social issues poverty essay

Poverty Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on poverty essay.

“Poverty is the worst form of violence”. – Mahatma Gandhi.

How Poverty is Measured?

For measuring poverty United nations have devised two measures of poverty – Absolute & relative poverty.  Absolute poverty is used to measure poverty in developing countries like India. Relative poverty is used to measure poverty in developed countries like the USA. In absolute poverty, a line based on the minimum level of income has been created & is called a poverty line.  If per day income of a family is below this level, then it is poor or below the poverty line. If per day income of a family is above this level, then it is non-poor or above the poverty line. In India, the new poverty line is  Rs 32 in rural areas and Rs 47 in urban areas.

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Causes of Poverty

According to the Noble prize winner South African leader, Nelson Mandela – “Poverty is not natural, it is manmade”. The above statement is true as the causes of poverty are generally man-made. There are various causes of poverty but the most important is population. Rising population is putting the burden on the resources & budget of countries. Governments are finding difficult to provide food, shelter & employment to the rising population.

The other causes are- lack of education, war, natural disaster, lack of employment, lack of infrastructure, political instability, etc. For instance- lack of employment opportunities makes a person jobless & he is not able to earn enough to fulfill the basic necessities of his family & becomes poor. Lack of education compels a person for less paying jobs & it makes him poorer. Lack of infrastructure means there are no industries, banks, etc. in a country resulting in lack of employment opportunities. Natural disasters like flood, earthquake also contribute to poverty.

In some countries, especially African countries like Somalia, a long period of civil war has made poverty widespread. This is because all the resources & money is being spent in war instead of public welfare. Countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc. are prone to natural disasters like cyclone, etc. These disasters occur every year causing poverty to rise.

Ill Effects of Poverty

Poverty affects the life of a poor family. A poor person is not able to take proper food & nutrition &his capacity to work reduces. Reduced capacity to work further reduces his income, making him poorer. Children from poor family never get proper schooling & proper nutrition. They have to work to support their family & this destroys their childhood. Some of them may also involve in crimes like theft, murder, robbery, etc. A poor person remains uneducated & is forced to live under unhygienic conditions in slums. There are no proper sanitation & drinking water facility in slums & he falls ill often &  his health deteriorates. A poor person generally dies an early death. So, all social evils are related to poverty.

Government Schemes to Remove Poverty

The government of India also took several measures to eradicate poverty from India. Some of them are – creating employment opportunities , controlling population, etc. In India, about 60% of the population is still dependent on agriculture for its livelihood. Government has taken certain measures to promote agriculture in India. The government constructed certain dams & canals in our country to provide easy availability of water for irrigation. Government has also taken steps for the cheap availability of seeds & farming equipment to promote agriculture. Government is also promoting farming of cash crops like cotton, instead of food crops. In cities, the government is promoting industrialization to create more jobs. Government has also opened  ‘Ration shops’. Other measures include providing free & compulsory education for children up to 14 years of age, scholarship to deserving students from a poor background, providing subsidized houses to poor people, etc.

Poverty is a social evil, we can also contribute to control it. For example- we can simply donate old clothes to poor people, we can also sponsor the education of a poor child or we can utilize our free time by teaching poor students. Remember before wasting food, somebody is still sleeping hungry.

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Why Poverty Persists in America

A Pulitzer Prize-winning sociologist offers a new explanation for an intractable problem.

A mother and son living in a Walmart parking lot in North Dakota in 2012. Credit... Eugene Richards

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By Matthew Desmond

• Published March 9, 2023 Updated April 3, 2023

In the past 50 years, scientists have mapped the entire human genome and eradicated smallpox. Here in the United States, infant-mortality rates and deaths from heart disease have fallen by roughly 70 percent, and the average American has gained almost a decade of life. Climate change was recognized as an existential threat. The internet was invented.

On the problem of poverty, though, there has been no real improvement — just a long stasis. As estimated by the federal government’s poverty line, 12.6 percent of the U.S. population was poor in 1970; two decades later, it was 13.5 percent; in 2010, it was 15.1 percent; and in 2019, it was 10.5 percent. To graph the share of Americans living in poverty over the past half-century amounts to drawing a line that resembles gently rolling hills. The line curves slightly up, then slightly down, then back up again over the years, staying steady through Democratic and Republican administrations, rising in recessions and falling in boom years.

What accounts for this lack of progress? It cannot be chalked up to how the poor are counted: Different measures spit out the same embarrassing result. When the government began reporting the Supplemental Poverty Measure in 2011, designed to overcome many of the flaws of the Official Poverty Measure, including not accounting for regional differences in costs of living and government benefits, the United States officially gained three million more poor people. Possible reductions in poverty from counting aid like food stamps and tax benefits were more than offset by recognizing how low-income people were burdened by rising housing and health care costs.

The American poor have access to cheap, mass-produced goods, as every American does. But that doesn’t mean they can access what matters most.

Any fair assessment of poverty must confront the breathtaking march of material progress. But the fact that standards of living have risen across the board doesn’t mean that poverty itself has fallen. Forty years ago, only the rich could afford cellphones. But cellphones have become more affordable over the past few decades, and now most Americans have one, including many poor people. This has led observers like Ron Haskins and Isabel Sawhill, senior fellows at the Brookings Institution, to assert that “access to certain consumer goods,” like TVs, microwave ovens and cellphones, shows that “the poor are not quite so poor after all.”

No, it doesn’t. You can’t eat a cellphone. A cellphone doesn’t grant you stable housing, affordable medical and dental care or adequate child care. In fact, as things like cellphones have become cheaper, the cost of the most necessary of life’s necessities, like health care and rent, has increased. From 2000 to 2022 in the average American city, the cost of fuel and utilities increased by 115 percent. The American poor, living as they do in the center of global capitalism, have access to cheap, mass-produced goods, as every American does. But that doesn’t mean they can access what matters most. As Michael Harrington put it 60 years ago: “It is much easier in the United States to be decently dressed than it is to be decently housed, fed or doctored.”

Why, then, when it comes to poverty reduction, have we had 50 years of nothing? When I first started looking into this depressing state of affairs, I assumed America’s efforts to reduce poverty had stalled because we stopped trying to solve the problem. I bought into the idea, popular among progressives, that the election of President Ronald Reagan (as well as that of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom) marked the ascendancy of market fundamentalism, or “neoliberalism,” a time when governments cut aid to the poor, lowered taxes and slashed regulations. If American poverty persisted, I thought, it was because we had reduced our spending on the poor. But I was wrong.

Reagan expanded corporate power, deeply cut taxes on the rich and rolled back spending on some antipoverty initiatives, especially in housing. But he was unable to make large-scale, long-term cuts to many of the programs that make up the American welfare state. Throughout Reagan’s eight years as president, antipoverty spending grew, and it continued to grow after he left office. Spending on the nation’s 13 largest means-tested programs — aid reserved for Americans who fall below a certain income level — went from $1,015 a person the year Reagan was elected president to $3,419 a person one year into Donald Trump’s administration, a 237 percent increase.

Most of this increase was due to health care spending, and Medicaid in particular. But even if we exclude Medicaid from the calculation, we find that federal investments in means-tested programs increased by 130 percent from 1980 to 2018, from $630 to $1,448 per person.

“Neoliberalism” is now part of the left’s lexicon, but I looked in vain to find it in the plain print of federal budgets, at least as far as aid to the poor was concerned. There is no evidence that the United States has become stingier over time. The opposite is true.

This makes the country’s stalled progress on poverty even more baffling. Decade after decade, the poverty rate has remained flat even as federal relief has surged.

If we have more than doubled government spending on poverty and achieved so little, one reason is that the American welfare state is a leaky bucket. Take welfare, for example: When it was administered through the Aid to Families With Dependent Children program, almost all of its funds were used to provide single-parent families with cash assistance. But when President Bill Clinton reformed welfare in 1996, replacing the old model with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), he transformed the program into a block grant that gives states considerable leeway in deciding how to distribute the money. As a result, states have come up with rather creative ways to spend TANF dollars. Arizona has used welfare money to pay for abstinence-only sex education. Pennsylvania diverted TANF funds to anti-abortion crisis-pregnancy centers. Maine used the money to support a Christian summer camp. Nationwide, for every dollar budgeted for TANF in 2020, poor families directly received just 22 cents.

We’ve approached the poverty question by pointing to poor people themselves, when we should have been focusing on exploitation.

A fair amount of government aid earmarked for the poor never reaches them. But this does not fully solve the puzzle of why poverty has been so stubbornly persistent, because many of the country’s largest social-welfare programs distribute funds directly to people. Roughly 85 percent of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program budget is dedicated to funding food stamps themselves, and almost 93 percent of Medicaid dollars flow directly to beneficiaries.

There are, it would seem, deeper structural forces at play, ones that have to do with the way the American poor are routinely taken advantage of. The primary reason for our stalled progress on poverty reduction has to do with the fact that we have not confronted the unrelenting exploitation of the poor in the labor, housing and financial markets.

As a theory of poverty, “exploitation” elicits a muddled response, causing us to think of course and but, no in the same instant. The word carries a moral charge, but social scientists have a fairly coolheaded way to measure exploitation: When we are underpaid relative to the value of what we produce, we experience labor exploitation; when we are overcharged relative to the value of something we purchase, we experience consumer exploitation. For example, if a family paid $1,000 a month to rent an apartment with a market value of $20,000, that family would experience a higher level of renter exploitation than a family who paid the same amount for an apartment with a market valuation of $100,000. When we don’t own property or can’t access credit, we become dependent on people who do and can, which in turn invites exploitation, because a bad deal for you is a good deal for me.

Our vulnerability to exploitation grows as our liberty shrinks. Because labor laws often fail to protect undocumented workers in practice, more than a third are paid below minimum wage, and nearly 85 percent are not paid overtime. Many of us who are U.S. citizens, or who crossed borders through official checkpoints, would not work for these wages. We don’t have to. If they migrate here as adults, those undocumented workers choose the terms of their arrangement. But just because desperate people accept and even seek out exploitative conditions doesn’t make those conditions any less exploitative. Sometimes exploitation is simply the best bad option.

Consider how many employers now get one over on American workers. The United States offers some of the lowest wages in the industrialized world. A larger share of workers in the United States make “low pay” — earning less than two-thirds of median wages — than in any other country belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. According to the group, nearly 23 percent of American workers labor in low-paying jobs, compared with roughly 17 percent in Britain, 11 percent in Japan and 5 percent in Italy. Poverty wages have swollen the ranks of the American working poor, most of whom are 35 or older.

One popular theory for the loss of good jobs is deindustrialization, which caused the shuttering of factories and the hollowing out of communities that had sprung up around them. Such a passive word, “deindustrialization” — leaving the impression that it just happened somehow, as if the country got deindustrialization the way a forest gets infested by bark beetles. But economic forces framed as inexorable, like deindustrialization and the acceleration of global trade, are often helped along by policy decisions like the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, which made it easier for companies to move their factories to Mexico and contributed to the loss of hundreds of thousands of American jobs. The world has changed, but it has changed for other economies as well. Yet Belgium and Canada and many other countries haven’t experienced the kind of wage stagnation and surge in income inequality that the United States has.

Those countries managed to keep their unions. We didn’t. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, nearly a third of all U.S. workers carried union cards. These were the days of the United Automobile Workers, led by Walter Reuther, once savagely beaten by Ford’s brass-knuckle boys, and of the mighty American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations that together represented around 15 million workers, more than the population of California at the time.

In their heyday, unions put up a fight. In 1970 alone, 2.4 million union members participated in work stoppages, wildcat strikes and tense standoffs with company heads. The labor movement fought for better pay and safer working conditions and supported antipoverty policies. Their efforts paid off for both unionized and nonunionized workers, as companies like Eastman Kodak were compelled to provide generous compensation and benefits to their workers to prevent them from organizing. By one estimate, the wages of nonunionized men without a college degree would be 8 percent higher today if union strength remained what it was in the late 1970s, a time when worker pay climbed, chief-executive compensation was reined in and the country experienced the most economically equitable period in modern history.

