Globalization Poverty and Development

8/9/2019 Globalization Poverty and Development

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GLOBALIZATION POVERTY AND DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

Professor Ahmad Neaz, PhD

Ameria! I!"er!a"io!a# $!i%ersi"&'Ba!(#adesh

(AIUB))hoo# of B*si!ess a!d Eo!omis+-

(Earlier version of this Article was published in Bangladesh Journal of PoliticalEconom! "ol#$$! and %o#&! $''&)


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TRADITIONAL DEVELOPMENT )TRATEGY

Professor Ahmad A.N. Neaz, PhD.

/. Ba0(ro*!dIt is the greatest parado of our time that even in the later part of the twentieth centur! in the midstof tremendous technological progress! hunger poses a threat to manind# In the ear $'*'! lone!about +, million people literall died of starvation and another -,, million were in the grip ofpovert# .ince the beginning of the $'-,/s! man African countries have been through a disastrousfamine# 0limpses of the probable future are also cause for even greater gloom# 1espite all itsdevastating effect on the human race! the problem of povert has been fre2uentl ignored# It isreall perpleing to note that while man can afford to spend three million U. dollars a minute onthe arms race! onl a fraction of that could ade2uatel solve the problem of mass povert# It thesituation is allowed to continue! human civili3ation will face a complete social! political andeconomic night mare# It should be recogni3ed that in toda/s increasingl interdependent world! the

conse2uences would not be confined to the poorer countries alone#

4hen people reali3e that millions are unfed! malnourished and under the grip of etreme povert!the ma not owing to their altruistic nature sit as passive spectators# In the ear $'-5! theappalling pictures of famine! particularl from Ethiopia! which were shown in 6elevision made adeep impression on people at large# Although a little late! the came out with a smpatheticgesture! b etending their help! to overcome the crisis# 6he epected that their effort would helpto improve the situation and African countries would never again have to go through the disastrousand humiliating conse2uences of famine# But the eperience shows that such an epectation mabe doomed to be futile# %ot long ago! in the midst of a disastrous famine in Bangladesh and the.ahel region! / 4orld food 1a/ was observed b 7A8 in 9ome# in the :ear $'*5! where an

admirable pronouncement was made; no child should go to bed hungr within a decade< and aftera decade in the ear $'-5 U%I=E7 ( 6he United %ations =hildren 7und) estimated that around $+million children of the world died of malnutrition and preventable illness in the same ear#

In fact it is not an eas tas to change the situation# 6here is no facile solution to this seriousproblem# 4hat we are faced with is a full> scale war against hunger and povert# 6he war has ?ustbegun! it is the greatest tas of our time to learn how to rescue people from the realm of hungerand povert and lead them on the arena of libert and prosperit# 7ollowing the world socialconference in =openhagen! $''@ has been mared as the ear for fighting against global povert#

As we now! the problem of hunger and povert is a problem of development and the solution must

be sought within the process of development itself# At this point before looing for a new solutionwe must learn from the eperience of previous efforts in this direction! particularl as to how theproblem has been identified and what policies have been followed# 6heir depth and dimensionsuccess and failure must be anal3ed with care! so that future endeavor can be better directed toattain their aims and ob?ective#

+. Theore"ia# )1e"r*m of De%e#o1me!"


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6he histor of development concerning manind is as old as human civili3ation itself# Its hori3onhas broadened in conse2uence of people/s search for a better life! b improving their material andsocial conditions in different historical epochs# an/s collective efforts! epansion of nowledge andhis capacit to innovate have plaed a decisive role! in creating epoch maing histor# 7or manmillennia! the process of development has been slow# 6he European renaissance came as an

internal transfinite drive! towards improving conditions! in which new sets of rules becamelegitimi3ed# Progress in the field of philosoph! natural and social science along with engineeringand technolog made it possible for man to enter into a new hori3on of development! through theindustrial revolution#

