Burundi is a small East African nation located near Rwanda. Unfortunately, 58 percent of the population is chronically malnourished. Only 28 percent are food secure. With a GDP per capita of $818, it is the third poorest nation in the world. How is this nation one of the hungriest in the world, and why is Burundi poor? There are several reasons Burundi is poor and hungry. Below are four.
1. Conflict
Burundi has been involved in a cycle of civil wars since they obtained independence from Belgium in 1962. The nation has recorded five episodes of civil war that have claimed more than 500,000 lives and have produced about a million refugees. Consequently, this cycle of war has created an extremely unstable political environment. What is more, the latest two civil wars—one from 1993-2005 and another in 2015 after the controversial reelection of President Pierre Nkurunziza for a third term on a technicality—further crippled Burundi’s economy.
Conflict hinders agriculture, the backbone of Burundi’s economy. In fact, 90 percent of the population depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Due to Burundi’s civil war, poverty increased from 48 to 67 percent of the population between 1994 and 2006. Rising food prices (including a 28 percent increase in 2007-08) affect families’ livelihoods and increase their susceptibility to repetitive natural threats. These threats include flooding, droughts, landslides and the impact of climate change.
War has also impeded manufacturing. For example, the 1993-2005 civil war caused manufacturing production to decline by an average of 13 percent per year between 1993 and 1997.
Finally, war economies are short-term oriented. Even when wars end, post-war economies must overcome a destroyed infrastructure, a devastated productive sector because of allocating resources to fund the war, lack of funds and a dearth of moral standards. These facts make it easier to understand why the rate of investment in the Burundian economy declined during the 1993-2005 civil war years. The rate of gross investment declined from 17.5 percent in 1990 to a mere 5.6 percent in 1998.
Why is Burundi poor? The continuous cycle of violence and war has been a major detriment to Burundi’s economy and has increased the amount of people in poverty in the country.
2. Inefficient Management of Public Finances and Resources by the State
The state of Burundi regularly interferes with the economy. It subsidizes fuel and rations subsidized electricity. The government also influences other prices through state-owned enterprises and agriculture-support programs. Economic freedom is not allowed, and this weakens entrepreneurial activity. The state also takes away private property from citizens.
Whys is Burundi poor? Poor economic planning and management from the government prevents economic growth.
3. Little Land to Support the Growing Population
Burundi is landlocked, and its population is continually increasing. Land is the greatest source of conflict in Burundi. The country is overpopulated and rural, so land is valuable because it is a source of agriculture. Land is a source of life and death. In fact, 89 percent of the population are subsistence farmers and depend on the land to grow food for their families.
In his study, “Why Has Burundi Grown So Slowly?” Janvier D. Nkurunziza cites a 1998 study from the Entequete Prioritaire (EP 1998) that stated the average farmer in rural areas of Burundi walked an average of one hour to get to the nearest marketplace, and it took them 30 minutes to get to the nearest grocery. In addition, there is only one market day per week in many rural areas, and there are no storage areas for perishable produce. Because of this, farmers have no incentive to create surplus. EP1998 data further shows that Burundian producers consume on average 64 percent of their own food produce. The farmers farm to survive, not to grow wealth.
Why is Burundi poor? With a fast-growing population and too little land to house them all, resources and livelihoods are more difficult to acquire and improve.
4. Droughts and Other Natural Disasters
Burundi has suffered from an unusually high number of natural disasters. Droughts, torrential rain, floods and hailstorms have been particularly destructive in recent years. Disasters have contributed to the displacement of communities; the destruction of homes; the disruption of livelihoods and the further decline in food and nutrition security.
Other effects of the disasters include decreases in land productivity and an increase in crop pests. Regions affected by recent natural disasters are also at risk for permanent food insecurity and weak nutritional conditions. Overcrowded areas (about 270 inhabitants per km2, and up to 400 per km2 in the most densely populated areas) have also contributed to greater food and resource scarcity in affected areas.