It is important to note that Old Labor was often a white man’s refuge. In the 1930s, many unions outwardly discriminated against Black workers or segregated them into Jim Crow local chapters. In the 1960s, unions like the Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America enforced segregation within their ranks. Unions harmed themselves through their self-defeating racism and were further weakened by a changing economy. But organized labor was also attacked by political adversaries. As unions flagged, business interests sensed an opportunity. Corporate lobbyists made deep inroads in both political parties, beginning a public-relations campaign that pressured policymakers to roll back worker protections.

A national litmus test arrived in 1981, when 13,000 unionized air traffic controllers left their posts after contract negotiations with the Federal Aviation Administration broke down. When the workers refused to return, Reagan fired all of them. The public’s response was muted, and corporate America learned that it could crush unions with minimal blowback. And so it went, in one industry after another.

Today almost all private-sector employees (94 percent) are without a union, though roughly half of nonunion workers say they would organize if given the chance. They rarely are. Employers have at their disposal an arsenal of tactics designed to prevent collective bargaining, from hiring union-busting firms to telling employees that they could lose their jobs if they vote yes. Those strategies are legal, but companies also make illegal moves to block unions, like disciplining workers for trying to organize or threatening to close facilities. In 2016 and 2017, the National Labor Relations Board charged 42 percent of employers with violating federal law during union campaigns. In nearly a third of cases, this involved illegally firing workers for organizing.

Corporate lobbyists told us that organized labor was a drag on the economy — that once the companies had cleared out all these fusty, lumbering unions, the economy would rev up, raising everyone’s fortunes. But that didn’t come to pass. The negative effects of unions have been wildly overstated, and there is now evidence that unions play a role in increasing company productivity, for example by reducing turnover. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics measures productivity as how efficiently companies turn inputs (like materials and labor) into outputs (like goods and services). Historically, productivity, wages and profits rise and fall in lock step. But the American economy is less productive today than it was in the post-World War II period, when unions were at peak strength. The economies of other rich countries have slowed as well, including those with more highly unionized work forces, but it is clear that diluting labor power in America did not unleash economic growth or deliver prosperity to more people. “We were promised economic dynamism in exchange for inequality,” Eric Posner and Glen Weyl write in their book “Radical Markets.” “We got the inequality, but dynamism is actually declining.”

As workers lost power, their jobs got worse. For several decades after World War II, ordinary workers’ inflation-adjusted wages (known as “real wages”) increased by 2 percent each year. But since 1979, real wages have grown by only 0.3 percent a year. Astonishingly, workers with a high school diploma made 2.7 percent less in 2017 than they would have in 1979, adjusting for inflation. Workers without a diploma made nearly 10 percent less.

Lousy, underpaid work is not an indispensable, if regrettable, byproduct of capitalism, as some business defenders claim today. (This notion would have scandalized capitalism’s earliest defenders. John Stuart Mill, arch advocate of free people and free markets, once said that if widespread scarcity was a hallmark of capitalism, he would become a communist.) But capitalism is inherently about owners trying to give as little, and workers trying to get as much, as possible. With unions largely out of the picture, corporations have chipped away at the conventional midcentury work arrangement, which involved steady employment, opportunities for advancement and raises and decent pay with some benefits.

As the sociologist Gerald Davis has put it: Our grandparents had careers. Our parents had jobs. We complete tasks. Or at least that has been the story of the American working class and working poor.

Poor Americans aren’t just exploited in the labor market. They face consumer exploitation in the housing and financial markets as well.

There is a long history of slum exploitation in America. Money made slums because slums made money. Rent has more than doubled over the past two decades, rising much faster than renters’ incomes. Median rent rose from $483 in 2000 to $1,216 in 2021. Why have rents shot up so fast? Experts tend to offer the same rote answers to this question. There’s not enough housing supply, they say, and too much demand. Landlords must charge more just to earn a decent rate of return. Must they? How do we know?

We need more housing; no one can deny that. But rents have jumped even in cities with plenty of apartments to go around. At the end of 2021, almost 19 percent of rental units in Birmingham, Ala., sat vacant, as did 12 percent of those in Syracuse, N.Y. Yet rent in those areas increased by roughly 14 percent and 8 percent, respectively, over the previous two years. National data also show that rental revenues have far outpaced property owners’ expenses in recent years, especially for multifamily properties in poor neighborhoods. Rising rents are not simply a reflection of rising operating costs. There’s another dynamic at work, one that has to do with the fact that poor people — and particularly poor Black families — don’t have much choice when it comes to where they can live. Because of that, landlords can overcharge them, and they do.

A study I published with Nathan Wilmers found that after accounting for all costs, landlords operating in poor neighborhoods typically take in profits that are double those of landlords operating in affluent communities. If down-market landlords make more, it’s because their regular expenses (especially their mortgages and property-tax bills) are considerably lower than those in upscale neighborhoods. But in many cities with average or below-average housing costs — think Buffalo, not Boston — rents in the poorest neighborhoods are not drastically lower than rents in the middle-class sections of town. From 2015 to 2019, median monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the Indianapolis metropolitan area was $991; it was $816 in neighborhoods with poverty rates above 40 percent, just around 17 percent less. Rents are lower in extremely poor neighborhoods, but not by as much as you would think.

Yet where else can poor families live? They are shut out of homeownership because banks are disinclined to issue small-dollar mortgages, and they are also shut out of public housing, which now has waiting lists that stretch on for years and even decades. Struggling families looking for a safe, affordable place to live in America usually have but one choice: to rent from private landlords and fork over at least half their income to rent and utilities. If millions of poor renters accept this state of affairs, it’s not because they can’t afford better alternatives; it’s because they often aren’t offered any.

You can read injunctions against usury in the Vedic texts of ancient India, in the sutras of Buddhism and in the Torah. Aristotle and Aquinas both rebuked it. Dante sent moneylenders to the seventh circle of hell. None of these efforts did much to stem the practice, but they do reveal that the unprincipled act of trapping the poor in a cycle of debt has existed at least as long as the written word. It might be the oldest form of exploitation after slavery. Many writers have depicted America’s poor as unseen, shadowed and forgotten people: as “other” or “invisible.” But markets have never failed to notice the poor, and this has been particularly true of the market for money itself.

The deregulation of the banking system in the 1980s heightened competition among banks. Many responded by raising fees and requiring customers to carry minimum balances. In 1977, over a third of banks offered accounts with no service charge. By the early 1990s, only 5 percent did. Big banks grew bigger as community banks shuttered, and in 2021, the largest banks in America charged customers almost $11 billion in overdraft fees. Previous research showed that just 9 percent of account holders paid 84 percent of these fees. Who were the unlucky 9 percent? Customers who carried an average balance of less than $350. The poor were made to pay for their poverty.

In 2021, the average fee for overdrawing your account was $33.58. Because banks often issue multiple charges a day, it’s not uncommon to overdraw your account by $20 and end up paying $200 for it. Banks could (and do) deny accounts to people who have a history of overextending their money, but those customers also provide a steady revenue stream for some of the most powerful financial institutions in the world.

Every year: almost $11 billion in overdraft fees, $1.6 billion in check-cashing fees and up to $8.2 billion in payday-loan fees.

According to the F.D.I.C., one in 19 U.S. households had no bank account in 2019, amounting to more than seven million families. Compared with white families, Black and Hispanic families were nearly five times as likely to lack a bank account. Where there is exclusion, there is exploitation. Unbanked Americans have created a market, and thousands of check-cashing outlets now serve that market. Check-cashing stores generally charge from 1 to 10 percent of the total, depending on the type of check. That means that a worker who is paid $10 an hour and takes a $1,000 check to a check-cashing outlet will pay $10 to $100 just to receive the money he has earned, effectively losing one to 10 hours of work. (For many, this is preferable to the less-predictable exploitation by traditional banks, with their automatic overdraft fees. It’s the devil you know.) In 2020, Americans spent $1.6 billion just to cash checks. If the poor had a costless way to access their own money, over a billion dollars would have remained in their pockets during the pandemic-induced recession.

Poverty can mean missed payments, which can ruin your credit. But just as troublesome as bad credit is having no credit score at all, which is the case for 26 million adults in the United States. Another 19 million possess a credit history too thin or outdated to be scored. Having no credit (or bad credit) can prevent you from securing an apartment, buying insurance and even landing a job, as employers are increasingly relying on credit checks during the hiring process. And when the inevitable happens — when you lose hours at work or when the car refuses to start — the payday-loan industry steps in.

For most of American history, regulators prohibited lending institutions from charging exorbitant interest on loans. Because of these limits, banks kept interest rates between 6 and 12 percent and didn’t do much business with the poor, who in a pinch took their valuables to the pawnbroker or the loan shark. But the deregulation of the banking sector in the 1980s ushered the money changers back into the temple by removing strict usury limits. Interest rates soon reached 300 percent, then 500 percent, then 700 percent. Suddenly, some people were very interested in starting businesses that lent to the poor. In recent years, 17 states have brought back strong usury limits, capping interest rates and effectively prohibiting payday lending. But the trade thrives in most places. The annual percentage rate for a two-week $300 loan can reach 460 percent in California, 516 percent in Wisconsin and 664 percent in Texas.

Roughly a third of all payday loans are now issued online, and almost half of borrowers who have taken out online loans have had lenders overdraw their bank accounts. The average borrower stays indebted for five months, paying $520 in fees to borrow $375. Keeping people indebted is, of course, the ideal outcome for the payday lender. It’s how they turn a $15 profit into a $150 one. Payday lenders do not charge high fees because lending to the poor is risky — even after multiple extensions, most borrowers pay up. Lenders extort because they can.

Every year: almost $11 billion in overdraft fees, $1.6 billion in check-cashing fees and up to $8.2 billion in payday-loan fees. That’s more than $55 million in fees collected predominantly from low-income Americans each day — not even counting the annual revenue collected by pawnshops and title loan services and rent-to-own schemes. When James Baldwin remarked in 1961 how “extremely expensive it is to be poor,” he couldn’t have imagined these receipts.

“Predatory inclusion” is what the historian Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor calls it in her book “Race for Profit,” describing the longstanding American tradition of incorporating marginalized people into housing and financial schemes through bad deals when they are denied good ones. The exclusion of poor people from traditional banking and credit systems has forced them to find alternative ways to cash checks and secure loans, which has led to a normalization of their exploitation. This is all perfectly legal, after all, and subsidized by the nation’s richest commercial banks. The fringe banking sector would not exist without lines of credit extended by the conventional one. Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase bankroll payday lenders like Advance America and Cash America. Everybody gets a cut.

Poverty isn’t simply the condition of not having enough money. It’s the condition of not having enough choice and being taken advantage of because of that. When we ignore the role that exploitation plays in trapping people in poverty, we end up designing policy that is weak at best and ineffective at worst. For example, when legislation lifts incomes at the bottom without addressing the housing crisis, those gains are often realized instead by landlords, not wholly by the families the legislation was intended to help. A 2019 study conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia found that when states raised minimum wages, families initially found it easier to pay rent. But landlords quickly responded to the wage bumps by increasing rents, which diluted the effect of the policy. This happened after the pandemic rescue packages, too: When wages began to rise in 2021 after worker shortages, rents rose as well, and soon people found themselves back where they started or worse.

Antipoverty programs work. Each year, millions of families are spared the indignities and hardships of severe deprivation because of these government investments. But our current antipoverty programs cannot abolish poverty by themselves. The Johnson administration started the War on Poverty and the Great Society in 1964. These initiatives constituted a bundle of domestic programs that included the Food Stamp Act, which made food aid permanent; the Economic Opportunity Act, which created Job Corps and Head Start; and the Social Security Amendments of 1965, which founded Medicare and Medicaid and expanded Social Security benefits. Nearly 200 pieces of legislation were signed into law in President Lyndon B. Johnson’s first five years in office, a breathtaking level of activity. And the result? Ten years after the first of these programs were rolled out in 1964, the share of Americans living in poverty was half what it was in 1960.

