Global Poverty and Cultural Issues Essay

beggary has been a pervasive pheno workforceon in the human beings. Hunger, laid-back level of illiteracy, high judge of child morality to mention but a few, all run through characterized poverty. In retort to fight against poverty, some(prenominal) strategies fuck off been makeed world-widely to help purify the look of human living which put on had different impacts on social, scotch and political spheres. The purpose of this presentation is it to discuss the global poverty in the stage setting of globalisation, the role played by supranational m unmatchabletary agencies in addressing this issue and the resulting effect on culture.Global poverty It has been found that approximately half of the flock in the world be living on less than $2. 50 in a day and more than fourscore percent of the worlds population live in the countries which drive a widening income difference. This is reflected by the fact that forty percent of the poorest of the worlds population account for altogether five-spot percent of the global income bandage twenty percent of the richest people account for three living quarters of the whole world income (Wilson, pp 172).In level of literacy, it has been found that close to whiz billion people have stepped in twenty first ascorbic acid unable to read a book or even be able to sign in their names (Birdsall, Kelley and Sinding pp 153). Approximately forty billion people be living with HIV/AIDS and ab fall out five hundred million cases of malaria are witnessed every year. Africa has the highest percentages of these cases and deaths. In the development countries bulk of people do lack adequate admission fee to clean and prophylactic water and still a greater portion lack prefatory sanitation.Children who are born, iodin billion live in poverty while about six hundred and forty millon children live without adequate security while about four hundred million children lack entry itinerary to safe water. In rural areas three out of four people are found to earn less than $ 1 and the same resi collectable of the world population is malnourished. The modernizeth of slums is at alarming rate where out of half of worlds population living in cities and towns, one out of three urban d sanitary upers lives in slum conditions (Otlin, pp67-69).Globalization and Poverty Reduction The term globalization refers to a process of interaction and integrating that involves different groups such people, government of different nations and companies. It is driven by international commerce and investment and is aided by information engineering science. It has cause signifi flowerpott effect on culture, environment, political dusts, economic development and human physical well being of m each societies around world (Lawig, pp15).The ideology of globalization has been make effective by policies that have paved way to economies both locally and internationally. The world has become a global village. C ommodities which had been earlier confined in one part of the world are now available across the globe. Both goods and people can reach destinations in a sex act short time due to improved infrastructure. Also, work can be outsourced from any part of the world provided there is internet connectivity. Apart from policies, technology has been the great driver of globalization.Information technology has too become an all important(predicate) tool for identifying and perusing economic opportunities in the fastest rate doable in addition to more informed economic trends analysis. In the context of global poverty, globalization is considered to be an approach to boost the poor countries and their citizens to develop economically and improve their living standards. Free trade creates bare-assed opportunities for new investments, jobs and enhances more efficient way in resources use that in figure out increases productivity.Liberalization of capital flows enables greater access to ex ternal resources penuryed to pay investments. Besides this, foreign direct investment do encourage the assign of technology , easy accessibility to a wider range of better quality of goods at competitive prices in addition to managerial expertise and skills (Niggle, pp 22-24). humanity trust and IMF The World lingo and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are main international financial institutions in the world. In Africa for example, they are the major sources that provide financial support.Over the past the poorest countries in Africa have very much turned to World till and IMF to request for financial support due to their impoverished situation. To be able to implement this, these agencies have Structural revision Programs/Policies (SAPs). These are economic policies that must be followed by any demesne that is in need of their loans. These policies in many countries, they have roughhewn principles such as export led growth, privatization, liberalization and efficiency of the free mart (Winter, pp36). Structural Adjustment Programs pauperizations the countries to devalue their currencies against the dollar.This helps to make goods cheaper for foreigners to buy. Also there is need for the government to balance their budgets and not to overspend, remove price controls and state subsides. equilibrate national budgets usually should be through cutting government expending and usually not by raising taxes. The implication of this is deep cuts in government programs such as education, health, social care as well as removal of subsides that are aimed to control prices of basic necessities such as food. These SAPs often emphasis on production and exportation of primary commodities want tea and coffee for earning foreign exchange.However, in practice the Structural registration Programs have only result to escalating state of poverty in countries where they are implemented due to various reasons. First, privatization requires governments to sell off the enterprises to private owners and in many cases they are foreign investors. This result to lay-off and pay cuts for employee in these privatized organizations. Secondly, decrement in government spending results to reducing services to the poor peculiarly the critical ones such as health and education.Thirdly, the promotion of exports by countries as required in SAPs is done at the expense of production for domestic help needs. This is because the export orientation is often involved with displacement of people who grow food for their domestic own consumption because land is occupied by plantations for growing crops for foreign markets. The fourth factor is that increased interest rates that are recessionary are bound to affect national economies in that small businesses where women are the main actors find it hard to access to low-priced credit which make it hard to survive.This leads to unemployment. Lastly, trade liberalization requires elimination of duty protections for industries. When this happens in developing countries, it causes mass layoff of employees. For good example in Mozambique World verify and IMF ordered for removal of export tax on cashew egg that caused about ten thousand workers to loose their jobs (Udayagiri & Walton, pp101-102). Effects of World Bank and IMF Aids on