Why is Burundi poor? Natural disasters through an already impoverished nation into a state of crisis, causing food shortages and displacement.
The history of conflict and leadership in Burundi has had long term consequences for the state of poverty in the country today. The recent decision by several western countries to discontinue aid to Burundi to compel its state to genuinely reform systemic issues that contribute to conflict is not helping poverty in the interim. However, humanitarian aid programs such as the World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF offer hope that someday, the Burundian people will overcome the perpetual cycle of poverty through compassion and help from their fellow man. Burundi has a long journey ahead on the path to reform. Understanding its history helps answer the question: why is Burundi poor?
– Jeanine Thomas
Photo: Flickr
Papua New Guinea’s Poverty Rate
Most of the citizens in Papua New Guinea rely on small-scale agriculture for their livelihoods. Around 75 percent of natives practice subsistence farming. Coffee production is one of the country’s main sources of revenue, and thus, when this cash crop fails to produce, the regional economy suffers. Productivity has been low because farmers lack sufficient training in techniques, and yields are averaging 30 to 50 percent of their potential. The same thing is happening with the country’s cocoa production.
The health system in Papua New Guinea is deteriorating quickly. Often times medical facilities will not have enough staff or resources to help sick citizens at a successful rate, especially in rural areas. Everything depends on supply, vaccines, surgical instruments, staff, pain management drugs and a suitable treatment area. Studies have found that only 36 percent of facilities have running water year-round, 29 percent did not have clinical supervision and 13 percent were deemed unsanitary.
Papua New Guinea’s poverty rate stems from sick citizens. When there is a health crisis in a country, foreign aid is taken from other necessary means to give towards helping the sick, which means there is no development out of poverty. Sick people prolong poverty because they are unable to contribute to the labor force. For the country of Papua New Guinea to advance successfully, its health care system must develop.
The problems afflicting citizens of Papua New Guinea are reversible. More effective farming methods and a sufficient health system are entirely achievable if the government proceeds with a committed approach.
– Lucy Voegeli
Photo: Flickr
Urbanization One of the Main Causes of Poverty in China
Looking for better-paying work, many farmers moved out of rural areas to urban centers. Due to their low skill level and lack of education, many of these workers are stuck taking low-level jobs. Moreover, with an increased cost of living, these workers are just swapping one low-paid job for another, causing an increase in urban poverty.
Furthermore, the Hukou system is set up so that these migrant workers can no longer receive government aid. The Hukou system is China’s household registration system that monitors and distributes government-provided services such as healthcare, education and pension.
However, the system is designed so that, if a person moves from their original region, then they forfeit their rights to these benefits. Consequently, rural workers who move to cities can no longer receive government-funded healthcare or retirement aid. Moreover, their children, if they move with them, no longer have access to education.
The most severe effects of the urbanization trend are found in rural areas. Often, it is the adults in rural families who leave to find work in cities, leaving behind children and the elderly. One-third of China’s rural students under the age of 16 have at least one parent who is a migrant worker, meaning many children get left behind.
Nearly 60 percent of children living in the countryside of China see their parents less than twice each year. These children are often left with grandparents who are either too busy with farm work or else too incapacitated to properly care for the children.
Though urbanization may be beneficial for some Chinese and is giving the economy a boost, it has been detrimental to many others. Migrant workers and those left behind in rural areas are struggling the most from the massive national migration. Because of this, urbanization is now one of the leading causes of poverty in China.
– Hannah Kaiser
Photo: Flickr
Why is Burundi Poor?
1. Conflict
Burundi has been involved in a cycle of civil wars since they obtained independence from Belgium in 1962. The nation has recorded five episodes of civil war that have claimed more than 500,000 lives and have produced about a million refugees. Consequently, this cycle of war has created an extremely unstable political environment. What is more, the latest two civil wars—one from 1993-2005 and another in 2015 after the controversial reelection of President Pierre Nkurunziza for a third term on a technicality—further crippled Burundi’s economy.
