Is it possible to rebuild the economic infrastructures of third world countries with foriegn aid?
I was watching a tv show about poverty, and the program had a misleading title of How to change lives or something to that extent.
A few minutes into the show, I realized that although charity helped third world countries, it only did so on an individual basis, and it’s effect was minimal.
In order to actually save people in poverty, what must be done on a economic infrastructure level?
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There are several ways foreign aid can be used to rebuild a country completely. In order to be done usefully, the money must go to a creative and scientific part of the public sector. Sometimes, this is industry. Occasionally, this is information technology.
In the Industrial Age, underdeveloped nations suffered from low natural resources. With the advent of information technology, places where economy used to be completely nonexistent are now bustling centres.
Poverty is a sociological issue that needs to be addressed by the handful of citizens that are impoverished. Assistance on the individual basis is morally satisfying but economically more destructive.
I think the first person was definitely on the right track. I have something specific to add…
I recently heard about certain crops that can be used to produce biofuel. Some of these crops are naturally indigenous to areas in Africa and South America – third world areas where economic and government infrastructure are so horrible that the poverty level is, not surprisingly, astronomical.
These are crops that could be grown using local labor. Very poor people in undeveloped countries have little use for cash but they could be paid with food, clean water, and health services. Hopefully some sort of education system could eventually be put in place – some people can work on the farms some can gain knowledge to use elsewhere.
In order to cultivate business in such regions physical infrastructure needs to be implemented – roads or trains to bring the crops to the coast or processing plants. That would require a lot of cooperation b/w governments and private companies. It would be costly and I don’t know how this would get worked out…
It isn’t a simple solution – those don’t exist. But with creative thinking and some honest effort I think we can improve the lives of poor, sickly people while doing the right thing for our environment, reducing dependence on foreign oil and ensure that food prices don’t sky rocket because of outrageous corn demand.
I won’t be idealistic about this – b/c corruption in the government and law enforcement run rampant and is something that needs to be worked out for any true changes to take place in these regions. Crime is also an issue.
Switchgrass, indigenous to N. America, was mentioned by Bush and discussed on NPR. This is just an example, although I read about other crops from Africa and S. America that hold the same potential (just can’t remember where!).