Paradox of poverty

For years the international community has been pushing uphill in the battle against poverty and hunger only to find, as a modern-day Sisyphus, that solutions slip away and that the problem seems to get worse with each succeeding development decade.

It is commonplace that growing poverty has gone hand-in-hand with economic growth. It is also paradoxical. The persistence of pov erty amid growth has raised a number of questions about both the quality of social science analysis and the role of markets and public policy processes. Development policy today is shot through with many dilemmas of analysis (what, after all, is the problem?) and policy (what can and should be done and by whom?).

The concrete case of hunger clearly symbolizes the quandry. There are few symbols so transcultural and multidimensional as that of sharing a meal, an act of human well-being, fulfillment, and solidar ity. The fact that so many in the world today have little or nothing to eat, while others are exceedingly well off, is a profound indict ment of the world economic system. It is morally outrageous that millions starve while simultaneously many food markets are glutted with surplusses. It is also economically inefficient.