But the War on Poverty and the Great Society were started during a time when organized labor was strong, incomes were climbing, rents were modest and the fringe banking industry as we know it today didn’t exist. Today multiple forms of exploitation have turned antipoverty programs into something like dialysis, a treatment designed to make poverty less lethal, not to make it disappear.

This means we don’t just need deeper antipoverty investments. We need different ones, policies that refuse to partner with poverty, policies that threaten its very survival. We need to ensure that aid directed at poor people stays in their pockets, instead of being captured by companies whose low wages are subsidized by government benefits, or by landlords who raise the rents as their tenants’ wages rise, or by banks and payday-loan outlets who issue exorbitant fines and fees. Unless we confront the many forms of exploitation that poor families face, we risk increasing government spending only to experience another 50 years of sclerosis in the fight against poverty.

The best way to address labor exploitation is to empower workers. A renewed contract with American workers should make organizing easy. As things currently stand, unionizing a workplace is incredibly difficult. Under current labor law, workers who want to organize must do so one Amazon warehouse or one Starbucks location at a time. We have little chance of empowering the nation’s warehouse workers and baristas this way. This is why many new labor movements are trying to organize entire sectors. The Fight for $15 campaign, led by the Service Employees International Union, doesn’t focus on a single franchise (a specific McDonald’s store) or even a single company (McDonald’s) but brings together workers from several fast-food chains. It’s a new kind of labor power, and one that could be expanded: If enough workers in a specific economic sector — retail, hotel services, nursing — voted for the measure, the secretary of labor could establish a bargaining panel made up of representatives elected by the workers. The panel could negotiate with companies to secure the best terms for workers across the industry. This is a way to organize all Amazon warehouses and all Starbucks locations in a single go.

Sectoral bargaining, as it’s called, would affect tens of millions of Americans who have never benefited from a union of their own, just as it has improved the lives of workers in Europe and Latin America. The idea has been criticized by members of the business community, like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has raised concerns about the inflexibility and even the constitutionality of sectoral bargaining, as well as by labor advocates, who fear that industrywide policies could nullify gains that existing unions have made or could be achieved only if workers make other sacrifices. Proponents of the idea counter that sectoral bargaining could even the playing field, not only between workers and bosses, but also between companies in the same sector that would no longer be locked into a race to the bottom, with an incentive to shortchange their work force to gain a competitive edge. Instead, the companies would be forced to compete over the quality of the goods and services they offer. Maybe we would finally reap the benefits of all that economic productivity we were promised.

We must also expand the housing options for low-income families. There isn’t a single right way to do this, but there is clearly a wrong way: the way we’re doing it now. One straightforward approach is to strengthen our commitment to the housing programs we already have. Public housing provides affordable homes to millions of Americans, but it’s drastically underfunded relative to the need. When the wealthy township of Cherry Hill, N.J., opened applications for 29 affordable apartments in 2021, 9,309 people applied. The sky-high demand should tell us something, though: that affordable housing is a life changer, and families are desperate for it.

We could also pave the way for more Americans to become homeowners, an initiative that could benefit poor, working-class and middle-class families alike — as well as scores of young people. Banks generally avoid issuing small-dollar mortgages, not because they’re riskier — these mortgages have the same delinquency rates as larger mortgages — but because they’re less profitable. Over the life of a mortgage, interest on $1 million brings in a lot more money than interest on $75,000. This is where the federal government could step in, providing extra financing to build on-ramps to first-time homeownership. In fact, it already does so in rural America through the 502 Direct Loan Program, which has moved more than two million families into their own homes. These loans, fully guaranteed and serviced by the Department of Agriculture, come with low interest rates and, for very poor families, cover the entire cost of the mortgage, nullifying the need for a down payment. Last year, the average 502 Direct Loan was for $222,300 but cost the government only $10,370 per loan, chump change for such a durable intervention. Expanding a program like this into urban communities would provide even more low- and moderate-income families with homes of their own.

We should also ensure fair access to capital. Banks should stop robbing the poor and near-poor of billions of dollars each year, immediately ending exorbitant overdraft fees. As the legal scholar Mehrsa Baradaran has pointed out, when someone overdraws an account, banks could simply freeze the transaction or could clear a check with insufficient funds, providing customers a kind of short-term loan with a low interest rate of, say, 1 percent a day.

States should rein in payday-lending institutions and insist that lenders make it clear to potential borrowers what a loan is ultimately likely to cost them. Just as fast-food restaurants must now publish calorie counts next to their burgers and shakes, payday-loan stores should publish the average overall cost of different loans. When Texas adopted disclosure rules, residents took out considerably fewer bad loans. If Texas can do this, why not California or Wisconsin? Yet to stop financial exploitation, we need to expand, not limit, low-income Americans’ access to credit. Some have suggested that the government get involved by having the U.S. Postal Service or the Federal Reserve issue small-dollar loans. Others have argued that we should revise government regulations to entice commercial banks to pitch in. Whatever our approach, solutions should offer low-income Americans more choice, a way to end their reliance on predatory lending institutions that can get away with robbery because they are the only option available.

In Tommy Orange’s novel, “There There,” a man trying to describe the problem of suicides on Native American reservations says: “Kids are jumping out the windows of burning buildings, falling to their deaths. And we think the problem is that they’re jumping.” The poverty debate has suffered from a similar kind of myopia. For the past half-century, we’ve approached the poverty question by pointing to poor people themselves — posing questions about their work ethic, say, or their welfare benefits — when we should have been focusing on the fire. The question that should serve as a looping incantation, the one we should ask every time we drive past a tent encampment, those tarped American slums smelling of asphalt and bodies, or every time we see someone asleep on the bus, slumped over in work clothes, is simply: Who benefits? Not: Why don’t you find a better job? Or: Why don’t you move? Or: Why don’t you stop taking out payday loans? But: Who is feeding off this?

Those who have amassed the most power and capital bear the most responsibility for America’s vast poverty: political elites who have utterly failed low-income Americans over the past half-century; corporate bosses who have spent and schemed to prioritize profits over families; lobbyists blocking the will of the American people with their self-serving interests; property owners who have exiled the poor from entire cities and fueled the affordable-housing crisis. Acknowledging this is both crucial and deliciously absolving; it directs our attention upward and distracts us from all the ways (many unintentional) that we — we the secure, the insured, the housed, the college-educated, the protected, the lucky — also contribute to the problem.

Corporations benefit from worker exploitation, sure, but so do consumers, who buy the cheap goods and services the working poor produce, and so do those of us directly or indirectly invested in the stock market. Landlords are not the only ones who benefit from housing exploitation; many homeowners do, too, their property values propped up by the collective effort to make housing scarce and expensive. The banking and payday-lending industries profit from the financial exploitation of the poor, but so do those of us with free checking accounts, as those accounts are subsidized by billions of dollars in overdraft fees.

Living our daily lives in ways that express solidarity with the poor could mean we pay more; anti-exploitative investing could dampen our stock portfolios. By acknowledging those costs, we acknowledge our complicity. Unwinding ourselves from our neighbors’ deprivation and refusing to live as enemies of the poor will require us to pay a price. It’s the price of our restored humanity and renewed country.

Matthew Desmond is a professor of sociology at Princeton University and a contributing writer for the magazine. His latest book, “Poverty, by America,” from which this article is adapted, is being published on March 21 by Crown.

An earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to the legal protections for undocumented workers. They are afforded rights under U.S. labor laws, though in practice those laws often fail to protect them.

An earlier version of this article implied an incorrect date for a statistic about overdraft fees. The research was conducted between 2005 and 2012, not in 2021.

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Poverty as a Social Problem

This free essay on poverty as a social problem looks at a grave problem that exists in America and in the world. It provides reasons why people are experiencing poverty as well as some solutions.

Introduction

Literature review, poverty as a social problem: reflection, solutions to poverty as a social problem, social problems: poverty essay conclusion.

Society often perceives poverty as an individualistic issue, believing it is a consequence of bad decisions. That is, people themselves are responsible for the level of income and financial stability of households. However, the subject is much more complex as poverty also results from inadequate structuring of the country’s economy, distribution of goods, and other sectors, making it a social problem. Failure to build a system that would help citizens become financially stable results in various issues associated with crime levels, education, health care, and others. The government is the one that should work to solve them.

There are numerous studies and publications researching the reasons behind poverty. E. Royce (2019) tries to explain in his book how the existing economic system in the United States prevents citizens from reaching an adequate level of income and financial support. The main idea is that the current structure of how goods are distributed across the population does not benefit a large portion of it. Few rich individuals grow wealthier yearly, while millions struggle to find a stable job with a minimum wage.

The inequality created by the government’s failure to build a fair economic system results in a range of social problems. The idea of a poverty line as a measure of well-being has not changed much since the 1960s despite the obvious changes in consumption patterns (Royce, 2019). It is calculated as the sum required for purchasing essential items for living, which does not include modern commodities such as computers, mobile phones, and others.

As a result, low-income people become socially isolated since they do not possess things essential for the modern lifestyle, like social networks. They may be excluded from a community for not corresponding with the public image of active individuals. These mechanisms, combined with the dominant idea of the necessity to achieve success, push poor people away from social life. This factor comes together with the inability to receive proper health care and education services.

The literature also contains studies on how poverty affects the behavior of individuals. For instance, children exposed to life in a low-income household are more likely to develop adverse reactions in the future due to strain resulting from the inability to receive wished items (McFarland, 2017). When placed in a densely populated neighborhood, they may later cause legal problems, creating delinquent areas.

It is easy to predict the social issues that poor people face daily. They cannot receive proper health care services as they are usually costly. Moreover, many commercial organizations offering low-paid jobs traditionally based on customer service may prevent employees from taking sick leaves. As a result, people suffer from various illnesses without attending a hospital, fearing to lose a work placement.

Another issue is the inability of poor people to send their children to high-performing schools, which are expensive as a rule. This factor causes youth to continue living with the same income level as their parents since the absence of quality education prevents them from receiving a decent job. Moreover, children who cannot acquire goods valued by their peers are likely to adopt criminal behavior to achieve success since community norms and morals do not help this purpose.

Summarizing all the above said, it becomes evident that changing the existing economic structure on the governmental level is the most appropriate solution to the issue of poverty. There should be a strategy covering all the aspects affected by this problem. The goal is to increase the level of financial support for disadvantaged groups and give more opportunities for people to grow their income.

Firstly, the social sector should be transformed to meet the needs of all citizens. The government should increase the financing of schools so that all children will have access to quality education. Also, various programs should engage youth in activities after classes. Another step is to make health care affordable for everyone, and there should be no pressure on workers when they decide to take sick leaves.

Secondly, the structure of budget spending should be redesigned. It is evident that social support programs require much financing from taxes. One of the possible strategies is to make the government spend less on other sectors. Also, solving the issue of delinquent behavior among youth by advancing social support may cut costs on police functioning as there will be a lower need for services such as patrolling.

Poverty is a structural problem resulting from a country’s inadequate economic system. It creates various social issues associated with poor health care services, low-quality education, criminal activity, and others. Poverty is a complex subject that cannot be resolved shortly. However, one of the possible strategies is to provide better financial and social support for the population, which will create more opportunities for people to increase their income level.

McFarland, M. (2017). Poverty and problem behaviors across the early life course: The role of sensitive period exposure. Population Research & Policy Review , 36 (5), 739-760.

Royce, E. (2019). Poverty and power: The problem of structural inequality (3rd ed.). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

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2.4 The Consequences of Poverty

Learning objectives.

• Describe the family and housing problems associated with poverty.
• Explain how poverty affects health and educational attainment.

Regardless of its causes, poverty has devastating consequences for the people who live in it. Much research conducted and/or analyzed by scholars, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations has documented the effects of poverty (and near poverty) on the lives of the poor (Lindsey, 2009; Moore, et. al., 2009; Ratcliffe & McKernan, 2010; Sanders, 2011). Many of these studies focus on childhood poverty, and these studies make it very clear that childhood poverty has lifelong consequences. In general, poor children are more likely to be poor as adults, more likely to drop out of high school, more likely to become a teenaged parent, and more likely to have employment problems. Although only 1 percent of children who are never poor end up being poor as young adults, 32 percent of poor children become poor as young adults (Ratcliffe & McKernan, 2010).