Under a particular time and space dimension! development possibilities are limited b natural laws#Although man cannot change those laws! with proper understanding he can attain the capacit tomanipulate his environment through scientific innovation and technological improvement# 6he%ewtonian paradigm came as a ma?or breathrough in this regard# 6he concept of deterministicand time reversible laws where the world was seen as a vast automation; and man appeared asbeing outside nature! as a free agent in a mechanical universe; was the obvious outcome of the

%ewtonian endeavor# 6he search for ob?ectivit was the philosophical foundation that reall forcedeconomists to introduce scientific methods in its application# =lassical and neo> classicaleconomists also pretended to follow the %ewtonian philosoph b considering a closedautonomous sstem! ruled b endogenous factors of a highl selective nature! self>regulating andmoving to a determinate predictable point of e2uilibrium#

As we now! human vision does not proceed too far from the social dimension within which manhas to live# 6he earl stage of capitalism had been envisioned b Adam> .mith and 9icardo whoconceived the idea of a laisse3 faire econom! where a rational individual would be tring tomaimi3e his profit in an open and free competition# owever! their world was dominated b theproblem of scarcit and uncertaint and that being so the pursued their theories in the direction ofproduction and suppl to reach e2uilibrium# Carl ar saw the rising trend of capitalism andidentified its unstable and dise2uilibrium condition that led to advocate the idea of socialism andcommunism# 4ith the development of capitalism! the changing structure of age>old societbecomes more adaptive to the response of scientific and technological progress that enormouslincreased the capacit to use and eploit resources and to induce a powerful eplosion inproduction# As a result the nature of the economic problem changed from production and suppl toconsumption and demand# Under such circumstances! Cenes identified the chronic tendenc ofthe laisse3>fare maret econom to generate involuntar unemploment and he prescribedgovernmental intervention for boosting effective demand to avert the tendenc#

It is apparent that the contradiction between absolute individualism and absolute collectivism in thecapitalist and socialist structures tended in the direction of a ind of snthesis in both sstems!while the have confronting harsh realities# 6he sstems however are poles apart on such issuesas problem identifications and polic suggestions since the pretend to show their differences infundamental values as well as in their aims! ob?ectives! means and ends# Unlie the capitalistsstem! socialist policies have tried to correct labor contributions in terms of sociall necessarlabor through planning mechanisms and through introducing collective ownership of the means ofproduction# 4hat needs to be eamined further is which sstem would be more efficient for


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attaining specific ob?ectives and whether there is an possibilit of snthesi3ing them on the basisof the eperience of the sstems! in particular circumstances#

It is to be ept in mind that the theories we have discussed so far! mainl concern the problem ofthe advanced world which could complete the industrial revolution# 6here is no doubt that through

successful industrial revolution the developed world could provide a decent standard of living forthe ma?orit of its population# As the .cottish poet ugh ac 1iarmid in his Dament for greatusic sas#

The struggle for material existence is over. It has been won.The needs for repression and disciplines have passed.The struggle for truth and that indescribable necessity,

Beauty begins now, hampered by none of the lower needs.No, one now needs live less, or be less than his utmost"

6hese words are not merel an epression of an imaginar phenomenon# It is also a fact of life! atleast for a small number of the wors population# 6he tragic fact remains that most people of theworld dwelling in the developing nations lac the var necessities of subsistence# 6he are beingdrawn into a web of deception and despair# Indeed the live far less than their utmost! and remainstuc in an ab?ect povert>a condition of life characteri3ed b hunger! malnutrition! ill health andlac of other basic necessities for survival#6he magnificent success of the industrial revolution onl spread over 4estern Europe! %orthAmerica! and Australia and at a later stage Japan# 6he obvious 2uestion wh the industrialrevolution had to wait until the $* thcentur and wh it did not more smoothl spread over the otherparts of the world is a matter of intense stud# Anwa! it is not a sub?ect of our present endeavor# Itis evident that the epansion of nowledge through cumulative human eperience created

tremendous possibilities for man to deal with the development problem# .cientific andtechnological progress promises enormous production possibilities but social success to a largeetent are incapable of acting coherentl in the real world and failed to coordinate much of thisprogress into practice# As a result! man has attained capacit as well as incapacit; is capable ofproviding food and other basic necessities to the entire population of the world but is incapable ofdoing so because of limitations of the geo>political and socio> economic structure#

