]] primarily stemming from mixing [[sewage]] and [[drinking water|drinking]] [[water supply|water supplies]].<ref>{{Citation|last1=Sweetman|first1=Caroline|title=Prelims - Gender and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene|date=2019-01-02|doi=10.3362/9781788530866.000|work=Gender and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene|pages=i–vi|publisher=Practical Action Publishing|isbn=978-1-78853-083-5|last2=Medland|first2=Louise|s2cid=213264119 }}</ref>

Much attention has been given to the prevalence of [[AIDS in Africa]]. 3,000 Africans die each day of AIDS and an additional 11,000 are infected. Less than one percent are actually treated.<ref>{{Cite web|title=HIV and AIDS in East and Southern Africa regional overview|url=https://www.avert.org/professionals/hiv-around-world/sub-saharan-africa/overview|date=2015-07-20|website=Avert|language=en|access-date=2020-05-28|archive-date=9 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200409175801/https://www.avert.org/professionals/hiv-around-world/sub-saharan-africa/overview|url-status=live}}</ref> However, even with the widespread prevalence of AIDS (where infection rates can approach 30% among the sexually active population), and fatal infections such as the [[Ebola virus]], other diseases are far more problematic. In fact, the situation with AIDS is improving in some nations as infection rates drop, and deaths from Ebola are rare. On the other hand, diseases once common but now almost unknown in most of the industrialized world, like [[malaria]], [[tuberculosis]], [[tapeworm]] and [[dysentery]] often claim far more victims, particularly among the young. [[Polio]] has made a comeback recently due to misinformation spread by anti-American Islamic groups in [[Nigeria]]. Diseases native to Africa, such as [[African trypanosomiasis|sleeping sickness]], also resist attempts at elimination too.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Powlson|first=Mark|date=2002-02-01|title=The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine/The Oxford Illustrated Companion to Medicine|journal=BMJ|volume=324|issue=Suppl S2|pages=020240a|doi=10.1136/sbmj.020240a|s2cid=201883828|issn=1756-1833|pmc=1122017}}</ref>

[[File:Décharge agbogbloshie.jpg|thumb|People in [[Agbogbloshie]], near the center of [[Accra]], [[Ghana]]'s capital city]]

[[Colonialism]] concentrated on connecting the coast with internal territories. As such, nearly none of Africa's roads and [[railways]] connect with each other in any meaningful way. Connecting Africa's extensive railway network has recently become a priority for African nations outside of southwest Africa, which has an integrated network. {{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}

Transportation between neighbouring coastal settlements is nearly always by sea, no matter the topography of the land in between them. Even basic services like telecommunications are often treated the same way. For example, phone calls between [[Ghana]] and neighbouring [[Ivory Coast]] once had to be routed through [[United Kingdom|Britain]] and [[France]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}

Although Africa had numerous pre-European overland [[Tradetrade route|trade routes]]s, few are suitable for modern transport such as trucks or railways, especially when they cross old European colonial borders. Another problem is that in many countries the roads, railway tracks, railway rolling stock, ships and ports are often old and badly maintained and many transportation systems have barely been updated and further developed since the end of colonialism.<ref name="Williams, Donald C. 2012">{{Cite book|author=Williams, Donald C.|title=Global urban growth : a reference handbook|date=2012|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-441-2|oclc=745980469}}</ref>

[[File:Ongoing conflicts around the world.svg|thumb|Locations of [[List of ongoing armed conflicts|ongoing in 2017|armed conflicts worldwide]] in 2021]]

Despite other hot spots for war, Africa consistently remains among the top places for ongoing conflicts, consisting of both long-standing [[Civilcivil war|civil wars]]s (e.g. [[Somalia]], [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]]), ethnic conflicts that even resulted in [[Genocide|genocidesgenocide]]s (e.g. the [[Rwandan genocide]]) and conflicts between countries.

The long-standing civil wars are in part due to the [[Partition (politics)|border-drawing]] of the late 19th century's [[Scramble for Africa]], which accidentally did not take into account the various ethnic groups due to lack of local knowledge and research.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The long-run effects of the Scramble for Africa|url=https://voxeu.org/article/long-run-effects-scramble-africa|last1=Michalopoulos|first1=Stelios|last2=Papaioannou|first2=Elias|date=2012-01-06|website=VoxEU.org|access-date=2020-05-25|archive-date=29 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929213952/https://voxeu.org/article/long-run-effects-scramble-africa|url-status=live}}</ref> Post [[Decolonisation of Africa|decolonization]], the European-set borders were accepted by various leaders; however, there remains internal and cross-border struggles, and separatist concerns by popular demand to the governments as they transition to democracy, leading to fears of further destabilization.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Dividing of a Continent: Africa's Separatist Problem|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/09/the-dividing-of-a-continent-africas-separatist-problem/262171/|last=Fisher|first=Max|date=2012-09-10|website=The Atlantic|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-25|archive-date=10 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610193027/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/09/the-dividing-of-a-continent-africas-separatist-problem/262171/|url-status=live}}</ref>