Poor children are more likely to have inadequate nutrition and to experience health, behavioral, and cognitive problems.

Kelly Short – Poverty: “Damaged Child,” Oklahoma City, OK, USA, 1936. (Colorized). – CC BY-SA 2.0.

A recent study used government data to follow children born between 1968 and 1975 until they were ages 30 to 37 (Duncan & Magnuson, 2011). The researchers compared individuals who lived in poverty in early childhood to those whose families had incomes at least twice the poverty line in early childhood. Compared to the latter group, adults who were poor in early childhood

• had completed two fewer years of schooling on the average;
• had incomes that were less than half of those earned by adults who had wealthier childhoods;
• received $826 more annually in food stamps on the average;
• were almost three times more likely to report being in poor health;
• were twice as likely to have been arrested (males only); and
• were five times as likely to have borne a child (females only).

We discuss some of the major specific consequences of poverty here and will return to them in later chapters.

Family Problems

The poor are at greater risk for family problems, including divorce and domestic violence. As Chapter 9 “Sexual Behavior” explains, a major reason for many of the problems families experience is stress. Even in families that are not poor, running a household can cause stress, children can cause stress, and paying the bills can cause stress. Families that are poor have more stress because of their poverty, and the ordinary stresses of family life become even more intense in poor families. The various kinds of family problems thus happen more commonly in poor families than in wealthier families. Compounding this situation, when these problems occur, poor families have fewer resources than wealthier families to deal with these problems.

Children and Our Future

Getting under Children’s Skin: The Biological Effects of Childhood Poverty

As the text discusses, childhood poverty often has lifelong consequences. Poor children are more likely to be poor when they become adults, and they are at greater risk for antisocial behavior when young, and for unemployment, criminal behavior, and other problems when they reach adolescence and young adulthood.

According to growing evidence, one reason poverty has these consequences is that it has certain neural effects on poor children that impair their cognitive abilities and thus their behavior and learning potential. As Greg J. Duncan and Katherine Magnuson (Duncan & Magnuson, 2011, p. 23) observe, “Emerging research in neuroscience and developmental psychology suggests that poverty early in a child’s life may be particularly harmful because the astonishingly rapid development of young children’s brains leaves them sensitive (and vulnerable) to environmental conditions.”

In short, poverty can change the way the brain develops in young children. The major reason for this effect is stress. Children growing up in poverty experience multiple stressful events: neighborhood crime and drug use; divorce, parental conflict, and other family problems, including abuse and neglect by their parents; parental financial problems and unemployment; physical and mental health problems of one or more family members; and so forth. Their great levels of stress in turn affect their bodies in certain harmful ways. As two poverty scholars note, “It’s not just that poverty-induced stress is mentally taxing. If it’s experienced early enough in childhood, it can in fact get ‘under the skin’ and change the way in which the body copes with the environment and the way in which the brain develops. These deep, enduring, and sometimes irreversible physiological changes are the very human price of running a high-poverty society” (Grusky & Wimer, 2011, p. 2).

One way poverty gets “under children’s skin” is as follows (Evans, et. al., 2011). Poor children’s high levels of stress produce unusually high levels of stress hormones such as cortisol and higher levels of blood pressure. Because these high levels impair their neural development, their memory and language development skills suffer. This result in turn affects their behavior and learning potential. For other physiological reasons, high levels of stress also affect the immune system, so that poor children are more likely to develop various illnesses during childhood and to have high blood pressure and other health problems when they grow older, and cause other biological changes that make poor children more likely to end up being obese and to have drug and alcohol problems.

The policy implications of the scientific research on childhood poverty are clear. As public health scholar Jack P. Shonkoff (Shonkoff, 2011) explains, “Viewing this scientific evidence within a biodevelopmental framework points to the particular importance of addressing the needs of our most disadvantaged children at the earliest ages.” Duncan and Magnuson (Duncan & Magnuson, 2011) agree that “greater policy attention should be given to remediating situations involving deep and persistent poverty occurring early in childhood.” To reduce poverty’s harmful physiological effects on children, Skonkoff advocates efforts to promote strong, stable relationships among all members of poor families; to improve the quality of the home and neighborhood physical environments in which poor children grow; and to improve the nutrition of poor children. Duncan and Magnuson call for more generous income transfers to poor families with young children and note that many European democracies provide many kinds of support to such families. The recent scientific evidence on early childhood poverty underscores the importance of doing everything possible to reduce the harmful effects of poverty during the first few years of life.

Health, Illness, and Medical Care

The poor are also more likely to have many kinds of health problems, including infant mortality, earlier adulthood mortality, and mental illness, and they are also more likely to receive inadequate medical care. Poor children are more likely to have inadequate nutrition and, partly for this reason, to suffer health, behavioral, and cognitive problems. These problems in turn impair their ability to do well in school and land stable employment as adults, helping to ensure that poverty will persist across generations. Many poor people are uninsured or underinsured, at least until the US health-care reform legislation of 2010 takes full effect a few years from now, and many have to visit health clinics that are overcrowded and understaffed.

As Chapter 12 “Work and the Economy” discusses, it is unclear how much of poor people’s worse health stems from their lack of money and lack of good health care versus their own behavior such as smoking and eating unhealthy diets. Regardless of the exact reasons, however, the fact remains that poor health is a major consequence of poverty. According to recent research, this fact means that poverty is responsible for almost 150,000 deaths annually, a figure about equal to the number of deaths from lung cancer (Bakalar, 2011).

Poor children typically go to rundown schools with inadequate facilities where they receive inadequate schooling. They are much less likely than wealthier children to graduate from high school or to go to college. Their lack of education in turn restricts them and their own children to poverty, once again helping to ensure a vicious cycle of continuing poverty across generations. As Chapter 10 “The Changing Family” explains, scholars debate whether the poor school performance of poor children stems more from the inadequacy of their schools and schooling versus their own poverty. Regardless of exactly why poor children are more likely to do poorly in school and to have low educational attainment, these educational problems are another major consequence of poverty.

Housing and Homelessness

The poor are, not surprisingly, more likely to be homeless than the nonpoor but also more likely to live in dilapidated housing and unable to buy their own homes. Many poor families spend more than half their income on rent, and they tend to live in poor neighborhoods that lack job opportunities, good schools, and other features of modern life that wealthier people take for granted. The lack of adequate housing for the poor remains a major national problem. Even worse is outright homelessness. An estimated 1.6 million people, including more than 300,000 children, are homeless at least part of the year (Lee, et. al., 2010).

Crime and Victimization

As Chapter 7 “Alcohol and Other Drugs” discusses, poor (and near poor) people account for the bulk of our street crime (homicide, robbery, burglary, etc.), and they also account for the bulk of victims of street crime. That chapter will outline several reasons for this dual connection between poverty and street crime, but they include the deep frustration and stress of living in poverty and the fact that many poor people live in high-crime neighborhoods. In such neighborhoods, children are more likely to grow up under the influence of older peers who are already in gangs or otherwise committing crime, and people of any age are more likely to become crime victims. Moreover, because poor and near-poor people are more likely to commit street crime, they also comprise most of the people arrested for street crimes, convicted of street crime, and imprisoned for street crime. Most of the more than 2 million people now in the nation’s prisons and jails come from poor or near-poor backgrounds. Criminal behavior and criminal victimization, then, are other major consequences of poverty.

Lessons from Other Societies

Poverty and Poverty Policy in Other Western Democracies

To compare international poverty rates, scholars commonly use a measure of the percentage of households in a nation that receive less than half of the nation’s median household income after taxes and cash transfers from the government. In data from the late 2000s, 17.3 percent of US households lived in poverty as defined by this measure. By comparison, other Western democracies had the rates depicted in the figure that follows. The average poverty rate of the nations in the figure excluding the United States is 9.5 percent. The US rate is thus almost twice as high as the average for all the other democracies.

This graph illustrates the poverty rates in western democracies (i.e., the percentage of persons living with less than half of the median household income) as of the late 2000s

Source: Data from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2011). Society at a glance 2011: OECD social indicators. Retrieved July 23, 2011, from http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/soc_glance-2011-en/06/02/index.html;jsessionid=erdqhbpb203ea.epsilon?contentType=&itemId=/content/chapter/soc_glance-2011-17-en&containerItemId=/content/se .

Why is there so much more poverty in the United States than in its Western counterparts? Several differences between the United States and the other nations stand out (Brady, 2009; Russell, 2011). First, other Western nations have higher minimum wages and stronger labor unions than the United States has, and these lead to incomes that help push people above poverty. Second, these other nations spend a much greater proportion of their gross domestic product on social expenditures (income support and social services such as child-care subsidies and housing allowances) than does the United States. As sociologist John Iceland (Iceland, 2006) notes, “Such countries often invest heavily in both universal benefits, such as maternity leave, child care, and medical care, and in promoting work among [poor] families…The United States, in comparison with other advanced nations, lacks national health insurance, provides less publicly supported housing, and spends less on job training and job creation.” Block and colleagues agree: “These other countries all take a more comprehensive government approach to combating poverty, and they assume that it is caused by economic and structural factors rather than bad behavior” (Block et, al., 2006).

The experience of the United Kingdom provides a striking contrast between the effectiveness of the expansive approach used in other wealthy democracies and the inadequacy of the American approach. In 1994, about 30 percent of British children lived in poverty; by 2009, that figure had fallen by more than half to 12 percent. Meanwhile, the US 2009 child poverty rate, was almost 21 percent.

Britain used three strategies to reduce its child poverty rate and to help poor children and their families in other ways. First, it induced more poor parents to work through a series of new measures, including a national minimum wage higher than its US counterpart and various tax savings for low-income workers. Because of these measures, the percentage of single parents who worked rose from 45 percent in 1997 to 57 percent in 2008. Second, Britain increased child welfare benefits regardless of whether a parent worked. Third, it increased paid maternity leave from four months to nine months, implemented two weeks of paid paternity leave, established universal preschool (which both helps children’s cognitive abilities and makes it easier for parents to afford to work), increased child-care aid, and made it possible for parents of young children to adjust their working hours to their parental responsibilities (Waldfogel, 2010). While the British child poverty rate fell dramatically because of these strategies, the US child poverty rate stagnated.

In short, the United States has so much more poverty than other democracies in part because it spends so much less than they do on helping the poor. The United States certainly has the wealth to follow their example, but it has chosen not to do so, and a high poverty rate is the unfortunate result. As the Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman (2006, p. A25) summarizes this lesson, “Government truly can be a force for good. Decades of propaganda have conditioned many Americans to assume that government is always incompetent…But the [British experience has] shown that a government that seriously tries to reduce poverty can achieve a lot.”

Key Takeaways

• Poor people are more likely to have several kinds of family problems, including divorce and family conflict.
• Poor people are more likely to have several kinds of health problems.
• Children growing up in poverty are less likely to graduate high school or go to college, and they are more likely to commit street crime.

For Your Review

• Write a brief essay that summarizes the consequences of poverty.
• Why do you think poor children are more likely to develop health problems?

Bakalar, N. (2011, July 4). Researchers link deaths to social ills. New York Times , p. D5.

Block, F., Korteweg, A. C., & Woodward, K. (2006). The compassion gap in American poverty policy. Contexts, 5 (2), 14–20.

Brady, D. (2009). Rich democracies, poor people: How politics explain poverty . New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Duncan, G. J., & Magnuson, K. (2011, winter). The long reach of early childhood poverty. Pathways: A Magazine on Poverty, Inequality, and Social Policy , 22–27.

Evans, G. W., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Klebanov, P. K. (2011, winter). Stressing out the poor: Chronic physiological stress and the income-achievement gap. Pathways: A Magazine on Poverty, Inequality, and Social Policy , 16–21.

Grusky, D., & Wimer, C.(Eds.). (2011, winter). Editors’ note. Pathways: A Magazine on Poverty, Inequality, and Social Policy , 2.

