Reason of poverty: An executive Summary

Poverty is a macro problem. The causes are as wide as they are deep also. Some of the key reasons why people all over the world are poor and remain poor are political instability, natural disasters, corruption, socio-economic disparities and prejudice, lack of access to education, lack of infrastructure etc. Some other causes of poverty can be from acute conditions like warfare. The material and human destruction that is often caused by warfare is a major development problem (World Development Report 2000/2001).

An agricultural cycle is yet another cause of poverty. People that rely on fruits and vegetables that they produce for household food consumption often are faced with cycles of relative abundance of scarcity. The period before harvest is always a hungry period for families that rely on subsistence production for survival. During the scarcity periods, these families lack sufficient resources to meet their minimal nutritional needs. Droughts and flooding can cause poverty as well. Apart from destruction caused by natural events such as hurricanes, environmental forces always cause acute periods of crisis by destroying many crops and animals as well.