2. Causes of poverty
The main causes of poverty in the southern African states and in Africa in general, include but not limited to:
- Inadequate access to employment opportunities.
- Inadequate access to land and capital, and limited access to credit by the poor majority.
- Inadequate access to the means of supporting rural development in poor regions.
- Inadequate access to markets where the poor can sell goods and services.
- Low endowment of human capital.
- Limited choices to livelihood options.
- Overdependence on one form of economic activity, in particular agriculture, whose performance is governed by water availability.
- Natural disasters such as droughts and floods, for example, the February 2000 floods in Mozambique, parts of Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe. These destroyed the livelihoods of over a million people, leaving them with no food or shelter and other essential infrastructure.
- Destruction of natural resources, leading to environmental degradation and reduced productivity.
- Inadequate assistance for those living at the margins and those victimised by transitory poverty.
- Lack of participation by and failure to draw the poor in the design of development programmes.
It is however essential to note that limited available land has seen increases in population densities due to rapid population growth in the whole of the SADC region. The average population density is about 17.7 people per sq km (SARDC, 1994), but this masks serious overpopulation in some areas. However, a number of points should be borne in mind:
- The present density is relatively higher if the natural resource endowment and economic possibilities for intensification are considered.
- Present distribution of land-rights means that some areas are highly utilised and others are under-utilised in relation to potentials.
- If the present growth rates of population are sustained, the population will double within the next generation.
It is also generally accepted that economic reform programmes that are being undertaken by most countries in southern Africa have contributed to increased poverty levels and pressure on the environment. Structural adjustment programmes have, in some cases, resulted in massive lay-offs and unemployment, forcing people to seek alternative survival activities/strategies. These include extensive resource use and exploitation. In Zimbabwe for example, the majority of the rural people have gone into gold panning, forestry products harvesting, wild fruit gathering, hardwood carvings for sale to tourists, soft wood products and pottery.
The above activities use natural resources. Inadequate access to land is another major contribution to poverty and is further compounded by high population growth rates. Access to land resources is perceived to be critical in countries like Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe and to a lesser extent South Africa. In Malawi, for example, land policies are being reviewed with a view of land distribution or redistribution.
A new and significant threat to human development in the region is the AIDS pandemic. On average, the HIV-infection rate among adults in the SADC region is 12 percent and rapidly rising. Countries like Botswana and Zimbabwe, with estimated quarter of the adult population living with HIV/AIDS, are now the hardest hit in the world.
Slowing down the population growth would take some pressure off natural resources and give some “breathing space” to tackle environmental problems. The conventional policy for slowing population growth is through family planning, although success stories in reducing birth rates are almost invariably tied to an increase in standard of living. It is generally accepted, therefore, that the best way to decrease population growth is to reduce poverty and increase standards of living.
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