Iceland, J. (2006). Poverty in America: A handbook . Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Krugman, P. (Krugman, 2006). Helping the poor, the British way. New York Times , p. A25.

Lee, B., Tyler, K. A., & Wright, J. D. ( 2010). The new homelessness revisited. Annual Review of Sociology, 36 , 501–521.

Lindsey, D. (2009). Child poverty and inequality: Securing a better future for America’s children . New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Moore, K. A., Redd, Z., Burkhauser, M., Mbawa, K., & Collins, A. (2009). Children in poverty: Trends, consequences, and policy options . Washington, DC: Child Trends. Retrieved from http://www.childtrends.org/Files//Child_Trends-2009_04_07_RB_ChildreninPoverty.pdf .

Ratcliffe, C., & McKernan, S.-M. (2010). Childhood poverty persistence: Facts and consequences . Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press.

Russell, J. W. ( 2011). Double standard: Social policy in Europe and the United States (2nd ed.). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Sanders, L. (2011). Neuroscience exposes pernicious effects of poverty. Science News, 179 (3), 32.

Shonkoff, J. P. (2011, winter). Building a foundation for prosperity on the science of early childhood development. Pathways: A Magazine on Poverty, Inequality, and Social Policy , 10–14.

Waldfogel, J. (2010). Britain’s war on poverty . New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.

Social Problems Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

5 Essays About Poverty Everyone Should Know

Poverty is one of the driving forces of inequality in the world. Between 1990-2015, much progress was made. The number of people living on less than $1.90 went from 36% to 10%. However, according to the World Bank , the COVID-19 pandemic represents a serious problem that disproportionately impacts the poor. Research released in February of 2020 shows that by 2030, up to ⅔ of the “global extreme poor” will be living in conflict-affected and fragile economies. Poverty will remain a major human rights issue for decades to come. Here are five essays about the issue that everyone should know:

“We need an economic bill of rights” –  Martin Luther King Jr.

The Guardian published an abridged version of this essay in 2018, which was originally released in Look magazine just after Dr. King was killed. In this piece, Dr. King explains why an economic bill of rights is necessary. He points out that while mass unemployment within the black community is a “social problem,” it’s a “depression” in the white community. An economic bill of rights would give a job to everyone who wants one and who can work. It would also give an income to those who can’t work. Dr. King affirms his commitment to non-violence. He’s fully aware that tensions are high. He quotes a spiritual, writing “timing is winding up.” Even while the nation progresses, poverty is getting worse.

This essay was reprinted and abridged in The Guardian in an arrangement with The Heirs to the Estate of Martin Luther King. Jr. The most visible representative of the Civil Rights Movement beginning in 1955, Dr. King was assassinated in 1968. His essays and speeches remain timely.

“How Poverty Can Follow Children Into Adulthood” – Priyanka Boghani

This article is from 2017, but it’s more relevant than ever because it was written when 2012 was the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. That’s no longer the case. In 2012, around ¼ American children were in poverty. Five years later, children were still more likely than adults to be poor. This is especially true for children of colour. Consequences of poverty include anxiety, hunger, and homelessness. This essay also looks at the long-term consequences that come from growing up in poverty. A child can develop health problems that affect them in adulthood. Poverty can also harm a child’s brain development. Being aware of how poverty affects children and follows them into adulthood is essential as the world deals with the economic fallout from the pandemic.

Priyanka Boghani is a journalist at PBS Frontline. She focuses on U.S. foreign policy, humanitarian crises, and conflicts in the Middle East. She also assists in managing Frontline’s social accounts.

“5 Reasons COVID-19 Will Impact the Fight to End Extreme Poverty” – Leah Rodriguez

For decades, the UN has attempted to end extreme poverty. In the face of the novel coronavirus outbreak, new challenges threaten the fight against poverty. In this essay, Dr. Natalie Linos, a Harvard social epidemiologist, urges the world to have a “social conversation” about how the disease impacts poverty and inequality. If nothing is done, it’s unlikely that the UN will meet its Global Goals by 2030. Poverty and COVID-19 intersect in five key ways. For one, low-income people are more vulnerable to disease. They also don’t have equal access to healthcare or job stability. This piece provides a clear, concise summary of why this outbreak is especially concerning for the global poor.

Leah Rodriguez’s writing at Global Citizen focuses on women, girls, water, and sanitation. She’s also worked as a web producer and homepage editor for New York Magazine’s The Cut.

“Climate apartheid”: World’s poor to suffer most from disasters” – Al Jazeera and news Agencies

The consequences of climate change are well-known to experts like Philip Alston, the special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights. In 2019, he submitted a report to the UN Human Rights Council sounding the alarm on how climate change will devastate the poor. While the wealthy will be able to pay their way out of devastation, the poor will not. This will end up creating a “climate apartheid.” Alston states that if climate change isn’t addressed, it will undo the last five decades of progress in poverty education, as well as global health and development .

“Nickel and Dimed: On (not) getting by in America” – Barbara Ehrenreich

In this excerpt from her book Nickel and Dimed, Ehrenreich describes her experience choosing to live undercover as an “unskilled worker” in the US. She wanted to investigate the impact the 1996 welfare reform act had on the working poor. Released in 2001, the events take place between the spring of 1998 and the summer of 2000. Ehrenreich decided to live in a town close to her “real life” and finds a place to live and a job. She has her eyes opened to the challenges and “special costs” of being poor. In 2019, The Guardian ranked the book 13th on their list of 100 best books of the 21st century.

Barbara Ehrenreich is the author of 21 books and an activist. She’s worked as an award-winning columnist and essayist.

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About the author, emmaline soken-huberty.

Emmaline Soken-Huberty is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon. She started to become interested in human rights while attending college, eventually getting a concentration in human rights and humanitarianism. LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, and climate change are of special concern to her. In her spare time, she can be found reading or enjoying Oregon’s natural beauty with her husband and dog.

Why poverty is not a personal choice, but a reflection of society

Research Investigator of Psychiatry, Public Health, and Poverty Solutions, University of Michigan

Disclosure statement

Shervin Assari does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

University of Michigan provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation US.

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As the Senate prepares to modify its version of the health care bill, now is a good time to back up and examine why we as a nation are so divided about providing health care, especially to the poor.

I believe one reason the United States is cutting spending on health insurance and safety nets that protect poor and marginalized people is because of American culture, which overemphasizes individual responsibility. Our culture does this to the point that it ignores the effect of root causes shaped by society and beyond the control of the individual. How laypeople define and attribute poverty may not be that much different from the way U.S. policymakers in the Senate see poverty.

As someone who studies poverty solutions and social and health inequalities, I am convinced by the academic literature that the biggest reason for poverty is how a society is structured. Without structural changes, it may be very difficult if not impossible to eliminate disparities and poverty.

Social structure

About 13.5 percent of Americans are living in poverty. Many of these people do not have insurance, and efforts to help them gain insurance, be it through Medicaid or private insurance, have been stymied. Medicaid provides insurance for the disabled, people in nursing homes and the poor.

Four states recently asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for permission to require Medicaid recipients in their states who are not disabled or elderly to work.

This request is reflective of the fact that many Americans believe that poverty is, by and large, the result of laziness , immorality and irresponsibility.

In fact, poverty and other social miseries are in large part due to social structure , which is how society functions at a macro level. Some societal issues, such as racism, sexism and segregation, constantly cause disparities in education, employment and income for marginalized groups. The majority group naturally has a head start, relative to groups that deal with a wide range of societal barriers on a daily basis. This is what I mean by structural causes of poverty and inequality.

Poverty: Not just a state of mind

We have all heard that the poor and minorities need only make better choices – work hard, stay in school, get married, do not have children before they can afford them. If they did all this, they wouldn’t be poor.

Just a few weeks ago, Housing Secretary Ben Carson called poverty “ a state of mind .” At the same time, his budget to help low-income households could be cut by more than US$6 billion next year.

This is an example of a simplistic view toward the complex social phenomenon. It is minimizing the impact of a societal issue caused by structure – macro‐level labor market and societal conditions – on individuals’ behavior. Such claims also ignore a large body of sociological science.

American independence

Americans have one of the most independent cultures on Earth. A majority of Americans define people in terms of internal attributes such as choices , abilities, values, preferences, decisions and traits.

This is very different from interdependent cultures , such as eastern Asian countries where people are seen mainly in terms of their environment, context and relationships with others.

A direct consequence of independent mindsets and cognitive models is that one may ignore all the historical and environmental conditions, such as slavery, segregation and discrimination against women, that contribute to certain outcomes. When we ignore the historical context, it is easier to instead attribute an unfavorable outcome, such as poverty, to the person.

Views shaped by politics

Many Americans view poverty as an individual phenomenon and say that it’s primarily their own fault that people are poor. The alternative view is that poverty is a structural phenomenon. From this viewpoint, people are in poverty because they find themselves in holes in the economic system that deliver them inadequate income.

The fact is that people move in and out of poverty. Research has shown that 45 percent of poverty spells last no more than a year, 70 percent last no more than three years and only 12 percent stretch beyond a decade.

The Panel Study of Income Dynamics ( PSID ), a 50-year longitudinal study of 18,000 Americans, has shown that around four in 10 adults experience an entire year of poverty from the ages of 25 to 60. The last Survey of Income and Program Participation ( SIPP ), a longitudinal survey conducted by the U.S. Census, had about one-third of Americans in episodic poverty at some point in a three-year period, but just 3.5 percent in episodic poverty for all three years.

Why calling the poor ‘lazy’ is victim blaming

If one believes that poverty is related to historical and environmental events and not just to an individual, we should be careful about blaming the poor for their fates.

Victim blaming occurs when the victim of a crime or any wrongful act is held entirely or partially responsible for the harm that befell them. It is a common psychological and societal phenomenon. Victimology has shown that humans have a tendency to perceive victims at least partially responsible . This is true even in rape cases, where there is a considerable tendency to blame victims and is true particularly if the victim and perpetrator know each other.

I believe all our lives could be improved if we considered the structural influences as root causes of social problems such as poverty and inequality. Perhaps then, we could more easily agree on solutions.

• Social mobility
• Homelessness
• Health disparities
• Health gaps
• US Senate health care bill
• US health care reform

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7 Essays About Poverty: Example Essays and Prompts

Essays about poverty give valuable insight into the economic situation that we share globally. Read our guide with poverty essay examples and prompts for your paper.

In the US, the official poverty rate in 2022 was 11.5 percent, with 37.9 million people living below the poverty line. With a global pandemic, cost of living crisis, and climate change on the rise, we’ve seen poverty increase due to various factors. As many of us face adversity daily, we can look to essays about poverty from some of the world’s greatest speakers for inspiration and guidance.

There is nothing but a lack of social vision to prevent us from paying an adequate wage to every American citizen whether he be a hospital worker, laundry worker, maid or day laborer. There is nothing except shortsightedness to prevent us from guaranteeing an annual minimum—and livable—income for every American family. Martin Luther King Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?

Writing a poverty essay can be challenging due to the many factors contributing to poverty and the knock-on effects of living below the poverty line . For example, homelessness among low-income individuals stems from many different causes.

It’s important to note that poverty exists beyond the US, with many developing countries living in extreme poverty without access to essentials like clean water and housing. For help with your essays, check out our round-up of the best essay checkers .

Essays About Poverty: Top Examples

1. pensioner poverty: fear of rise over decades as uk under-40s wealth falls, 2. the surprising poverty levels across the u.s., 3. why poverty persists in america, 4. post-pandemic poverty is rising in america’s suburbs.

• 5. The Basic Facts About Children in Poverty
• 6. The State of America’s Children 
• 7. COVID-19: This is how many Americans now live below the poverty line

10 Poverty Essay Topics

1. the causes of poverty, 2. the negative effects of poverty, 3. how countries can reduce poverty rates, 4. the basic necessities and poverty, 5. how disabilities can lead to poverty, 6. how the cycle of poverty unfolds , 7. universal basic income and its relationship to poverty, 8. interview someone who has experience living in poverty, 9. the impact of the criminal justice system on poverty, 10. the different ways to create affordable housing.