Conflict hinders agriculture, the backbone of Burundi’s economy. In fact, 90 percent of the population depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Due to Burundi’s civil war, poverty increased from 48 to 67 percent of the population between 1994 and 2006. Rising food prices (including a 28 percent increase in 2007-08) affect families’ livelihoods and increase their susceptibility to repetitive natural threats. These threats include flooding, droughts, landslides and the impact of climate change.
War has also impeded manufacturing. For example, the 1993-2005 civil war caused manufacturing production to decline by an average of 13 percent per year between 1993 and 1997.
Finally, war economies are short-term oriented. Even when wars end, post-war economies must overcome a destroyed infrastructure, a devastated productive sector because of allocating resources to fund the war, lack of funds and a dearth of moral standards. These facts make it easier to understand why the rate of investment in the Burundian economy declined during the 1993-2005 civil war years. The rate of gross investment declined from 17.5 percent in 1990 to a mere 5.6 percent in 1998.
Why is Burundi poor? The continuous cycle of violence and war has been a major detriment to Burundi’s economy and has increased the amount of people in poverty in the country.
2. Inefficient Management of Public Finances and Resources by the State
The state of Burundi regularly interferes with the economy. It subsidizes fuel and rations subsidized electricity. The government also influences other prices through state-owned enterprises and agriculture-support programs. Economic freedom is not allowed, and this weakens entrepreneurial activity. The state also takes away private property from citizens.
Whys is Burundi poor? Poor economic planning and management from the government prevents economic growth.
3. Little Land to Support the Growing Population
Burundi is landlocked, and its population is continually increasing. Land is the greatest source of conflict in Burundi. The country is overpopulated and rural, so land is valuable because it is a source of agriculture. Land is a source of life and death. In fact, 89 percent of the population are subsistence farmers and depend on the land to grow food for their families.
In his study, “Why Has Burundi Grown So Slowly?” Janvier D. Nkurunziza cites a 1998 study from the Entequete Prioritaire (EP 1998) that stated the average farmer in rural areas of Burundi walked an average of one hour to get to the nearest marketplace, and it took them 30 minutes to get to the nearest grocery. In addition, there is only one market day per week in many rural areas, and there are no storage areas for perishable produce. Because of this, farmers have no incentive to create surplus. EP1998 data further shows that Burundian producers consume on average 64 percent of their own food produce. The farmers farm to survive, not to grow wealth.
Why is Burundi poor? With a fast-growing population and too little land to house them all, resources and livelihoods are more difficult to acquire and improve.
4. Droughts and Other Natural Disasters
Burundi has suffered from an unusually high number of natural disasters. Droughts, torrential rain, floods and hailstorms have been particularly destructive in recent years. Disasters have contributed to the displacement of communities; the destruction of homes; the disruption of livelihoods and the further decline in food and nutrition security.
Other effects of the disasters include decreases in land productivity and an increase in crop pests. Regions affected by recent natural disasters are also at risk for permanent food insecurity and weak nutritional conditions. Overcrowded areas (about 270 inhabitants per km2, and up to 400 per km2 in the most densely populated areas) have also contributed to greater food and resource scarcity in affected areas.
Why is Burundi poor? Natural disasters through an already impoverished nation into a state of crisis, causing food shortages and displacement.
The history of conflict and leadership in Burundi has had long term consequences for the state of poverty in the country today. The recent decision by several western countries to discontinue aid to Burundi to compel its state to genuinely reform systemic issues that contribute to conflict is not helping poverty in the interim. However, humanitarian aid programs such as the World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF offer hope that someday, the Burundian people will overcome the perpetual cycle of poverty through compassion and help from their fellow man. Burundi has a long journey ahead on the path to reform. Understanding its history helps answer the question: why is Burundi poor?
– Jeanine Thomas
Photo: Flickr
Why is Tunisia Poor?
Tunisia is a country of around 11 million people in North Africa. In the past decade, it has emerged as the only success story of the Arab Spring, a revolutionary and democratically-minded movement that swept the Arab world in the early 2010s. So why is Tunisia poor?