As a result, Africa is full of [[refugees]], who are often deliberately displaced by military forces during a conflict, rather than just having fled from war-torn areas. Although many refugees emigrate to open countries such as [[Germany]], [[Canada]], and the [[United States]], the ones who do emigrate are often the most educated and skilled. The remainder often become a burden on neighbouring African nations that, while peaceful, are generally unable to deal with the logistical problems refugees pose as these nations are often already barely capable of fulfilling the needs of their own population.<ref>{{Cite book|authorname="Williams, Donald C.|title=Global urban growth : a reference handbook|date=2012|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-441-2|oclc=745980469}}<"/ref>

The link between [[climate change and poverty]] has been examined.<ref name=ODI>Andrew Shepherd, Tom Mitchell, Kirsty Lewis, Amanda Lenhardt, Lindsey Jones, Lucy Scott and Robert Muir-Wood (2013) [http://www.odi.org/publications/7491-geography-poverty-disasters-climate-change-2030 "The geography of poverty, disasters and climate extremes in 2030"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110135407/http://www.odi.org/publications/7491-geography-poverty-disasters-climate-change-2030 |date=10 November 2014 }} London: [[Overseas Development Institute]]</ref> [[Climate change]] is likely to increase the size, frequency, and unpredictability of natural hazards. However, there is nothing natural about the transformation of natural hazards into disasters. The severity of a disaster's impact is dependent on existing levels of vulnerability, the extent of exposure to disaster event and the nature of the hazard.<ref name=ODI/> A communities'community’s risk to disaster is dynamic and will change over space and time. It is heavily influenced by the interplay between economic, socio-cultural and demographic factors, as well as skewed development, such as rapid and unplanned [[Urban planning in Africa| urbanisation]].<ref name=ODI/>

[[File:African countries by HDI (2020).svg|thumb|250x250px|African countries by Human Development Index 2019 (higher values indicate higher standards of living).

Africa's economic malaise is self-perpetuating, as it engenders more of the disease, warfare, misgovernment, and corruption that created it in the first place. Other effects of poverty have similar consequences. The most direct consequence of low [[GDP]] is Africa's low [[standard of living]] and [[quality of life]]. Except for a wealthy elite and the more prosperous peoples of South Africa and the [[Maghreb]], Africans have very few consumer goods. Quality of life does not correlate exactly with a nation's wealth. [[Angola]], for instance, reaps large sums annually from its diamond mines, but after years of civil war, conditions there remain poor. [[Radio]]s, televisions, and [[automobile]]s are rare luxuries. Most Africans are on the far side of the [[digital divide]] and are cut off from communications technology and the [[Internet]], however, use of mobile phones has been growing dramatically in recent years with 65% of Africans having access to a mobile phone as of 2011.<ref>{{Cite webnews |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/jul/24/mobile-phones-africa-microfinance-farming |title=ArchivedAfrica's copymobile economic revolution &#124; Technology &#124; the Guardian |website=[[TheGuardian.com]] |date=23 July 2011 |access-date=17 December 2016 |archive-date=27 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161127162612/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/jul/24/mobile-phones-africa-microfinance-farming |url-status=live |last1=Fox |first1=Killian }}</ref> Quality of life and human development are also low. African nations dominate the lower reaches of the [[UN]] [[Human Development Index]]. [[Infant mortality]] is high, while [[life expectancy]], [[literacy]], and [[education]] are all low. The UN also lowers the ranking of African states because the continent sees greater inequality than any other region. The best educated often choose to leave the continent for the West or the [[Persian Gulf]] to seek a better life.

Catastrophes cause deadly periods of great shortages. The most damaging are the [[famine]]s that have regularly hit the continent, especially the [[Horn of Africa]]. These have been caused by disruptions due to warfare, years of [[drought]], and plagues of [[desert locust|locusts]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, issuing body|title=The impact of disasters and crises on agriculture and food security, 2017.|date=15 May 2018 |isbn=978-92-5-130359-27|oclc=1032582346}}</ref>

*Milich, Lenard (1997) [http://ag.arizona.edu/~lmilich/afoodsec.html Food security in Pre-Colonial Hausaland]

* {{citation |url=https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21676774-africans-are-mainly-rich-or-poor-not-middle-class-should-worry |worknewspaper=The Economist |location=UK |title= Africa's middle class: Few and far between |date= 22 October 2015

* [[African Development Bank Group]]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20150608040828/https://www.afdb.org/en/topics-and-sectors/topics/poverty-reduction/knowledge-products/ Poverty Reduction: Knowledge Products] (publications)