Article Analysis Essay on Ending Africa's Poverty Trap

Introduction

Development in Africa is a phenomenon that is different from other continents. This phenomenon extends to all regions of this continent without exception. Africa has recorded one of the worst conditions of health in the world. This is because there is little development in research and creation of strategies to deal with such issues in the continent. Due to the high prevalence of poverty, often people in Africa lack the resources to fund operations that deal with health conditions such as the AID pandemic (Sachs et al. 2004). It is because of such issues that Africa has not made any critical milestones in handling most of their problems. This paper will mainly focus on the analysis of the article, "Ending Africa's Poverty Trap." This article describes Africa and relates various social, economic and political issues to the way that development has been affected.

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The article states that the main problem affecting growth in Africa is governance. There are not enough skills and interventions in the political sector to manage the distribution of resources in handling the continent's problem. The political system in the continent is filled with profound cases of poor authority management and usage. For instance, Zimbabwe is a country with widespread violence and War. This is the case in many other nations on this continent. In this manner, such factors reduce the overall growth of the country by leading to wastage of time and resources trying to solve such issues. The development problem is more frequent than the poor governance that is in the political system. Even for the countries that have good management, they still struggle with poverty and development crises (Sachs et al. 2004). The best strategy to deal with the issue would be to create better policies to manage problems of growth and poverty. This strategy is however not enough for the complete reform of the continent regarding resource allocation and development. Low national savings rates in the continent are the main reasons for the existence of high rates of poverty. These lower savings rate, in turn, reduces economic growth by reducing the amount of capital that is to be spent on development. Poor infrastructure and insufficient skilled labor in the continent reduce the direct investment of governments. Inadequate supply of skilled labor is contributed by the fact that many of the nations in Africa have poor education systems. These education systems often fail to meet the requirements of the economy regarding creating skills in learners and allowing these learners to use these skills in the job market.

Productivity in Africa is also a vital factor in the race to end poverty. Productivity is a significant aspect that affects public investment. In both rural and urban areas in Africa, the more productive the economy is, the more the country can deal with issues of poverty and development. Countries that have good governance should be allowed a substantial increase in the official development assistance (Sasaoka, 2014). Good management will ensure that the funds and resources allocated for developmental purposes are well used and put to into the economy. Such interventions will help nations in Africa to achieve the Millennium development goals. Such objectives are critical in the breaking of Africa's poverty trap. They address the main sectors that often contribute to the increase in poverty and therefore ensure that improvements in productivity are guaranteed. Because developed countries are committed to funding such strategies, it is essential that this funding is controlled and put into best practice. It is however unfortunate that these developed countries have not yet met their end of the bargain.

In the article, Africa's poverty trap is theorized using a standard neoclassical model of growth. Here the output per capita is produced using a function describing production. This function of creation is made up of the total factor productivity together with the capital-labor ratio. In this model, the factor productivity is assumed to be constant (Sasaoka, 2014). Using this model, three main factors affect the poverty trap in Africa. These include capital thresholds, demographic traps, and savings trap. All of these factors are correlated to generalize the idea of the poverty trap in Africa. It is impossible to prove that only one of these factors that contribute to the poverty trap in Africa on its own.

There are various reasons as to why Africa is stuck in the poverty trap. These reasons are small market sizes, low productivity in areas such as agriculture and high prevalence ratios for diseases and pandemics (Sachs et al. 2004). Each of these factors occupies different sectors in the poverty trap in Africa. The small sized market in Africa is not able to maintain the costs of transport of goods from the coast to other regions. In this manner, often the economy is filled with instances where transport costs deter the growth in market sizes since products often become more expensive. Many people in Africa live away from the coast. This settlement is motivated by the fact that inland areas often have better rainfall and reduced burden of tropical diseases such as malaria. To minimize the effect of transport costs on the economy, Africa is supposed to invest in developing infrastructure such as roads to improve the flow of goods and services from the coasts to other regions of the continent.

