Poverty in Africa, the widespread effects of poverty in Africa have had substantial effects on the society, environment, and economy of Africa.

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Jarrett Welter                                                                                          Welter 1

Mrs. Inch

CGW4U

January 9th, 2012

Poverty in Africa

Poverty in Africa is a world issue because many countries on the continent are living in poverty and there is little money for the basic necessities of life. This situation of a low standard of living is clearly reflected in the Human Development Index where African nations are typically near the bottom, despite the continents wealth of natural resources. One factor that causes poverty in Africa is misused money, which affects both the society and economy. Over five hundred billion dollars has been sent to African nations in the form of direct aid but the money has had little long term affect (Poverty in Africa). Poverty affects Africa’s society because it contributes to the spread of disease which is the leading cause of mortality in Africa and colonialism also plays a part. Another factor that contributes to the poverty is the distribution of wealth. Africa has a large wealth gap with very few wealthy people and lots of poor people. Poverty in Africa lowers the social, environmental, and economic status of African nations but there are solutions.

Poverty affects the lives of many people in Africa. One main factor that contributes to the poverty in Africa is the mismanagement of land. Despite the large amounts of arable land in the southern part of Africa, small, individual land holdings are

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rare. In South Africa, most of the land is often in the hands of descendants of European

settlers of the late 19th century and early 20th century. According to a 2005 IRIN report about 82% of arable land in South Africa is owned by those of European descent (Poverty in Africa Wikipedia). In some nations laws prevent people from disadvantaged groups to own land at all, although these laws are often ignored and land sales to disadvantaged groups occur, legal title to the land is often not assured, this causes most rural Africans to survive as farm laborers. Most African nations have very poor land registration systems and this causes land theft to be a common occurrence and it also makes it extremely difficult to acquire a mortgage or any type of similar loan as ownership of the property often can not be established. Another factor that contributes significantly to poverty in Africa is misused money which affects the economy negatively. Most African nations have borrowed substantial amounts of money and most of it was spent on weapons or used inappropriately by corrupt governments, as a result they now have large debts. These large debts usually result in little being spent on social services, such as education or medical care. To make matters worse most of these African nations that are in debt have been in debt for years and now most of the debt currently owed represents only the interest portion of the debt and it far exceeds the amounts that were actually borrowed. Most African nations are now trying for debt relief because they are unable to maintain payments but most plans to reduce or forgive debt affect only the smallest nations, and large debtor nations, such as Nigeria, are often excluded from these plans. Also another factor that affects Africa's society and contributes to poverty is disease. Poverty is linked to disease because it

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causes water borne disease and there are few hospitals and no money for medication. The main cause of the water borne diseases is the lack of safe drinking water, caused primarily from mixing sewage and drinking supplies. Colonialism also contributed to the poverty in Africa because colonialism concentrated on joining the coast with internal territories and as a result nearly none of Africa's roads or railways connect in any meaningful way. Joining Africa's roads and extensive railways has recently become a priority for African countries. The economic impact of the colonialism in Africa has been debated. Africa's greatest wealth was in the 1960's, just prior to decolonization. African nations have yet to return to this level of wealth. To achieve wealth during this colonial period, African nations geared their economies towards exporting raw materials. Egypt produced cotton, Ruanda-Urundi was dedicated to growing coffee, and French Upper Volta specialized in palm oil. During the Scramble for Africa in the late 19th century, European powers divided Africa and its resources into political divisions. By 1905, African soil was almost completely controlled by European governments. Once independent, European administrators disappeared and consequently African nations lacked individuals with training or education to operate the government they had inherited. It is evident that poverty in Africa is a major issue affecting not only the environment and economy, but also the society.

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Poverty is a major issue affecting Africa's society significantly. It directly affects the society because it causes a low standard of living and low quality of life. There are many negative effects in Africa's society due to poverty. Poverty affects Africa's society

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negatively because it causes high birth and death rates. Also it causes infant mortality rates to be high, while life expectancy, literacy, and education are all low. Poverty causes unemployment and since literacy and education are low there is little employment opportunities and as a result the best educated often ...

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