Discuss, with supporting evidence, the different ‘proximate’ and ‘fundamental’ determinants of poverty
The World Bank states: “Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being ill and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having the ability to go to school and not being able to read. Poverty is being in unemployment. Poverty is losing a child to illness brought about by unclean water. Poverty is powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom.” (World Bank, as cited in Lang 2007, p.31). More than three billion people live on less than $2.50 a day which is approximately half the world’s population. In 2005, the developing world had about 72 million children of primary school age not enrolled in school; of this 72 million, 57 percent of them were girls. Each year, 2.2 million children die because they lack immunisation (Globalissues.org, 2013).
This essay will discuss the fundamental determinants of poverty with the two main contenders being geography and institution. It would also discuss the proximate determinants of poverty in Kenya.
What causes poverty is an important question when trying to explain poverty, but it is not one which can easily be answered. These causes can be grouped into ‘proximate’, ‘intermediate’ and ‘fundamental’ causes of poverty. The proximate cause is the ‘nearest cause’ in the chain of causation, ABCDE. The fundamental cause is what sets the chain of causation in motion. The fundamental cause of E is A, and B, C and D are intermediate causes (Rycroft 2009, p.232). In order to design a policy to reduce poverty, identifying the fundamental causes of poverty is essential. When explaining the fundamental determinant of poverty, the two main contenders that cause a difference in the prosperity of countries are geography and institutions (Acemoglu, as cited in Banerjee et al 2006, p19).
The geography hypothesis