Addressing poverty

The section on poverty under ‘Underlying Causes’ reports the rapid incidence of poverty in the Philippines. Lots of the rural poor especially depend on the forest and coastal areas for survival. As such, being poor results in them overexploiting the natural resources as no amount seems to be enough to provide for their basic needs. The government implementing proper poverty alleviation programs can be the first step towards improving the environmental situation in the country.

Educating the poor on alternative skills to adopt for survival such as adopting environmentally friendly agricultural practices (eg. agroforestry) instead of enagaging in kaingin (slash and burn) can be the turning point for many of these poor farmers living in the rural areas. The government could also place more focus on helping these poor people by establishing proper irrigation systems for these people so that they don’t only have to depend on rainfall to water their crops. This leads to another benefit, farmers who have access to proper irrigation systems may have a more reliable source of food and income, and would not encroach upon forest resources such as engaging in hunting for wild animals for food, hence helping to sustain the population of wildlife living in the areas as well.

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Image Source: Opera.com

Wikipedia states that two of the ‘Three Great Poverty Eradication Myths’ as proposed by poverty activist Paul Polak is that we can donate the poor out of poverty and that national economic growth will end poverty. We have seen donations pouring into poor nations from all over the world, but poverty still remains in these areas. Therefore providing aid alone will not be effective in reducing the poverty rate in the Philippines.

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Image Source: UNFPA.org

One other effective strategy in reducing poverty rate is to promote gender equality in these poor areas. According to Wikipedia, promoting gender equality through empowering women correlates positively with poverty reduction rate in the country. This could be because women could be seen as an important factor in economic development and poor women especially could be taught how to source for income separately on their own thus helping to improve living conditions further. As shown in the picture above, women can also play important roles in conserving the environment. Teaching them proper techniques on trying to conserve the environment while making a living for themselves can be highly effective in restoring the natural environment. Please refer to this source to read more on how the poor women in the Philippines can help in conservation: Poor women in the Philippines

Source for the above information: Wikipedia