2. De%e#o1me!" Eo!omis a!d Co!%e!"io!a# )"ra"e(&.1evelopment did not evolve as an independent field of stud until the &ndworld war! when a groupof economists who 2uicl identified them as the off>spring of the Cenesian mainstream! created anew branch of economics now as Fdevelopment economicsG# It deals with the economics of those

countries which are firml anchored to the peripher of the capitalist sstem without ade2uatedevelopment of capitalism# A group of eperts! appointed b the U% secretar 0eneral! prepared areport in the ear $'+$ entitled easures for the Economic 1evelopment of Underdeveloped=ountries which prescribed a strateg termed as the conventional strateg b us# It wasformulated for a wider audience of polic maers and was virtuall unchanged down to the end of$'@,s#


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1uring the $'+,s! 2uite a number of development models surfaced and identified their intellectualinship to the paradigm that emerged from the above> mentioned report# .ome of these are ($)ans .inger ( $'+&) 6he echanisms of Economic 1evelopment; (&) %urse ( $'+H) Balanced0rowth ; (H) Dewis ($'+5) 1evelopment with Unlimited .upplies of Dabour; ( 5) %elson ($'+@) lowlevel E2uilibrium 6rap ( +) 9osenstein 9adan ($'+*) Big push (@) Debenstein ($'+*) =ritical

inimum Effort; ( *) .inger ( $'+-) Bottlenec breaing and ( -) irschman ( $'+-) Unbalancedgrowth# 6hose models were helpful in formulating and appling the conventional strateg in a morecoherent and consistent manner# In addition to this arrod>1omor model! Deontief model and.ollow>.own model contributed a great deal to implement the traditional strateg#

In this conventional strateg ob?ectives and processes were viewed solel in economic terms andgreat reliance was placed no economic factors to achieve results# It emphasi3es higher economicgrowth! to be accomplished at an cost through the accumulation of capital and its investment inindustriali3ation! moderni3ation and urbani3ation through a top> down process of central planningand control# =onventional planners recogni3ed increased pre> capita 0%P as the main ob?ectiveand ardstic of the performance of development# Agriculture and rural development were

neglected till the latter part of the @,/s in the hope of a great industrial leap forward which wouldlead to the creation of sufficient emploment opportunities there! leading to a transformation fromrural agriculture to urban industr# It was epected that the 2uestion of distributive ?ustice would betae care automaticall! through the tricle down process# In principle! the strateg pursued thepolic of ine2ualit owing to the conviction that it is efficient for growth and inevitable in the earlstage of development#

)*ess )"ories=onventional strateg! with its effort over a period of more than H+ ears claimed spectaculareconomic growth on a global scale; in the ear $'-,! gross product per capita reached U. $&&,and it was epected to increase at an annual rate of about H# 8n this basis! real goods per capitawould double ever &H ears or in other words approimatel in a single generation! provided ofcourse! that this rate were sustained# Judged also b man of the normal measures of socialdevelopment! conventional strateg can be labeled a success# Dife epectanc at birth indeveloping nations rose from an average of 5& ears in $'+, to +' ears in $'- Infant mortalitwas halved and the primar school enrollment rate increased from +, to '5# 4orld 7oodProduction also achieved some success# easured globall there has been enough food to feed itsentire population with more than H!,,, calories and @+ grams of protein dail! which is more than isconsumed b the 4est European average# In the ear $'-*! 5*+ million tons of food grain wasestimated as surplus and a considerable portion of that was misused and damaged owing to lacof storage facilities# 6he statistics 2uoted above portras a prosperous future for all manind andseems to rule out the possibilit of an ind of scarcit on a global scale#

3ha" 4as 4ro!(5In spite of this tremendous success a serious a serious crisis eists in the current world# 6his is notdue to shortage or scarcit on an international scale! but to maldistribution# 0lobal figures havever little meaning because the conceal tremendous ine2ualit# 6he world population alreadeceeds @ billion and more than -, of them live in the developing nations# Around +, of theworld populations dwell in H@ countries with average per capita income below U. H-,! which isless than one third of the average global income 2uoted earlier# 6he difference in standard of living