There is growing concern about increasing pensioner poverty in the UK in the coming decades. Due to financial challenges like the cost of living crisis, rent increases, and the COVID-19 pandemic, under 40s have seen their finances shrink.

Osborne discusses the housing wealth gap in this article, where many under the 40s currently pay less in a pension due to rent prices. While this means they will have less pension available, they will also retire without owning a home, resulting in less personal wealth than previous generations. Osborne delves into the causes and gaps in wealth between generations in this in-depth essay.

“Those under-40s have already been identified as  facing the biggest hit from rising mortgage rates , and last week a study by the financial advice firm Hargreaves Lansdown found that almost a third of 18- to 34-year-olds had stopped or cut back on their pension contributions in order to save money.” Hilary Osborne,  The Guardian

In this 2023 essay, Jeremy Ney looks at the poverty levels across the US, stating that poverty has had the largest one-year increase in history. According to the most recent census, child poverty has more than doubled from 2021 to 2022.

Ney states that the expiration of government support and inflation has created new financial challenges for US families. With the increased cost of living and essential items like food and housing sharply increasing, more and more families have fallen below the poverty line. Throughout this essay, Ney displays statistics and data showing the wealth changes across states, ethnic groups, and households.

“Poverty in America reflects the inequality that plagues U.S. households. While certain regions have endured this pain much more than others, this new rising trend may spell ongoing challenges for even more communities.” Jeremy Ney,  TIME

In this New York Times article, a Pulitzer Prize-winning sociologist explores why poverty exists in North America.

The American poor have access to cheap, mass-produced goods, as every American does. But that doesn’t mean they can access what matters most. Matthew Desmond,  The New York Times

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released its annual data on poverty, revealing contrasting trends for 2022. While one set of findings indicated that the overall number of Americans living in poverty remained stable compared to the previous two years, another survey highlighted a concerning increase in child poverty. The rate of child poverty in the U.S. doubled from 2021 to 2022, a spike attributed mainly to the cessation of the expanded child tax credit following the pandemic. These varied outcomes underscore the Census Bureau’s multifaceted methods to measure poverty.

“The nation’s suburbs accounted for the majority of increases in the poor population following the onset of the pandemic” Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube,  Brookings

5.  The Basic Facts About Children in Poverty

Nearly 11 million children are living in poverty in America. This essay explores ow the crisis reached this point—and what steps must be taken to solve it.

“In America, nearly 11 million children are poor. That’s 1 in 7 kids, who make up almost one-third of all people living in poverty in this country.” Areeba Haider,  Center for American Progress

6.  The State of America’s Children  

This essay articles how, despite advancements, children continue to be the most impoverished demographic in the U.S., with particular subgroups — such as children of color, those under five, offspring of single mothers, and children residing in the South — facing the most severe poverty levels.

“Growing up in poverty has wide-ranging, sometimes lifelong, effects on children, putting them at a much higher risk of experiencing behavioral, social, emotional, and health challenges. Childhood poverty also plays an instrumental role in impairing a child’s ability and capacity to learn, build skills, and succeed academically.” Children’s Defense Fund

7.  COVID-19: This is how many Americans now live below the poverty line

This essay explores how the economic repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic 2020 led to a surge in U.S. poverty rates, with unemployment figures reaching unprecedented heights. The writer provides data confirming that individuals at the lowest economic strata bore the brunt of these challenges, indicating that the recession might have exacerbated income disparities, further widening the chasm between the affluent and the underprivileged.

“Poverty in the U.S. increased in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic hammered the economy and unemployment soared. Those at the bottom of the economic ladder were hit hardest, new figures confirm, suggesting that the recession may have widened the gap between the rich and the poor.” Elena Delavega,  World Econmic Forum

If you’re tasked with writing an essay about poverty, consider using the below topics. They offer pointers for outlining and planning an essay about this challenging topic.

One of the most specific poverty essay topics to address involves the causes of poverty. You can craft an essay to examine the most common causes of extreme poverty. Here are a few topics you might want to include:

• Racial discrimination, particularly among African Americans, has been a common cause of poverty throughout American history. Discrimination and racism can make it hard for people to get the education they need, making it nearly impossible to get a job.
• A lack of access to adequate health care can also lead to poverty. When people do not have access to healthcare, they are more likely to get sick. This could make it hard for them to go to work while also leading to major medical bills.
• Inadequate food and water can lead to poverty as well. If people’s basic needs aren’t met, they focus on finding food and water instead of getting an education they can use to find a better job.

These are just a few of the most common causes of poverty you might want to highlight in your essay. These topics could help people see why some people are more likely to become impoverished than others. You might also be interested in these essays about poverty .

Poverty affects everyone, and the impacts of an impoverished lifestyle are very real. Furthermore, the disparities when comparing adult poverty to child poverty are also significant. This opens the doors to multiple possible essay topics. Here are a few points to include:

• When children live in poverty, their development is stunted. For example, they might not be able to get to school on time due to a lack of transportation, making it hard for them to keep up with their peers. Child poverty also leads to malnutrition, which can stunt their development.
• Poverty can impact familial relationships as well. For example, members of the same family could fight for limited resources, making it hard for family members to bond. In addition, malnutrition can stunt the growth of children.
• As a side effect of poverty, people have difficulty finding a safe place to live. This creates a challenging environment for everyone involved, and it is even harder for children to grow and develop.
• When poverty leads to homelessness, it is hard for someone to get a job. They don’t have an address to use for physical communication, which leads to employment concerns.

These are just a few of the many side effects of poverty. Of course, these impacts are felt by people across the board, but it is not unusual for children to feel the effects of poverty that much more. You might also be interested in these essays about unemployment .

Different countries take different approaches to reduce the number of people living in poverty

The issue of poverty is a major human rights concern, and many countries explore poverty reduction strategies to improve people’s quality of life. You might want to examine different strategies that different countries are taking while also suggesting how some countries can do more. A few ways to write this essay include:

• Explore the poverty level in America, comparing it to the poverty level of a European country. Then, explore why different countries take different strategies.
• Compare the minimum wage in one state, such as New York, to the minimum wage in another state, such as Alabama. Why is it higher in one state? What does raising the minimum wage do to the cost of living?
• Highlight a few advocacy groups and nonprofit organizations actively lobbying their governments to do more for low-income families. Then, talk about why some efforts are more successful than others.

Different countries take different approaches to reduce the number of people living in poverty. Poverty within each country is such a broad topic that you could write a different essay on how poverty could be decreased within the country. For more, check out our list of simple essays topics for intermediate writers .

You could also write an essay on the necessities people need to survive. You could take a look at information published by the United Nations , which focuses on getting people out of the cycle of poverty across the globe. The social problem of poverty can be addressed by giving people the necessities they need to survive, particularly in rural areas. Here are some of the areas you might want to include:

• Affordable housing
• Fresh, healthy food and clean water
• Access to an affordable education
• Access to affordable healthcare

Giving everyone these necessities could significantly improve their well-being and get people out of absolute poverty. You might even want to talk about whether these necessities vary depending on where someone is living.

There are a lot of medical and social issues that contribute to poverty, and you could write about how disabilities contribute to poverty. This is one of the most important essay topics because people could be disabled through no fault of their own. Some of the issues you might want to address in this essay include:

• Talk about the road someone faces if they become disabled while serving overseas. What is it like for people to apply for benefits through the Veterans’ Administration?
• Discuss what happens if someone becomes disabled while at work. What is it like for someone to pursue disability benefits if they are hurt doing a blue-collar job instead of a desk job?
• Research and discuss the experiences of disabled people and how their disability impacts their financial situation.

People who are disabled need to have money to survive for many reasons, such as the inability to work, limitations at home, and medical expenses. A lack of money, in this situation, can lead to a dangerous cycle that can make it hard for someone to be financially stable and live a comfortable lifestyle.

Many people talk about the cycle of poverty, yet many aren’t entirely sure what this means or what it entails. A few key points you should address in this essay include:

• When someone is born into poverty, income inequality can make it hard to get an education.
• A lack of education makes it hard for someone to get into a good school, which gives them the foundation they need to compete for a good job. 
• A lack of money can make it hard for someone to afford college, even if they get into a good school.
• Without attending a good college, it can be hard for someone to get a good job. This makes it hard for someone to support themselves or their families. 
• Without a good paycheck, it is nearly impossible for someone to keep their children out of poverty, limiting upward mobility into the middle class.

The problem of poverty is a positive feedback loop. It can be nearly impossible for those who live this every day to escape. Therefore, you might want to explore a few initiatives that could break the cycle of world poverty and explore other measures that could break this feedback loop.

Many business people and politicians have floated the idea of a universal basic income to give people the basic resources they need to survive. While this hasn’t gotten a lot of serious traction, you could write an essay to shed light on this idea. A few points to hit on include:

• What does a universal basic income mean, and how is it distributed?
• Some people are concerned about the impact this would have on taxes. How would this be paid for?
• What is the minimum amount of money someone would need to stay out of poverty? Is it different in different areas?
• What are a few of the biggest reasons major world governments haven’t passed this?

This is one of the best essay examples because it gives you a lot of room to be creative. However, there hasn’t been a concrete structure for implementing this plan, so you might want to afford one.

Another interesting topic you might want to explore is interviewing someone living in poverty or who has been impoverished. While you can talk about statistics all day, they won’t be as powerful as interviewing someone who has lived that life. A few questions you might want to ask during your interview include:

• What was it like growing up?
• How has living in poverty made it hard for you to get a job?
• What do you feel people misunderstand about those who live in poverty?
• When you need to find a meal, do you have a place you go to? Or is it somewhere different every day?
• What do you think is the main contributor to people living in poverty?

Remember that you can also craft different questions depending on your responses. You might want to let the interviewee read the essay when you are done to ensure all the information is accurate and correct.

The criminal justice system and poverty tend to go hand in hand. People with criminal records are more likely to be impoverished for several reasons. You might want to write an essay that hits on some of these points:

• Discuss the discriminatory practices of the criminal justice system both as they relate to socioeconomic status and as they relate to race.
• Explore just how hard it is for someone to get a job if they have a criminal record. Discuss how this might contribute to a life of poverty.
• Dive into how this creates a positive feedback loop. For example, when someone cannot get a job due to a criminal record, they might have to steal to survive, which worsens the issue.
• Review what the criminal justice system might be like for someone with resources when compared to someone who cannot afford to hire expert witnesses or pay for a good attorney.

You might want to include a few examples of disparate sentences for people in different socioeconomic situations to back up your points. 

Affordable housing can make a major difference when someone is trying to escape poverty

Many poverty-related problems could be reduced if people had access to affordable housing. While the cost of housing has increased dramatically in the United States , some initiatives exist to create affordable housing. Here are a few points to include:

• Talk about public programs that offer affordable housing to people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• Discuss private programs, such as Habitat for Humanity , doing similar things.
• Review the positive impacts that stable housing has on both adults and children.
• Dive into other measures local and federal governments could take to provide more affordable housing for people.

There are a lot of political and social angles to address with this essay, so you might want to consider spreading this out across multiple papers. Affordable housing can make a major difference when trying to escape poverty. If you want to learn more, check out our essay writing tips !

Meet Rachael, the editor at Become a Writer Today. With years of experience in the field, she is passionate about language and dedicated to producing high-quality content that engages and informs readers. When she's not editing or writing, you can find her exploring the great outdoors, finding inspiration for her next project.