Many individuals living in Africa depend on agriculture as a source of food and employment. It has been found that in Africa, there are low rates of productivity because there are a lot of resources for which agriculture can thrive on but are not utilised. In good agricultural areas, poor skills and infrastructure reduce the total production of crops. There are very few water bodies that are utilized in the provision of water for irrigation in the continent. Comparing this aspect to other regions in the world, it is clear that Africa still has a long way to go regarding the creation of agricultural strategies to improve food production (Sasaoka, 2014). Very high disease burden makes Africa a continent that is always struggling with the management of diseases and their effects on the people and the economy. Conditions such as HIV/AIDS and malaria are one of the most prevalent in Africa. Malaria on its own is a unique contribution to the poverty trap in the continent. Due to the conditions in the continent, the prevalence of disease and mosquitos can be only be controlled and not eliminated.

Another reason why Africa is stuck in the poverty trap is the effect of adverse effects of political problems. Before independence, many African countries suffered on the hands of European powers. Such powers were in need of the resources in Africa (Sachs et al. 2004). Over a century of exploitation in the colonial rule, Africa was left poor in resources and how to manage the available resources was hard for most of the nations (Sasaoka, 2014). Even when some of these powers were not exploiting the funds, they were not contributing to any growth in the regions that they operated. At the same time, there is minimal diffusion of technology in Africa. Technology is an essential factor in the fight against poverty in Africa. Factors such as food production and development of infrastructure greatly depend on technology. With the low incorporation of new and durable technology in these fields, Africa is always lagging in terms of creating strategies to fight poverty.

Development assistance has played a role in the fight against poverty in Africa. Specifically, donors have funded projects that were aimed to improve institutions in African countries and turn to develop better poverty-fighting mechanisms. In the conversion of goals into plans in countries that have good governance, the process should be guided by some core principles. One of these principles is that poverty reduction goals should align with the Millennium development goals of 2015. Another policy is that strategies should be modeled using a bottom-up assessment of the requirements of the continent (Sasaoka, 2014). This will help realize the effect of all factors that contribute to the poverty levels and act on them accordingly. It is clear that to deal with the problem of poverty in Africa fully; substantial scale support is to be offered to the countries. In the future, this strategy will increase the possibility of self-sustainability for the recipient countries. Additionally, such funding is to be done through financing rather than loans. Reducing the use of credits for development will mean that the countries in Africa will be better off working with their respective economies with little control from other countries.

Steps to reduce poverty, formally called Poverty Reduction Strategies, have been used for over six years now. The basic context used by these strategies is complimented by the fact that most of the countries in Africa are willing to accept aid. For nations that have good governing bodies, such strategies will ensure that funding of development strategies is kept at per with the requirements of the donors (Sachs et al. 2004). The evaluation of progress in development is also important for the future implications of the strategies on the state of nations regarding poverty. For development purposes, it is vital for donor countries to analyze the implementation processes for the strategy so that the effect of the strategies can be improved. Recipient countries, on the other hand, should make sure that the needs of the donors are met regarding the provision of information and allocating of resources for development.

Conclusion

Conclusively, the article "Ending Africa's Poverty trap" is a well-organized insight into the state of poverty in Africa. The poverty trap in Africa, as described in the article, is a factor that needs constant undivided attention by the countries. Countries in Africa should first focus n creating good political bases. This will mean that there would be good governance to use resources provided by developed countries. In this manner, all of the functions of the poverty reduction strategies can be aligned with the Millennium development goals. Therefore, all of the nations that are struggling with the poverty trap in the continent should make sure that they prepare a platform for which policies and strategies can thrive.

References

Sachs, J., McArthur, J., Schmidt-Traub, G., Kruk, M., Bahadur, C., Faye, M., & McCord, G.(2004). Ending Africa's Poverty Trap. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 2004(1), 117-216. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3217964Sasaoka, Y. (2014). Africa's Poverty Reduction Strategy. Poverty Reduction Strategy in Africa, 81-110. doi:10.1332/policypress/9781447305699.003.0004