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=onventional strateg offered the same prescription for all and those who accepted it! sufferedfrom man side effects due to the fact that institutions! organi3ational capacities! administrativetalents! leverage! drive and willingness are not identical in all the developing nations# an of thedeveloping countries accepted foreign aid as an unmied blessing# As a result! the san deeperand deeper into debt# .till we can not draw the conclusion that foreign capital must alwas be

harmful# In fact countries lie Australia and =anada received much higher amounts of foreigncapital during their investment boom and the could utili3e them properl# Internal institution! 2ualitof foreign aid and proper planning and control are the e factors to be considered within the socialand political rigidities that restrict a countr/s capacit to ad?ust#

6he conventional planners tried to reconcile the 4estern concept of development/ withpreconceived ideas through a top> down process of central planning and control# 6he failed tograsp the problem of development under specific circumstances and could not combine social!political economical and other variables in the right proportion# It has become clear thatdevelopment cannot be a mere transfer of capital and technolog without regard to differences inmaterial and human factors#

6. The Ne4 )"reams of De%e#o1me!" Tho*(h".0rowing disillusionment about conventional strateg has aroused controvers and suspicionamong group across the spectrum of development thining# %ew streams of ideas have beencoming to the fore! to cope with the changing nature of the development problem! particularlduring the decade of the *,/s# .ome of these areK ($) Eperience of post revolutionar =hina; (&)6he Arusha 1eclaration (6an3ania @*) L world Emploment Programmer (ID8 @') (5) 1oomsdaBoo (6alor) (+) A Blueprint for .urvival (6he Ecologist *&) (@) 9edistribution with growth (IB91 L.usse Institute of 1evelopment .tudies; ($'*5) (*) %ew International Economic 8rder (U%8$'*5); (-) anind at the 6urning Point ( =lub of 9ome! esarovic and pestel $'*5); (') =ocooc1eclaration (U%, $'*5);($,) 4hat %ow>Another 1evelopment (1ag ammars?old 7oundation(*+) ($$) #Emploment 0rowth and Basic %eeds (ID, *@);($&) =atastrophe or %ew .ociet

(Bariloche 7oundation *@); ($H) 9eshaping the International 8rder (=lub of 9ome *@); ($5) Basic.ervices (U%I=E7 L 48; ($+) Eco 1evelopment (U% Environment Programme(*@)($@)Indigenous 1evelopment (U%E.=, **) and ($*) .elf>reliance (Institute of 1evelopment .tudies!0eneva $'-,)# Apart from these some to the neo> arist theoreticians tried to anal3e theproblem of development in their own stle# Among them the wors of (a) 7ran ($'@'); (b) 9udro($'*,); (c) Patnai ($'*$); (d) Emanuel ($'*&); (e) Bhaduri ($'*H); (f) Amin ($'*5) and andel($'*+) are note> worth!

6hese approaches contributed to the perception of new values based on the idea that economicgrowth! pursued regardless of who benefited from it! was maing little impact on the problem of thepoor masses# 6here has been little disagreement about the priorit of eradicating hunger and

povert in the shortest possible period of time# 6he onl difference discernible among the abovedeclaration is over the precise interpretation and most effective wa of achieving these ends#Among international organi3ations ID8 was the first announced a 4orld Emploment Programmeto eplore the was of creating more emploment opportunities# 6o this end emplomentprogramme provided a wide range of polic options such as investment for the poor! more e2ualincome distribution! adoption of appropriate technolog and above all the polic of full emploment#