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Poverty - List of Free Essay Examples And Topic Ideas

Poverty, a state of deprivation of basic human needs and economic opportunities, is a pervasive issue across the globe. Essays could explore the systemic causes of poverty, its impact on individuals and communities, and the various strategies employed to alleviate poverty. Additionally, discussions might delve into the role of international aid, the impact of globalization, and the ethical responsibilities of affluent individuals and nations toward poverty reduction. A substantial compilation of free essay instances related to Poverty you can find at PapersOwl Website. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

Poverty and Drug Abuse Addiction

One popular stereotype associated with drug use is that it is rampant among the poor. However, this is not entirely true since insufficient money linked with the poor cannot probably sustain drug use. The link between the two factors is multifaceted, and the connectedness of poverty is complex. Poverty entails unstable family and interpersonal associations, low-skilled jobs and low status, high arrest degrees, illegitimacy, school dropping out, deprived physical health, high mental conditions, and high mortality rates. Such factors resemble […]

Changing the Face of Poverty Summary

In Changing the Face of Poverty the author, Diana George, begins with her annual food drive at St. Vincent de Paul, and every day she receives bills and catalogs with appeals like the Navajo Health Foundation, little Brothers, and many others. In those was Habitat for Humanity. As a member of this club, I know the duties and responsibility towards this organization. George states that Habitat for Humanity is not as helpful as it seems. She says that the organization […]

Racism in Criminal Justice System

Scott Woods once said, The problem is that white people see racism as conscious hate, when racism is bigger than that. Racism is a complex system of social and political levers and pulleys set up generations ago to continue working on the behalf of whites at other people's expense, whether whites know/like it or not. Racism is an insidious cultural disease. It is so insidious that it doesn't care if you are a white person who likes black people; it's […]

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Impact of Poverty on the Society

This is a very challenging question because nearly every ""pressing problem or social issue"" has underlying factors and historical influences. So I will try to explain my understanding of these topics. There are two important lenses from which to consider this issue; first, from the individual circumstance and second, from specific community conditions. The inability of individuals to earn enough money to afford to meet their basic needs and maintain a healthy lifestyle is, in my opinion, the most pressing […]

Poverty in the United States

Poverty is a major issue in our world today, it is when people are not able to afford a minimum standard of living to survive. Poverty is the removal of financial stability to afford necessities. Bill Fay, veteran journalist defined poverty as a pervasive human condition of being unable to obtain or provide a standard level of food, water, and shelter. In 2015, a study was done and reported that 60% of people will experience at least 1 year of […]

Unemployment a Major Cause of Homelessness

Homelessness or known as extreme poverty can be interpreted as a circumstance when people have no place to stay with the result that they end up live in the street, under the bridge even at the side of the river. There are 3.5 million Americans are homeless each year. Of these, more than 1 million are children and on any given night, more than 300,000 children are homeless. They who do not have an occupation are the one that is […]

Breaking the Poverty Trap

One of the reasons the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer, is because of the lack of not knowing and ignorance hindering half the world, allowing the cycle of poverty to continue. Poverty trap is as a spiraling mechanism, that forces people to remain poor binding many to no hope of escaping. The poverty trap has been an ongoing cycle within generations even those close to me, that has tremendously taken a negative toll on society and my […]

Childhood Poverty

Abstract Poverty is viewed throughout the world as a large social problem that continues to advance with time. Since 1960, poverty has continued to flourish into a problem that has affected a large majority of the population, including our children. Childhood poverty affects the psychological and biological development, as well as three main levels of social systems: micro, mezzo and macro. Even though there has been active research on poverty, generational poverty and childhood poverty, no active changes have been […]

Homelessness in the United States

Homelessness is a social problem that has long plagued the United States and surrounding Countries for centuries. It is an economic and social problem that has affected people from all walks of life, including children, families, veterans, and the elderly. Kilgore (2018). States homelessness is believed to have affected an estimated amount of 2.5-3.5 million people each year in the United States alone. Recent evidence suggests economic conditions have increased the number of people affected by homelessness in the United […]

Poverty in Developing Countries

Introduction A. (Opening Device) How many of you ever had to think or worry about your next meal? Most of us, we don't have to think about that, we don't think about where we having that meal. But in developing countries people have to think about everything they do in daily life, The goal for the day is to have meal with family and have a shelter, or to live in a house to hope for better lifestyle. To make […]

Closing the Education Gap by Attacking Poverty Among Children

Looking around the campus of an Ivy League schools, one wonders how students from such diverse backgrounds ultimately wound up at the same place. From having a mother who works in admissions, I grew up hearing that no matter where you came from, your socioeconomic status, and even sometimes your grades, all kids have the potential to attend a prestigious university. However, I find that hard to believe. With a combination of taking this class on homelessness this semester, growing […]

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Introduction The three main objectives of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed in October 2010, include the following: reforming the private insurance market, mainly for individuals and small group purchasers; expanding Medicaid to the working poor, whose maximum income is around 33 percent of the federal poverty level; and altering the way medical decisions are made in the country (Silvers, 2013). These three objectives are primarily determined by private choices rather than government regulation, with the expectation that […]

Financial Education and Poverty

The most pressing social issue that has the most impact on the ability of people to be healthy and economically self-sufficient is financial education. For an individual or family unit to become economically viable, they must be educated in the proper uses of their income. An individual can be gainfully employed and still be in danger of becoming homeless. This occurs when this individual or familial unit exceeds their income through purchases that are not needed. As we approach the […]

The Poverty Among Us

In our current society, poverty is an issue that plagues third world nations. All countries are interwoven with one another because of everyone needing each other for certain resources. When one country is in need, it interrupts a process that all countries have with one another. Poverty is an issue that everyone should pay attention to even if it does not occur where we live or does not affect us directly as much as it does other nations. Not only […]

Effect of Rural-Urban Migation on the Poverty Status of Farming Households in Ogbomoso

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study Needless to say, poverty is a global problem; however, the menace of poverty is most devastating in the developing countries of the world. Food production has hardly kept pace with population size, and the quantity, as well as quality of health, has also massively deteriorated. According to the World Bank Development Report (2013), about 10.7 percent of the world's population lived below poverty line (US $1.90 a day). Poverty is one of […]

What is Poverty?

Poverty is a pervasive human condition of being unable to obtain or provide a standard level of food, water, and/or shelter (Fay, n.d.). The United States has the highest rate of poverty among wealthy countries. The official poverty line is based on what the federal government considers to be the minimum amount of money required for living at a subsistence level (Kendell, 2018). Sociologists define poverty in two ways: absolute and relative. Absolute poverty is when the household income is […]

Increasing Federal Minimum Wage

The magnitude of the impacts of federal minimum payments has been a typical topic of discussion for years. Economic policymakers and academic researchers base minimum wage discussions in the context of poverty and increasing the wages. However, critics argue that there are many adverse effects on small businesses and the general economy of the country. A rise in the nation payments will have impacts on the economy of the American states in which the increase in minimum wage law is […]

How Poverty Correlates with Non English Speaking American Families

How does poverty affect the people in the United states today? Poverty is currently affecting 16.3 percent of women, 13.8 of men, and 21 percent of all children in America. The highest poverty rate by race is found among Native Americans, which is 27.6 percent. African americans have 26.2 percent poverty and Hispanics having 23.4 percent. How do these families provide for their children and help them succeed if they can barely even pay the bills? Families all over the […]

Poverty and Crime

Poverty isn't the 'mother of crime.' However it is one noteworthy benefactor. Crime exists, since individuals need something they don't have, and are not willing to comply with the law(s) on the books to get it. What poverty does is, it decreases the things needy individuals have accessible to them, along these lines offering undeniably more things for needy individuals to want—and substantially more inspiration to them to carry out a crime to get it. Along these lines, more needy […]

Poverty in America

Poverty has been a ongoing, social issue that throughout the years has changed its meaning. Poverty is defined lacking basic necessities such as water, food, shelter, wealth, etc… About fifty years ago, war was declared on poverty by President Johnson hoping that it would end, but fast forward today, it is one of the biggest social issues America is dealing with. We don’t really know why poverty is still occurring, because the reasons seem to always be changing. The reasons […]

Poverty Life in the Industrial Age

Tenement Housing Tenement housing was cheap, unsanitary, and extremely crowded. They were placed by factories, so the air and water became very polluted and unsafe because of all the fumes and such from the factory. Most didn’t have indoor plumbing or proper ventilation which caused tons of health issues. At night the only light they had was from the streetlights so of course the only level of the housing that had light was the level that was level with the […]

Economic Inequality and Governmental Responsibility

Ever since the emergence of civilization several hundreds of years ago, social inequality has been a prevalent aspect of many societies across the world. This social structure developed as a result of several factors, amongst them political and economic status in the society. During the early stages of civilization, social and political status was closely related whereby the few powerful political leaders tended to be wealthier than the lesser politically influential majority. Although this dynamic is still prevalent in developing […]

Poverty and Homelessness in America

Poverty and Homelessness in America is a daunting subject which everyone recognizes but do not pay attention to. A homeless person is stereotypically thought to be a person who sleeps at the roadside, begging for money and influenced by drug with dirty ragged clothes and a person who is deprived of basic facilities in his or her life such as; education, electricity, proper clothes, shelter, water with a scarcity of balanced diet is termed as person living under the line […]

Poverty in Haiti: is there a Solution?

Abstract Haiti is a Latin American country that is often ignored. People do not hear much about it, except if a natural disaster such as the earthquake in 2010 happens. It was once the richest colony of the Caribbean and nowadays is known as the poorest country of the Western Hemisphere. Haiti has been facing a cycle of poverty since it became independent. Haiti’s location and deforestation have contributed to make the situation worse. More than half of the population […]

Causes of Poverty

Some causes of poverty in the United States are: unemployment, inflation, poor management of resources, government policies, debt, corruption, extreme weather, lack of control in local food, lack of access to education, mental illness ( lack of proper psychiatric care), diseases, automation, and overpopulation. Poverty is a pervasive human condition of being unable to obtain or provide a standard level of food, water and/or shelter. It exists in every country in varying degrees, and it is unlikely to disappear anytime […]

Affordable Housing Takes on Poverty

Without affordable housing there will be a continuous increase in minorities which also leads to a higher poverty rate. Poverty is the state of being extremely poor. Affordable housing helps decrease poverty in many ways than one. Affordable housing fulfills a human’s basic need for shelter as well as provides privacy for families. Those who receive affordable housing assistance and have children, benefit from better nutrition. Affordable housing would reduce poverty and should be available to those who are in […]

The Impacts of Neoliberalism in the Transition to Democracy in Chile

Compared to other developing countries in Latin America, Chile's political and economic development is distinctive. The country is one of the democratic exceptions, owing to its relatively poor and small population at the time of Spanish colonial rule. The indigenous population is also rather small, and the country has a high degree of ethnic and cultural homogeneity (Hillman and D’Agostino 2011, 67-107). However, today's regime wasn't always democratic. Between 1973 and 1990, Chile was under an authoritarian regime led by […]

Living in Poverty and being Rich

  Poverty is such a simple word, but it is so complicated at the same time. The vast majority of individuals will not fully comprehend the real implication of poverty just by reading its literal meaning from the dictionary, but by learning from their surroundings and experiencing hardship itself. Defining poverty can be being poor financially but is also defined as a comfortable way of living as well as spiritually too. What does it mean actually to be poor? Most […]

Poverty and Obesity

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Essay About Poverty It has existed for many years and still exists today, growing and intensifying. Today poverty remains one of the biggest. In Singer’s essay “The Solution to World poverty,” he suggests the Americans should donate all their money that is not required for necessities to help feed those that are less fortunate. This claim is not true due to the fact that Singer fails to mention how much people struggle and suffer from poverty in America alone, people worked hard for their money; therefore, they deserve to spend their hard-earned money, and how the economy depends on the Americans expenses, so if people don’t spend money on expenses, the economy will crash. Singer begins by comparing Dora, the woman who sells an orphan for a new television set. Singer then introduces Bob and how he chooses to save his expensive Bugatti from a train instead of saving a child’s life, he compares this story to Americans and their lack of donation and aids and how we “too have opportunities to save the lives of children” (2). In his essay, Singer’s aim is to target all Americans, implying that everyone should donate and help. But what he fails to mention is how even in America people also struggle and suffer from poverty. In the journal “Poverty in America: Trends and Explanations,” Hilary W. Hoynes, Marianne E. Page and Ann Huff Stevens state, “The official poverty rate is 12.3 percent, based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2017 estimates. That year, an estimated 39.7 million Americans lived in poverty according to the official measure. 18.5 million People reported deep poverty, which means a household income below 50 percent of their 2017 poverty threshold. These individuals represented an estimated 5.7 percent of all Americans and 46.7 percent of those in poverty.” There are so many people in America who are also in need, people that are also suffering. There are without work and without insurance, people whose homes are lose to fires, storms, and bankruptcy. The idea that individuals must help their own first before helping others is reasonable and rational. Though it could be great to help all those in need, American should aid their own first and end poverty in their own country before helping to others for there are times when it is just not possible. 