In the decade before 2010, Tunisia managed to halve its poverty rate, dropping from 35 percent to 16 percent. This success came from certain important social achievements. Universal access to electricity, high enrollment in primary education and reductions in child malnutrition were significant factors. However, these trends seemed to stall after 2010, and the poverty rate has remained fairly stagnant.
Despite the poverty reduction and economic growth, inequality has also increased. Many investments in the early 2000s moved from high-skill jobs to low-skill ones. Tunisia also lacks a significant social security system and unemployment insurance. Investments typically happen in coastal regions, which increases regional wealth disparities.
In central Tunisia, poverty and and unemployment rates are several times higher than the national average. Some experts worry that the lack of infrastructure and jobs will create a breeding ground for extremism that could threaten Tunisia’s progress.
But why is Tunisia poor in certain areas? Several factors contribute to overall unequal opportunity in Tunisia. Where you live and the circumstances you were born into can determine how long you attend school and whether you have access to water. Additionally, Tunisia falls behind most other Middle Eastern and North African countries when it comes to sanitation.
Certain facts about an individual household in Tunisia can determine whether the family is impoverished. The educational attainment of the head of the household and the ratio of male to female employees are some indicators. Additionally, the ratio of the food budget spent on inexpensive cereal products can also indicate a level of poverty. Finally, households with fewer children are also less likely to be impoverished.
Thankfully, with successes both in reducing poverty in the past and in the Arab Spring, the people of Tunisia have proved that they can achieve incredible social victories. The International Monetary Fund has also recently lent Tunisia $2.9 billion to help address the issue of poverty.
– Brock Hall
Photo: Flickr
A Continued Water Shortage In Antigua & Barbuda
Caribbean countries have suffered in recent years from a prolonged drought, forcing them to implement new methods to control the use of water in their nations. One country in the Caribbean that has suffered from this prolonged drought is Antigua & Barbuda (A&B).
Despite the current situation, the future is starting to look up for the citizens of this country, as new programs have been started to address the issue of the continued water shortage in A&B.
The Plan:
One program the A&B government has implemented in the past few years has been the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA). The goal of APUA is to act as a water rationing program to ensure that all citizens receive adequate amounts of water until the drought begins to go away.
However, as the drought continues, authorities involved with the APUA have struggled to find a solution to the water shortage in A&B. One authority stated in an interview that “as Antigua and Barbuda enter further into a drought, the APUA has seen a depletion of the surface water resources that it relies heavily on.”
The rate of water consumption in A&B has continued to put pressure on the APUA and their ability to provide adequate amounts of water for its citizens. A statement by the APUA reported that authorities told the public that they only had enough water left in their largest containment unit to get the country through the month of February, if they did not see an increase in rainfall.
The APUA has since tried to deal with the issue of the continued water shortage by only providing water at certain times during the day. Although APUA can provide its citizens with enough water to sustain themselves by using this strategy, this work cannot continue for much longer.
The Takeaway:
The issue of a water shortage in A&B is a matter that appears to have no clear solution. The drought continues to be problematic, and the APUA’s task of providing adequate water to all its citizens has not been so simple. The best thing one can do at this moment in time for the people of A&B would be to donate money to organizations or volunteer time to NGOs – which are working alongside APUA to address the issue of the water shortage.
Although the circumstances for those in A&B have been grim, there is hope for the future of these people. Continued effort from the APUA and NGOs should provide increasing relief to the citizens suffering from the effects of the drought.
– Nick Beauchamp
Photo: Flickr
Indian Government Approves Bullet Train Project
The train will reach top speeds between 320 and 350 kilometers per hour, making the 508-kilometer route between Ahmedabad and Mumbai five hours shorter than the usual seven-hour trip. The bullet train’s first route will contain 12 stations, four being in Maharashtra and eight in Gujarat, with about 92 percent running on an elevated track.