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6he 4orld Ban also conceded the harmful effects of traditional strateg as more and moreconfirmator data came in! that the benefits of growth didn/t tricle down or perhaps the Ftricledown/ process was so slow that it would be a centur or more before the poor people or theirdescendants benefited# 6o overcome this! the 4orld Ban! in cooperation with the .usse Instituteof 1evelopment .tudies published a boo entitled 9edistribution with 0rowth# 6he boo tried to

introduce reformist measures over traditional strateg and eplained that 4ealth distribution mightbe politicall difficult! growth was essential povert was inconvenientl embarrassing and underthose conditions it was prescribed that the redistribution of incremental income would be politicalleasier#

owever! the theor of 9edistribution with 0rowth derived from man misconceptions of realitand led to a purel technocraticafl oriented approach! which to a great etent failed to beapplicable to developing nations# 6he approach could be critici3ed on the ground that it tried tobring /e2ualit of outcome/ oblivious of the causes of ine2ualit in societ and a solution throughe2ualit of opportunit#

.ince $'*5! most of the development thoughts have been focused on a single issue! the centralemphasis of which is meeting the basic human needs of the poor masses within the shortest

possible period #6he basic humanMapproach identified a list of items considered to be essential for

a decent human life such as ($) 7ood; (&) =lothing; (H) .helter; (5) Basic range of householde2uipments; (+) ealth; (@) Education; (*) .afe drining water and (-) =ontraception# Each itemhas its own weight! listed In order of priorit to have a hierarchicall ordered set of basic> needs#6he /basic> needs/ approach precisel aims at increasing the income and ensures the suppl of astipulated level of B% Basic> needs level of personaN Income (B%I) and ensures the suppl of astipulated level of goods and services income distribution! production policies and through theprovision of appropriate administrative and institutional mechanisms# .ince man of the abovefactors are 2uantifiable! one could easil mae plans and pursue policies to achieve them#

Although the basic needs approach has been accepted! at least as a guiding philosoph b most ofthe U% organi3ations and national governments! owing to the following limitations and shortcomingit has not attained much success#

($) Although the approach correctl maintained that everbod must attained B%l! it did not specifin detail how the disadvantaged group would eventuall achieve this#

(&) 6he approach also did not loo deepl and identit the causes of the ver low income of thepoor people#

(H) It did not specif the nature of organi3ations and institutions! which would be necessar to itssuccess#

(5) It considered production planning without going into the details of who is controlling theproduction mechanism and under what terms and conditions the would act in the desired wa#


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(+) Above alt successful implementation of the / basic> needs/ approach re2uires culturalenlightenment and the promotion of new social political and moral values in each specificcontet#

-. The 3or#d Ba!0 Po#i& Pa0a(es a!d De%e#o1i!( Na"io!sIt is evident that the 4orld Ban and I7 eperts are also concerned about the problem of povertand the provided the following polic pacages;

$) Increase food production through providing incentives b raising food prices#&) 9educe all inds of subsidies to agricultural inputs and food items#H) inimi3e balance of pament deficits and enhance local emploment opportunities#5) 9educe population growth b taing famil planning measures#+) 1evalue local currenc to bust up eport#

It can scarcel be denied that Instead of Cenesian or conventional solutions; the policPacages above have followed classical economics and left the problem entirel in the hands ofmaret forces! with the epectation that the would bring about an automatic solution# It is alsoevident that the 4orld Ban and I7 have been tring to improve their policies as a pre>conditionof their aid pacages# In the past countries lie Egpt! orocco and 6unisia tried to introduce thepolic pacages but in all cases the ended in failure in the face of a violent movement and protestb people at large# 9ecentl the same histor was repeated in the case of Oambia when the 4orldBan attached same strings to their condition for financial assistance and the result was a greetedmeasure of futilit# Even in the advanced countries agricultural! subsidies are provided in theUnited .tates of America! EU countries and other industriali3ed nations too# 6he amount ofagricultural subsidies accounted for nearl a billion dollars a da depriving the maret access of

agricultural products of developing nations#

It seems that the polic pacages above! considered food shortages and population growth as themain underling causes of hunger and povert and wanted to solve the problem from the supplside b increasing the availabilit of food suppl through price incentive# .uch an idea is alsodominant in the/ African Priorit program for Economic 9ecover $'-@>',# It would be prematurefor us to mae a conclusive comment on the above 4orld Ban policies! for the developingnations! without a comprehensive analsis of the relationship between hunger availabilit of foodsuppl and population si3e#

