What Are Some Solutions to Poverty?

You’ve heard it said that if you give someone a fish they will eat for a day, but if you give him a fishing pole, he will eat for a lifetime. This saying continues to be true in the world of philanthropy and humanitarian efforts. What are some solutions to poverty? Giving someone a way to provide for themselves and into the future is a proven one.

As the World Bank notes, “Strategies to reach the least well-off must be tailored to each country’s context, considering the latest data and analysis, and the needs of the population. How the world responds to these major challenges today will have a direct bearing on whether the current reversals in global poverty reduction can be turned around.”[1]

The United Nations has targeted poverty as its number one goal that can be globally addressed by 2030. The UN “recognizes that ending poverty in all its forms everywhere is the greatest global challenge facing the world today and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development.” Part of addressing poverty calls for sustainable development in all areas of the world to create economic opportunities.[2]

For the poorest of the poor, their situation is likely not related to ability or desire but to opportunity. Because the poorest often live in rural areas, the chances of finding work beyond hard labor are small. They need a sustainable income stream that contributes to everyone around them, creating demand for goods or services.

This is one of the reasons behind GFA World’s Gift Catalog Program. Each of the items listed is a way for a person or family to have a new or extended way of bringing in income. For example, farm animals can produce milk for cheese, eggs to sell and so forth. A donor like you can purchase a cow. If that cow gives birth, then there is milk flowing, which can be sold or made into cheese. Then the calf can either be sold or raised as another source of milk.


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