The bullet train will start underground with a station at the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai, which will then run 27 kilometers through a tunnel in the sea until it pulls into the over ground station in Thane.
India has received about 85 percent of its funding for the bullet train project from Japan, according to Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu. In return, the Japanese E5 Series Shinkansen train will serve as the bullet train in India.
Prabhu and his ministry have drawn extensive maps for high-speed corridors on various routes between Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Mysuru and Bengaluru. These trains will also have the potential to reach a maximum of 350 kilometers per hour. Other routes – including Chennai-Hyderabad and Chennai-Mysuru – will have trains traveling at around 160 to 250 kilometers per hour.
Although the bullet train project has been undergoing feasibility testing since 2009, the project is just now in the soil-testing stage. The foundation stone is expected to be laid by both Indian and Japanese Prime Ministers in September of this year. Construction will follow in early 2018, and the launch of the first section’s operations is scheduled for 2023.
Once the track is completed, the bullet train will have the capacity to seat 731 passengers – 698 standard class and 55 business class. In addition, the train has an extended long nose to prevent damaging tunnel boom – the loud noise made when the train exits a tunnel at high speeds – which is due to uneven air pressure.
With luxury leather seating, adjustable reading lamps and foldable dining tables, the trains were designed with passenger comfort in mind. Additionally, the trains are fully accessible and equipped to serve any passengers with disabilities.
In the next six years, the bullet train system will make India a lot more manageable to get around for locals, business professionals and other travelers. The Indian government is also hopeful that the bullet train will lead to more opportunities to form deeper ties with Japan and eventually China, too.
– Kassidy Tarala
Photo: Flickr
9 Bipartisan Measures Pass House Foreign Affairs Committee
Democratic Rep. Robin Kelly, a co-sponsor of the bill along with Republican Rep. Steve Chabot, spoke for the bill in a markup. Kelly pointed out that 65 million people, half of whom are under 18, have been displaced since the beginning of 2017, and four million displaced children lack access to elementary education.
Kelly claimed that displaced children are more vulnerable to abduction, poverty, and early marriage when they cannot attend school and that school can help displaced children cope with trauma and overcome feelings of isolation by providing a community.
Related measures passed include the North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2017, which supports North Korean refugees and advocates for radio broadcasting in North Korea, as well as the resolution entitled “Supporting respect for human rights and encouraging inclusive governance in Ethiopia.” All of the measures passed received bipartisan support, and several have bipartisan sponsorship.
During markups, Congressional committees discuss, amend and rewrite proposed legislation. In this markup, seven of the nine measures discussed were amended, but all passed at the end of the session. Rep. Ed Royce, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, reported the measures favorably and was authorized to seek House consideration of the measures under suspension of the rules.
“Suspension of the rules” is a procedure used to save time when discussing relatively uncontroversial bills. Rep. Royce likely ordered a suspension of the rules based on the bipartisan nature of the measures discussed. This fact means that when the measures are discussed next in the House, they will be unamendable and debate will be limited to forty minutes.
As these bipartisan measures all passed without much dispute, they will likely continue to move quickly through the House of Representatives.
– Caroline Meyers
Photo: Flickr
Poverty in Romania on the Decline Despite the Odds
Poverty in Romania is stunning and widespread, affecting millions of people. Two measures of poverty in Romania are relative poverty and absolute poverty. Relative poverty is the number of citizens whose disposable income is lower than 60 percent of the population’s median income. In 2014, Romania ranked first in the EU for highest relative poverty rate, with 25 percent of its citizens facing relative poverty.
Absolute poverty is the lack of basic human needs such as food, safe drinking water, shelter, health, education, facilities and access to services. In 2000, the rate of absolute poverty in Romania was 35.9 percent and dropped to 13.8 percent in just six years, showing that progress has indeed been made in the country.
