Africa's Poverty Trap: Future Plans, Millennium Goals, and What's Really Working

     Jeffrey Sachs, the author of "Common Wealth" (which is currently being read for this class), has been actively involved in the case of the Sub-Saharan Poverty Trap. Writing articles for both the New York Times and Scientific American Magazine, he has discussed both the hypothetical means to raise Africa from it's destructive poverty and also the current measures being taken to fulfill said task.
     Sachs states that the main contributer to this cyclic poverty is geography--the lack of access to sea-based trade, poor and irregular rainfall, high disease burdens, and political struggle can often be traced back to the relative location of the impoverished community. Also, he notes how extreme poverty can raise political tensions in an area, and possibly increases the chance of violent conflict. These problems are what the Millennium Development Goals have sought to address through foreign funding, education, and health care. In the ten years since the Millennium Goals started working in Africa, cases of the measles have dropped by 90%, longevity has improved (as most AIDS victims are now on antiretroviral treatment), malaria is dropping decisively, school enrollment has risen 16%, the economy has gained speed, and extreme poverty is declining. All of this is made possible by the cooperation of foreign powers and local leaders.
      However, there is much more that can be done--of the $60 billion promised in aid to Africa, actual aid is only $45 billion. Africa faces many more threats to its progress such as: rampant population growth (which is fueled by the influence of the Roman Catholic Church in that area), corruption by large Asian or American corporations, lack of trade, human-induced climate change, and neglect. All of these problems will take time and immense amounts of worldwide cooperation to fix. There are five more years left to go on the Millennium Goals, but through the strategies proposed by Sachs, I think that an economical revolution in Africa is possible--it will most likely take longer than solely that five years, but I think Africa is off to a better start. Rather than funneling money to people at the top, he suggests investing in those at the bottom who cannot help themselves; it follows through with the old saying "catch a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life". This method of help will always have its setbacks, but it ultimately pays off. It is my hope and prayer that the multitude of problems in Africa will be addressed and solved, and that in another ten years Africa can be looked on as a nation that has moved forward out of its dark ages.