WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World, www.gfa.org) founded by Dr. K.P. Yohannan, issues the third part of an extensive Special Report on Poverty: Public Enemy #1 – discussing extreme poverty worldwide, and how poverty reduction and poverty elimination is possible, but not inevitable.
The ‘Good Neighbor’ Phenomenon in Poverty Reduction
One reason microfinance may not always seem to be clearly beneficial is hinted at in a 2013 study of three programs in Namibia. It found the approach “playing a positive role in alleviating poverty amongst its members,” though it also noted that many participants who reported improved living standards said their income still wasn’t enough.
“This shows that income is not the only measurement of living standards,” the report observed. “The increase of members’ income also led to an increase in the number of household members that each member supports … an average member … supports at least three to four household members who depend on him or her for food, clothes and shelter, and, typically, each member supports three family members at school.”
This “good neighbor” phenomenon has been widely observed by those engaged in relief and development work—that as people start to climb out of poverty, they can often find themselves carrying others with them, in effect shortening their own strides to help others. For example, one person employed at a tourist lodge in Ethiopia “can lift up to 10 family members out of poverty”…
READ THE REST OF THE REPORT ON PATHEOS.COM
Learn more about how the simple gift of an income-generating animal can be the turning point for an impoverished family—one their family has likely been desiring for generations, rescuing them from poverty.
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