Poverty is a pandemic. “In Scandinavian countries two percent of the populations live below the poverty line. In some African countries this is as high as 35 percent. Throughout the world more than 35,000 people die of poverty a day.”
Saudi Arabia has had a history of ignoring this pandemic especially within their own soil. King Abdullah’s recent visit to poor districts during Ramadan was for the first time an official recognition of the existence of poverty in the kingdom. The tour had a positive outcome that led to the establishment of a charitable fund to help the poor and more efforts in their anti-poverty strategy; a great leap from their passive past with poverty.
The World Bank has conducted a series of studies that stress that agriculture is the key to developing rural areas and eradicating poverty. The development of rural areas is the best means to achieve a far distribution of income among the people of the Kingdom. It proved that agriculture has more effect on anti-poverty strategy than any other activity because it provides basic food to the people. Development of rural areas and small villages is vital as it creates more employment opportunities.
Saudi Arabia is striving for this agricultural reform and rural development to encourage sustainable development that will ensure their people food security, eliminate acute poverty and hunger, help spread primary education, and boosts equality and social justice.
While I think it is great that Saudi Arabia is taking steps to not only recognize thier issues with poverty, but also taking action to eradicating it... I feel like this whole semester I have been reading articles that have the same strategies but difficulties in executing them. So may be the problem lies within the execution of the strategy, and the not the strategy itself.
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