7. H*!(er a!d A%ai#a8i#i"& of 9ood )*11#&

A bird/s ee view concerning the problem of hunger at once convinces us that inade2uate suppl offood could be the onl possible factor fuelling the crisis# It was predicted b Carl ar that theconstruction of 9ailwa in the Indian sub> continent would help to reduce scarcit and famine there!because better communication would enhance the flow of suppl to the areas where there wereshortages# But the predication did not turn out to be true# In fact! after the construction of 9ailwa!the Indian sub> continent suffered from scarcit and famine more fre2uentl and with a greaterintensit than before# Eperience shows that suppl does not necessaril flow to the areas wherethere is a need# It flows to those who can pa# 7or eample in the Ethiopian famine of $'*H! there


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was a crop failure in the province of 4allo! but no severe decline in food availabilit for Ethiopia asa whole# 6he famine victims of 4allo laced the economic abilit to command food from elsewherein Ethiopia and indeed! some food moved out of famine stricen 4allo to the more prosperousparts of the countr#

It is evident that during the *,/s when so man people had to starve! there was sufficient foodgrain in terms of aggregated average# 6he etra food that was needed to provide ade2uate dietsfor the malnourished population of the deficit areas was also not ver great in relative terms# 6hedeficit was calculated as around H* million tons of grain which could be accounted for onl & to Hper cent of the world production at that time and more surprisingl was fess than $, percent of the2uantit of grain fed to the livestoc in the rich countries# In the ear $'-*! around 5*+ million tonsof food grain was estimated as surplus and H5, to *H, million people were starving at the sametime#

4e can see that most of the 6hird 4orld countries also could eep their food production higherthan population growth# .till man millions of their population was starved due to uneven

distribution of food within the nations# In the ear $'*- India produced a record level of rice andwheat! more grain than it could store# 6he countr eported more than a million tons of wheat andet &, to 5, per cent of her population was still unable to get an ade2uate diet#

8ur stud of famine does not confirm that inade2uate food suppl was solel responsible for sucha catastrophic condition# 4hat eplanation can we put forward so far the famine of Ethiopia in$'*H>*5 6he total food grain was onl * per cent less than the normal ears which were hardldevastating in an econom with primaril rain fed agriculture# 6he eperience of the $'*5 famine inBangladesh was also disheartening# 6he total availabilit of food grain in per capita and absoluteterms was higher in that ear# .till the countr was ravaged b disastrous famine# Ethiopia! one ofthe countries worst affected! b widespread famine in $'-@! we can see that the per capita foodproduction had been higher in the period $'-$>-@ In comparison to $'*5>*@ average#

6he following policies ma be considered as reall paradoical! having a negative effect on foodproblem#

$) E:1or" 1o#i& i! "he fae of a 4ides1read h*!(er ; As for eample some of this countries!where starvation is widespread lie Oambia! ali and other .ahelian countries and 6hailandfrom $'*5 to $'-, introduced the polic of eport b eeping their own people unfed#

&) More food (rai! for #i%es"o0 a!d #ess for h*ma! 8ei!(s ; in Bra3il! the share of foodcrops used as livestoc fodder reached as high as 55 of the total production# =ountries lieeico! =entral America and the =aribbean! where some cases poorest people consumeless grain than is fed to the animal producing meat! mil and eggs for better of!

H) 9ood im1or" a!d ma# dis"ri8*"io!K As for eample in Egpt food subsidies are twice as highfor the urban middle class as for the rural population# In Bangladesh nearl ', of subsidi3edfood is distributed in the urban areas mainl among the middle class population! In Paistanand Bangladesh! those who are emploed in defense forces received food items almost at anegligible price#


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5)#The da1 8e"4ee! *rre!" a!d a"*a# 1rod*"io!;6he gap between current productions couldbe roughl $#- billion tons# 6he production possibilities with the present level of technologhave been calculated as $$#5 billion tons of food grain or their e2uivalent in food energ#Indeed the production possibilities are much higher in the developing nations and the

production could feed around 5, billion population with sufficient calories#


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H# igher population si3e and the food problem do not show a one to one correlation# ancountries with greater population si3e have solved the problem of food! whereas some sparselpopulated countries have not! even under favorable phsical conditions#

