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By Nazima Saleem Khan..Green Hopes Volunteer
Poverty Reduction is a constant and continuous effort.The bitter fight against poverty has not produced the desired results and poverty alleviation is a far fetched dream as yet.What is most likely to impede our fight against poverty is the growing threat of drastic climate change due to global warming.According to recent research conducted by the world bank
• At the current rate of progress there will still be 1 billion people living below $1.25 per day in 2015.
• Most of the 600 million people who escaped absolute poverty by the $1.25 per day standard over 1981-2005 are still poor by the standards of middle-income developing countries, and certainly by the standards of what poverty means in rich countries.
• And the Bank’s estimates suggest less progress in getting over the $2 per day hurdle. Indeed, we have seen no change in the number of people living below $2 per day at around 2.5 billion,between 1981 and 2005, although the number has fallen since the late 1990s (having risen prior to that).
• The number of people living between $1.25 and $2 has doubled from about 600 million to 1.2 billion between 1981 and 2005.
• Clearly a great many people remain vulnerable to aggregate economic contractions including rising food and fuel prices since 2005.
The latest estimates on poverty from the World Bank have bad news for India in that:
India is home to roughly one-third of all poor people in the world. It also has a higher proportion of its population living on less than $2 per day than even sub-Saharan Africa.
The rate of decline of poverty in India was faster between 1981 and 1990 than between 1990 and 2005.
India, according to the new estimates, had 456 million people or about 42% of the population living below the new international poverty line of $1.25 per day. The number of Indian poor also constitute 33% of the global poor, which is pegged at 1.4 billion people.
India also had 828 million people, or 75.6% of the population living below $2 a day. Sub-Saharan Africa, considered the world’s poorest region, is better — it has 72.2% of its population (551m) people below the $2 a day level.
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We talk of Barbarians, the Huns, and other so-called invaders and a few others known as “crusaders”. Almost all of these are known to us in the words of the Western Intellectual traditions. Interestingly, we also fall prey to the statements such as the following: “Kashmir is the Switzerland of India” … “Alleppey is the Venice of India” … “Coimbatore is the Manchester of India” … and many more. We in the eastern world would always wish to be “known” in parlance with the western thoughts and paradigms. There are idioms such as “of potatoes and cabbages” … and the like, which are copied ditto by even the “original” writers and thinkers here, as though that is the way we need to write and express. Our entire systems of governance, economics, business, education and many activities like tourist operations are TUNED to western ethos and western culture/ traditions. We want our youngsters to learn the use of fork and knife, as well as western customs and “table manners”; “cutting the cake” is the fashion on birth days… The lists would go on … Our entire education system is tuned to convert the greatest of our resources – the young and dynamic youth – to become mere “technical clerks’ of the western world.
If we dispassionately study the history of “explorations and invasions”, we have so many facts that tell how the western civilization were responsible for the destructions and wiping off several peaceful civilizations and human settlements from the Incas to the colonization of the entire African region. They were not merely satisfied with such colonization alone. But, perpetrated the destruction of entire species of the natural surroundings in almost all these places they conquered; and forcefully brought in alien species to replace all local natural species. Examples are: Oil palm, rubber, coffee, vanilla, tea and the like in the Eastern world, all of which have destroyed many local species, resulting in tremendous changes in the patterns of the local ecology, local living conditions and in fact, destroying a whole culture. Natural local species such as Coconut, Jackfruit, Local banana, and many local vegetables have been either destroyed or are neglected to the levels of getting into extinction. In a different fashion, many African and South American species have been over exploited for businesses in Europe and Americas – the case of Cocoa and Cashew are examples. The fact to be understood here is that the very low profile peace loving civilizations in all these regions were simply subservient to the white invaders, who had absolutely no stake in the thousands of years old civilizations of the different regions. And, they (the white invaders) could get away with anything, as they pleased. Although such invasions, plundering and destructions began as early as 350 BC during Alexander, the real thrust began during the middle ages, when “great explorers” took to the seas, challenging all odds, to seek fortunes in foreign lands!
Today, we are where we are! A world wherein the entire thoughts and actions are dictated and directed by a small minority western civilization, of European origin – whether in Australia or New Zealand, Poland or Kosovo, Mexico or Brazil, Philippines or Bahamas, Nigeria or South Africa … if they decide to impose GM foods against the wishes of local communities, it is no body’s concern … a very pathetic unipolar situation, wherein the minority groups snatch the resources of the majority.
The answer lies in a THREE-pronged attack:
1.First and foremost, “poverty alleviation” must necessarily be a techno-socio-environmental economic process that redefines the science, technology, philosophy and managerial entrepreneurship pertaining to the “new” development paradigm; and, in order that the resultant development activities are self sustaining, every such activity would have to compete one-to-one with so-called modern technologies and standards;
2.The said development paradigm would have to be such that all activities are centered in the poorest areas, creating conditions for the local population to earn their livelihood in ones own home environment, resulting in increased purchasing power, which alone can empower the poverty stricken people;
3.Finally, the new development theme must necessarily be a profitable business system, capable of attracting normal business funds when weighed against any existing scheme of things; additionally, and not the least, the systems of activities would have to offer long range solutions to the local problems and needs, using local resources, and enhancing local wisdom, without creating ecological and environment deterioration. In essence, this new paradigm should be a self sustainable commercial program
Best wishes
Hariharan PV
http://www.agro-biogenics.com/Index.htm