Zimbabwe A Cultural Perspective Culture can be defined as the perspectives, practices and products of a social group.It is share patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs and affective understanding that are acquired through socialization process. It is through these shared patterns that identify the members of a particular culture group and also it distinguishes those of some other group. The following is a cultural perspective discussion on the effects of international monetary funds and globalization in Zimbabwe. Since Zimbabwe sought aid from IMF and World Bank and espouse their Structural Adjustment Programs, the situation has been deteri orating.The prejudicial effects of Structural Adjustment Programs have not been felt on economy levels alone but also in the Zimbabwean culture. Zimbabwe was a choice in this presentation because of its current worrying socio-economic trends which have been catalyzed by high inflation rates than any other African pastoral and has also witnessed tight IMF/World Bank screws (Mumbengegwi, pp 22-26) When IMF demanded adoption of SAPs by Zimbabwean government they were not tailored to address the local needs of common man. Rather they were in favor of foreign investors through trade liberalization. unitary of SAPs required Zimbabwe government to privatize state possess enterprises. This is culturally because just about of Zimbabweans have been known, for instance, to be small- hold opener dairy farmers as their livelihood. As result of privatization, for instance of dairy cooperatives through floatation of share, majority of the farmer experienced a cultural crisis. This is because t hey were unable to continue with their selling of milk. They could no long-term revere relatively cheap and affordable credit facilities as before do it impossible to continue with dairy res publica.Also the issue of privatization provoked alterations in land tenure system. It has been a customs to own land on communal basis as opposed to private land ownership. However, this tradition has been broken through issuing of freehold title to male landholders which never used to exist before. This anticipated productivity crisis particularly in farming system in many small scale commercial farming. SAPs had effect on the Zimbabwean culture of maize farming. Before implementation of SAPs in Zimbabwe, the surface area was used to grow maize in large scale which make it to have enough to feed its population and have stock piles. simply due to the demands of World Bank and IMF for the body politic to be export orient to increase if foreign exchange, it forced the country to sell all of its stockpiles in obedience. Due to unfavorable climatic conditions, now Zimbabwe does not have any maize reserves to feed it population as it was its culture. It now relies on importation which is scarcely enough to meet food needs of it starvation citizens. Before, introduction of export-oriented concept in Zimbabwe, it practiced traditional farming that focus on growing of original crops for local consumption.This has gradually phased out because of SAPs demand for growing crops that are export oriented. Instead of improving on indigenous crops that will enhance attainment of food sufficiency , alliance has cease up suffering from extreme hunger because growing the local foods have been abandon for cash crop growing. To facilitate cash crop growing, virtually of land was commercialized. This privatization and commercialization of land have suppressed women rights in impact to land control. In the past when communal land system was practiced, women had access and control over the land.But commercialization and privatization of the land in the country have adversely affected land rights of most of the women because they now have limited access and control of the land despite the fact that they are the main contributors in agricultural production (Wod, pp 122). World and IMF policies further demanded the Zimbabwean government to reduce its national budget by retrenching certain digit of employees and strict wages control. In addition to this, it was expected to cut consume social spending on health, health and public services and tending them some fee.To make matter worse apart from privatization of state owned enterprises, Value Added Tax was to be introduced. This resulted to high cost of living which in all affected the normal way of living of Zimbabwean citizens. This led to high rate of unemployment. In response to this family ties started loosening as many men migrated in search for jobs causing increased rate of female headed folk in the c ountry which is contrary to existing culture. Thorough keen scrutiny, one would clearly see that globalization ideology is Structural Adjustment Policies in disguise.This is because it also lobbies for trade liberalization. Because the majority of Zimbabwe citizens are small scale entrepreneurs, trade liberalization has severely affected them. Women being the major actors in agriculture production, trade liberalization have failed them to acquire credit and other farming inputs because of their high cost. This has resulted to increased rural urban migration, great number of squatters in urban areas and high crime rate which has now become a new cultural phenomenon. There has been increased moral decay.Significant verse of women have resorted to cross border trade whereby there have been several reported cases of extramarital affairs while the husbands who have been left at home indulge in the same (Schweiker, pp11). Children are no longer seen by fires side listening to counsel th at instill values and norms that hold society together because every one is struggling for survival as living standard has skyrocketed in the country Conclusion World Bank and IMF policies have caused more evil than good in the countries which they have been implemented.SAPs have not been tailored to address the poverty situation in developing countries but are only to cater the interest of those formulated them. They do not attempt to address poverty using local context perspective but are generalized to favor the international corporations from developed countries. But because aid can not be given without configuration to these polices, the needy countries end up falling being their preys. Both SAPs and globalization is one and the same thing and their effects are not only felt in spheres of political or economies alone but also deeply felt at cultural sphere.Their effects alter practices and perspectives of community by imposing a change in tradition way of doing things and bec ause of the essence for survival some practices are dropped while others are adopted to cope with the present challenges that are threat to human living such as hunger. References Birdsall, N. Kelley, A. C. , Sinding, S. Population Matters Demographic Change, Economic Growth, and Poverty in the evolution World. ISBN 0199244073, 9780199244072, Oxford University Press, 2001. Mumbengegwi, C. Macroeconomic and Structural Adjustment Policies in Zimbabwe. ISBN 1403914419, 9781403914415.Palgrave, 2002. Lawig, K. Overcoming Globalization The Root of Violence. The widely distributed Review Journal, Vol. 55, 2003. 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