5# It is unliel that devaluation wilt boost production because price elasticit of eport for traditional

items (which is the eport of most of the developing nations) is highl inelastic# As a result!devaluation ma cause inflation! low real income for the poor and unemploment in thedeveloping countries#

+# Problem of hunger is a comple phenomenon associated with une2ual access to food caused beither lower real income or higher food prices#

@# Dower income of the poor people ma not necessaril be due to lower productivit! ill health orignorance associated with illiterac! it is rather related toK

a) Imperfect maret conditions associated with une2ual echange relation#b) Une2ual access to low cost credit and eploitation at a usurious rate of interest#

B. MEANING AND EXTENT OF POVERTY:1. BackgroundIt is the greatest paradox of our time that even in the beginning of twenty first century, inthe midst of a tremendous technological progress, poverty and hunger posses a threat tohuman beings. In the year 2003 alone, out of total 5 billion population live in the lessdeveloped world about 25 percent or 1.25 billion people are literally under the grip ofstarvation. hey are termed as undernourished people unable to fulfill their livelihood!"#$%2003&. $ecently held 'orld (an) sponsored poverty alleviation conference in*hanghai !200+& expressed concern about worsening global level of poverty situationwith 2.2 billion population living below poverty line. *uch a figure was approximately

1.5 billion in 10. -onsidering the devastating effect on human race, the problem ofpoverty and hunger has been considered as number one obective of /illennium#evelopment oals !/#s& and set the target of reducing by halve, between 10 and2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than one a day.

In spite of the fact, that the sponsored /# has been accepted as a guidingphilosophy by all agencies and national governments there are reasons to be s)epticalabout the achievement. #uring 140s in the midst of a disastrous famine in (angladeshand the *ahel region of frica, 'orld 6ood #ay was observed in $ome by 67 in theyear 14+, where an admirable pronouncement was made8 no ch!d "!! #$ a!!o"$d %ogo %o had hungr& "%hn a d$cad$' and a(%$r a d$cad$ n %h$ &$ar 1)*+ ,NI-EF

$%/a%$d %ha% around 10 /!!on ch!dr$n o( %h$ "or!d d$d o( /a!nu%r%on andr$2$n%a#!$ !!n$ n %h$ a/$ &$ar.


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3. Th$ M$anng o( Po2$r%&lthough the meaning of poverty is well understood by many, still it is needed to beelaborated since over the period of time there has been changes in the concept of the termpoverty. #ue to changes of human needs and their hopes and aspirations poverty carriesdifferent meaning in different epoch ma)ing eras and different parts of the world. #uring

the period of pre%industrial revolution, human civili9ation had been facing the problem ofshortages and scarcities. hat time poverty implied to those people who lac)ed access tofood for survival. In spite of the fact that, even today, in the midst of an abundance manypeople lac) access to minimum food for survival. s a result, nearly a billion people areunder the grip of hunger and malnutrition in the contemporary world. /oreover, today,human beings cannot be happy with only food. hey have other needs such as clothing,shelter, minimum household utensils, health, education, contraception, safe water andsanitation : all these items have been termed basic human needs having implications onlivelihood. In today;s evolving conditions, poverty may be classified into absolute andrelative terms. A#o!u%$ o2$r%& a cond%on und$r "hch $o!$ !ack acc$ %o#ac n$$d #und!$ o( good and $r2c$ $%h$r %hrough $4chang$ $n%%!$/$n% or

o%h$r"$.he implication of absolute poverty is reflected in a society in the form offamine, destitution, deprivation, landlessness, unemployment, child labor, illiteracy, ill%health and lac) of access to basic needs services. nder absolute poverty people lac)exchange entitlement and conse00 million in the year 143 according to the then


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Fgur$1.

