Mada za sehemu hiiPovertyMada 3
- Introduction to Poverty and Indicators of Poverty in Tanzania
- Causes and Effects of Poverty in Tanzania
- Strategies for Poverty Alleviation in Tanzania
Poverty is caused by both internal and external factors. Whereas the internal causes can be clustered into economic and social factors, the external factors relate to international trade, the debt burden and refugee issues.
- A poor agricultural sector contributes to poverty in a country. Failure in the agricultural sector contributes to the increase of poverty. It is claimed that though agriculture is the backbone of the economy. This is indicated by poor rural infrastructure, lack of modern farm equipment, lack of fertilizers and pesticides at reasonable prices, low prices for agricultural produce, and lack of irrigation schemes.
- A low level of science and technology has contributed to poverty in Tanzania. The use of scientific and technological knowledge in production helps to increase the economy of an individual country. This leads to low productivity in all sectors of production. For instance, a majority of farmers are still using hand hoes.
- Government taxes contribute to poverty. Increasing taxes without considering people's ability to pay contributes to the increase of poverty in Tanzania.
- Lack of self-motivation to perform one's duties due to laziness and irresponsibility has contributed a lot in increasing poverty. At the government level, officials do not deliver relevant services and goods to the people as required. This habit has hindered many people in implementing their various projects; for instance the issue of land and right of occupancy.
- Mismanagement of public funds that could develop the common people. The government officers and top leaders who ought to set a good example do this. As a result, our country loses many public funds through mismanagement. For instance, government officers and politicians are paid big allowances and use very expensive cars.
- Common and communicable diseases such malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia, TB and anemia are the main causes of death in Tanzania. Explosion of diseases such as HIV and AIDS, cholera and typhoid have increased the poverty problems. The government and family members are spending a lot of money for curative and preventive measures- money that could have been used to finance the agricultural and industrial sectors is used to fight such diseases.
- Education. Majority of people of Tanzania, like other Africans are uneducated; this limits their ability to participate in the development of their countries profitably. This low percentage in food production in relation to high increase percentage in population growth indicates ignorance and lack of technical know.
- External debts burden. The government spends the little resources it has to pay external debts.
- Unequal exchange in international trade has contributed to poverty in Tanzania. The developed or rich countries control the world market and developing or poor countries have no say in the world market, as they are economically poor. The prices offered to the goods from developing countries are very low but are high for those from developed countries. This imbalance of trade has forced poor countries like Tanzania to remain poor.
- Increase in illiteracy; normally, poor societies fail to send its children to school. There are so many cases of parents failing to pay school fees for their children after they have been selected to join secondary schools.
- People cannot afford to use modern equipment and machinery such as electric or gas cookers. Hence, they rely on cheap sources of energy like charcoal and firewood, which causes deforestation.
- Lack of modern agricultural machinery such as tractors forces people to use hand hoes, which leads to low agricultural yields.
- Increase in illness. Poverty in local communities has contributed to the increased number of malnutrition and infant mortality, disruption of Tanzanian traditional support systems and the spread of HIV and AIDS in the country.
- There is an increase of criminal acts such as robbery, prostitution, drug abuse, and theft. Many people are forced to indulge themselves in these social evils because of poverty.
- Poor people cannot afford a balanced diet; this leads to malnutrition and failure to engage in economic activities for development.
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