Several populations in Romania are vulnerable to poverty. More than 50 percent of children in Romania are at risk for poverty. This statistic places Romania as the country in the EU with the greatest risk of children facing poverty. Poverty in Romania is also at its highest in rural areas, where 45 percent of the population lives. This is the highest population in the EU to live in rural areas in a given country. The majority of Romanians who live in rural areas are subsistence farmers or unemployed rural workers, which is why 70 percent of the rural population in Romania lives in poverty. Finally, the populations most susceptible to poverty in terms of households are single persons, single parent families, families with three or more children and single people over the age of 65.
Romania’s history and changing governments affected change in poverty levels. After World War II, Romania became a socialist state in a communist regime, which entailed widespread social welfare. In 1990, right before the fall of communism, the poverty level in Romania was only seven percent. After the fall of communism in 1990, however, generalized social welfare was reduced.
Other causes of poverty in Romania include poor infrastructure, which affects everything from schools to medical centers. Regarding widespread rural poverty, there are more employment and educational opportunities in urban areas, as more money is invested in urban areas. Romania also suffers the consequences of bad foreign exchange rates as it does not use the euro and five to six percent of its GDP comes from remittances.
Progress has been made in decreasing poverty and growing a successful economy. Romania joined NATO in 2004 and joined the EU in 2007. Romania has enjoyed significant economic growth from 2013 to 2016 as a result of industrial exports, optimal agriculture harvests and trade within the EU.
Social welfare also benefits many poor Romanians. Today, social welfare is divided into multiple categories. Some benefits of Romania’s current social welfare system include free maternity care, an allowance for children and mothers, free education, subsidies for heat and electricity, unemployment aid and pension. It is important to note that certain benefits vary depending on the case.
The rate of poverty in Romania is very high for a country in the EU, but Romania continues to make progress in reducing poverty rates, providing social welfare and stabilizing its economy.
– Christiana Lano
Photo: Flickr
10 Facts About the Poverty Rate in Kosovo
Although Kosovo’s economy is facing many problems and the poverty rate in Kosovo is still relativity high, Kosovo’s economy is making progress. Reducing the unemployment rate and raising living standards are the two major things Kosovo should be focusing on to improve the economy and reduce the poverty rate.
– Mike Liu
World Bank Funds Malawi Digital Foundations Project
In 2014, the rate of internet penetration in Malawi was less than six percent, one of the lowest figures for a country worldwide. This statistic is largely a financial issue: Cell phone service costs the average Malawian 56 percent of their income compared to the five percent it would cost someone in Kenya.
Internet services are taxed almost 20 percent, and an additional ten percent excise tax is added to text messages and data transfers in the country, as of May 2015. Low literacy and electrification rates and a gender divide make it even harder for Malawians to access information communication technology (ICT).
Despite its status as a “least developed country,” Malawi has seen significant economic growth in the last few years (almost six percent in 2014), and the ICT sector has contributed notably to the country’s GDP. If Malawi only had a local internet exchange point, the country would not have to pay to run data through service providers in Africa or Europe and could make service more affordable, in this way building the country’s ICT market.
The Digital Foundations Project will address this issue from four different angles. One program, entitled Digital Ecosystem, will aim to make Malawi a “more attractive and competitive place for digital investment and innovation” while working to expand ICT accessibility at the same time. The Digital Ecosystem will consist of ICT regulation, policy development and implementation and digital skills development.
Another goal of the Digital Foundations Project is to improve internet speed and affordability. Malawi does not just need wider ICT access; the country needs to also expand its reliable services. This fact is especially true in rural areas where only one percent of households have access to electricity, as well as in institutions of higher learning where high-speed internet connections are essential to learning and communicating with the world.
Importantly, the internet access the Malawi Digital Foundations Project aims to provide would serve as a source of empowerment for those Malawians living in poverty or rural areas, as it would provide Malawians with autonomy and control over their communication, education, and especially banking.
Already, more Malawians use mobile money than open formal bank accounts, and better internet would facilitate Malawians’ interactions with mobile money programs which currently run slowly due to their popularity.
– Caroline Meyers
Photo: Google