*ources@ hluwalia, 1?, '(, 143, IA7, 14?, "op)ins, 1>0, "#$, 10, 2000and . *hanghai, 200+.

=resident of the 'orld (an), $obert /camara. 6urther confirmatory data regarding thedeteriorating condition of poverty came through the International Aabour 7rgani9ation!IA7& in 14? at the 'orld Bmployment -onference. ccording to them, there were 40?million CdestituteD people and another 500 million were termed Cseriously poor in thedeveloping nations. he figure rose to approximately 1.5 billion in the year 10 andfurther deteriorated and reached 2 billion in the year 2000 as per human developmentreport !#=&.

recently held sponsored global poverty alleviation conference in *hanghai !200+&estimated that 2.2 billion people are living in poverty. he "#$ 200+ published by#= estimates 1.1 billion people living on less than one dollar a day and nearly 2.>billion people without access to ade


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ational policies must provide ade0percent of the world;s resources. *imilar proportions of ine


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year 2000 about 1.2 billion people were without access to improved water source and about2.> billion people without access to sanitation. In a global scale.

6ig. 2 $egional distribution of population living inless than 1 a day, !G of total& lobal total@ 1,100 million in 2000

9ourc$: DR 3;;+

6ig. + $egional distribution of population without access 6ig. 5 regional distribution of people without access toto improved water source. lobal total@ 1.2 billion in 2000 sanitation, global total@ 2.> billion in 2000.

9ourc$: DR 3;;+

31 million in 2000

South Asia

, 39.2

Central and

Eastern

Europe and

the CIS

latin

Aeri!a

and the

Cari""ean,

5.1

Su"#

Saharan,

29.3

Ara"States, 0.7

East Asia

and the

$a!i%i! ,

23.7

Su"#Saharan,

22.2

Central and

Eastern

Europe and

the CIS, 4.0

&atin Aeri!a

and the

Cari""ean,

6.4

South Asia ,

37.6Ara" States,

4.1

East Asia and

the $a!i%i! ,

25.6

Su"#Saharan,

24.9

Central andEastern

Europe and

the CIS, 2.7

&atin Aeri!aand the

Cari""ean,

6.6

South Asia ,

20.6

Ara" States,

3.9East Asia and

the $a!i%i! ,

41.4

South Asia ,

39

&atin Aeri!a

and the

Cari""ean, 5

Su"#Saharan,

12.4

Ara" States,

2.1

East Asia and

the $a!i%i! ,

41.5


17/17

failure to fully understand the problem of development from its genesis. Introduction ofsuch a development strategy created dependency and dominance between developed anddeveloping countries in many ways. /any developing countries accepted foreignborrowing as an unmixed blessing and sun) deeper and deeper into debt trap. (etween140 to 1>+ the outstanding debt of developing countries expanded almost tenfold, to

* ?>? billion. !'#$ 1>5& It has been observed that industrial countries triedconditional aid and perhaps their own interest often gets priority. /any case to 22 billion annually.!International 6ood =olicy $esearch,1& 9/on =u>n$%? @No#$! aur$a%$r$u/%on a#ou% %h$ n$2%a#!%& o( n$5ua!%& n %h$ $ar!& %ag$ o( d$2$!o/$n%

@Pau! 9%r$$%$n6 1)*3 "a no% uor%$d #& $2d$nc$ /ad$ #& Ah!u"a!a.@1)C+

Bxperience shows that there is no automatic tendency for income to become widelyspeared through Cthe tric)le down processD and thus ameliorate poverty. It is evident that

development strategy not only failed to reduce the extent of poverty, but even enhancedits intensity. study was made by delman and /erois,!143& which showed thatinstead of any improvement, the income of the poorest +0 percent had declined in realterms and under the case of extreme dualism even income had declined among thepoorest ?0 percent. hey concluded that "%h %h$ $4c$%on o( hgh nco/$ d$2$!ongna%on6 oor $o!$ o( %h$ Thrd or!d "ou!d ha2$ #$$n #$%%$r o(( ( %h$r$ had #$$n

no d$2$!o/$n% $((or% a% a!!.

Globalization Poverty and Development

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