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Home — Essay Samples — Social Issues — Poverty in America — Life in Poverty: Defying the Odds

Life in Poverty: Defying The Odds

• Categories: Child Poverty Poverty in America

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Published: Jan 25, 2024

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Defying the odds, works cited.

• ASHBERY, JOHN. "My Philosophy Of Life". Midwest Studies In Philosophy 33.1 (2009): 1-2. Web.
• Kass, Leon. Life, Liberty, And The Defense Of Dignity. 1st ed. San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2002. Print.

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Climate-smart agriculture: adoption, impacts, and implications for sustainable development

• Original Article
• Open access
• Published: 29 April 2024
• Volume 29 , article number  44 , ( 2024 )

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• Wanglin Ma   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7847-8459 1 &
• Dil Bahadur Rahut   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7505-5271 2  

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The 19 papers included in this special issue examined the factors influencing the adoption of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices among smallholder farmers and estimated the impacts of CSA adoption on farm production, income, and well-being. Key findings from this special issue include: (1) the variables, including age, gender, education, risk perception and preferences, access to credit, farm size, production conditions, off-farm income, and labour allocation, have a mixed (either positive or negative) influence on the adoption of CSA practices; (2) the variables, including labour endowment, land tenure security, access to extension services, agricultural training, membership in farmers’ organizations, support from non-governmental organizations, climate conditions, and access to information consistently have a positive impact on CSA adoption; (3) diverse forms of capital (physical, social, human, financial, natural, and institutional), social responsibility awareness, and digital advisory services can effectively promote CSA adoption; (4) the establishment of climate-smart villages and civil-society organizations enhances CSA adoption by improving their access to credit; (5) CSA adoption contributes to improved farm resilience to climate change and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions; (6) CSA adoption leads to higher crop yields, increased farm income, and greater economic diversification; (7) integrating CSA technologies into traditional agricultural practices not only boosts economic viability but also contributes to environmental sustainability and health benefits; and (8) there is a critical need for international collaboration in transferring technology for CSA. Overall, the findings of this special issue highlight that through targeted interventions and collaborative efforts, CSA can play a pivotal role in achieving food security, poverty alleviation, and climate resilience in farming communities worldwide and contribute to the achievements of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

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1 Introduction

Climate change reduces agricultural productivity and leads to greater instability in crop production, disrupting the global food supply and resulting in food and nutritional insecurity. In particular, climate change adversely affects food production through water shortages, pest outbreaks, and soil degradation, leading to significant crop yield losses and posing significant challenges to global food security (Kang et al. 2009 ; Läderach et al. 2017 ; Arora 2019 ; Zizinga et al. 2022 ; Mirón et al. 2023 ). United Nations reported that the human population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050. In response, food-calorie production will have to expand by 70% to meet the food demand of the growing population (United Nations 2021 ). Hence, it is imperative to advocate for robust mitigation strategies that counteract the negative impacts of climate change and enhance the flexibility and speed of response in smallholder farming systems.

A transformation of the agricultural sector towards climate-resilient practices can help tackle food security and climate change challenges successfully. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is an approach that guides farmers’ actions to transform agrifood systems towards building the agricultural sector’s resilience to climate change based on three pillars: increasing farm productivity and incomes, enhancing the resilience of livelihoods and ecosystems, and reducing and removing greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere (FAO 2013 ). Promoting the adoption of CSA practices is crucial to improve smallholder farmers’ capacity to adapt to climate change, mitigate its impact, and help achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Realizing the benefits of adopting CSA, governments in different countries and international organizations such as the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have made great efforts to scale up and out the CSA. For example, climate-smart villages in India (Alam and Sikka 2019 ; Hariharan et al. 2020 ) and civil society organizations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America (Waters-Bayer et al. 2015 ; Brown 2016 ) have been developed to reduce information costs and barriers and bridge the gap in finance access to promote farmers’ adoption of sustainable agricultural practices, including CSA. Besides, agricultural training programs have been used to enhance farmers’ knowledge of CSA and their adoption of the technology in Ghana (Zakaria et al. 2020 ; Martey et al. 2021 ).

As a result, smallholder farmers worldwide have adopted various CSA practices and technologies (e.g., integrated crop systems, drop diversification, inter-cropping, improved pest, water, and nutrient management, improved grassland management, reduced tillage and use of diverse varieties and breeds, restoring degraded lands, and improved the efficiency of input use) to reach the objectives of CSA (Kpadonou et al. 2017 ; Zakaria et al. 2020 ; Khatri-Chhetri et al. 2020 ; Aryal et al. 2020a ; Waaswa et al. 2022 ; Vatsa et al. 2023 ). In the Indian context, technologies such as laser land levelling and the happy seeder have been promoted widely for their potential in climate change adaptation and mitigation, offering benefits in terms of farm profitability, emission reduction, and water and land productivity (Aryal et al. 2020b ; Keil et al. 2021 ). In some African countries such as Tanzania and Kenya, climate-smart feeding practices in the livestock sector have been suggested to tackle challenges in feed quality and availability exacerbated by climate change, aiming to improve livestock productivity and resilience (García de Jalón et al. 2017 ; Shikuku et al. 2017 ; Radeny et al. 2022 ).

Several studies have investigated the factors influencing farmers’ decisions to adopt CSA practices. They have focused on, for example, farmers’ characteristics (e.g., age, gender, and education), farm-level characteristics (e.g., farm size, land fertility, and land tenure security), socioeconomic factors (e.g., economic conditions), institutional factors (e.g., development programs, membership in farmers’ organizations, and access to agricultural training), climate conditions, and access to information (Aryal et al. 2018 ; Tran et al. 2020 ; Zakaria et al. 2020 ; Kangogo et al. 2021 ; Diro et al. 2022 ; Kifle et al. 2022 ; Belay et al. 2023 ; Zhou et al. 2023 ). For example, Aryal et al. ( 2018 ) found that household characteristics (e.g., general caste, education, and migration status), plot characteristics (e.g., tenure of plot, plot size, and soil fertility), distance to market, and major climate risks are major factors determining farmers’ adoption of multiple CSA practices in India. Tran et al. ( 2020 ) reported that age, gender, number of family workers, climate-related factors, farm characteristics, distance to markets, access to climate information, confidence in the know-how of extension workers, membership in social/agricultural groups, and attitude toward risk are the major factors affecting rice farmers’ decisions to adopt CSA technologies in Vietnam. Diro et al.’s ( 2022 ) analysis revealed that coffee growers’ decisions to adopt CSA practices are determined by their education, extension (access to extension services and participation on field days), and ownership of communication devices, specifically radio in Ethiopia. Zhou et al. 2023 ) found that cooperative membership significantly increases the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices among banana-producing farmers in China. These studies provide significant insights regarding the factors influencing farmers’ decisions regarding CSA adoption.

A growing body of studies have also estimated the effects of CSA adoption. They have found that CSA practices enhance food security and dietary diversity by increasing crop yields and rural incomes (Amadu et al. 2020 ; Akter et al. 2022 ; Santalucia 2023 ; Tabe-Ojong et al. 2023 ; Vatsa et al. 2023 ; Omotoso and Omotayo 2024 ). For example, Akter et al. ( 2022 ) found that adoption of CSA practices was positively associated with rice, wheat, and maize yields and household income, contributing to household food security in Bangladesh. By estimating data from rice farmers in China, Vatsa et al. ( 2023 ) reported that intensifying the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices improved rice yield by 94 kg/mu and contributed to food security. Santalucia ( 2023 ) and Omotoso and Omotayo ( 2024 ) found that adoption of CSA practices (improved maize varieties and maize-legume intercropping) increases household dietary diversity and food security among smallholders in Tanzania and Nigeria, respectively.

Agriculture is crucial in climate change, accounting for roughly 20% of worldwide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Additionally, it is responsible for approximately 45% of the global emissions of methane, a potent gas that significantly contributes to heat absorption in the atmosphere. CSA adoption improves farm resilience to climate variability (e.g., Makate et al. 2019 ; Jamil et al. 2021 ) and mitigates greenhouse gas emissions (Israel et al. 2020 ; McNunn et al. 2020 ). For example, Makate et al. ( 2019 ) for southern Africa and Jamil et al. ( 2021 ) for Pakistan found that promoting CSA innovations is crucial for boosting farmers’ resilience to climate change. McNunn et al. ( 2020 ) reported that CSA adoption significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture by increasing soil organic carbon stocks and decreasing nitrous oxide emissions.

Although a growing number of studies have enriched our understanding of the determinants and impacts of ICT adoption, it should be emphasized that no one-size-fits-all approach exists for CSA technology adoption due to geographical and environmental variability. The definitions of CSA should also be advanced to better adapt to changing climate and regional production conditions. Clearly, despite the extensive research on CSA, several gaps remain. First, there is a lack of comprehensive studies that consolidate findings across different geographical regions to inform policymaking effectively. The calls for studies on literature review and meta-analysis to synthesize the findings of the existing studies to make our understanding generalized. Second, although the literature on determinants of CSA adoption is becoming rich, there is a lack of understanding of how CSA adoption is influenced by different forms of capital, social responsibility awareness of farmers’ cultivating family farms, and digital advisory services. Third, there is a lack of understanding of how climate-smart villages and civil society organizations address farmers’ financial constraints and encourage them to adopt modern sustainable agricultural practices, including CSA practices. Fourth, very few studies have explored how CSA adoption influences the benefit–cost ratio of farm production, factor demand, and input substitution. Fifth, no previous studies have reported the progress of research on CSA. Addressing these gaps is crucial for designing and implementing effective policies and programs that support the widespread adoption of CSA practices, thereby contributing to sustainable agricultural development and climate resilience.

We address the research gaps mentioned above and extend the findings in previous studies by organizing a Special Issue on “Climate-Smart Agriculture: Adoption, Impacts, and Implications for Sustainable Development” in the Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change (MASGC) journal. We aim to collect high-quality theoretical and applied research papers discussing CSA and seek to comprehensively understand the associations between CSA and sustainable rural and agricultural development. To achieve this goal, we aim to find answers to these questions: What are the CSA practices and technologies (either single or multiple) that are currently adopted in smallholder farming systems? What are the key barriers, challenges, and drivers of promoting CSA practices? What are the impacts of adopting these practices? Answers to these questions will help devise appropriate solutions for promoting sustainable agricultural production and rural development. They will also provide insights for policymakers to design appropriate policy instruments to develop agricultural practices and technologies and promote them to sustainably enhance the farm sector’s resilience to climate change and increase productivity.

Finally, 19 papers were selected after a rigorous peer-review process and published in this special issue. We collected 10 papers investigating the determinants of CSA adoption. Among them, four papers investigated the determinants of CSA adoption among smallholders by reviewing and summarizing the findings in the literature and conducting a meta-analysis. Three papers explored the role of social-economic factors on ICT adoption, including capital, social responsibility awareness, and digital advisory services. Besides, three papers examined the associations between external development interventions, including climate-smart villages and civil-society initiatives, and CSA adoption. We collected eight papers exploring the impacts of CSA adoption. Among them, one paper conducted a comprehensive literature review to summarize the impacts of CSA adoption on crop yields, farm income, and environmental sustainability. Six papers estimated the impacts of CSA adoption on crop yields and farm income, and one paper focused on the impact of CSA adoption on factor demand and input substitution. The last paper included in this special issue delved into the advancements in technological innovation for agricultural adaptation within the context of climate-smart agriculture.

The structure of this paper is as follows: Section  2 summarizes the papers received in this special issue. Section  3 introduces the international conference that was purposely organized for the special issue. Section  4 summarizes the key findings of the 19 papers published in the special issue, followed by a summary of their policy implications, presented in Section  5 . The final section provides a brief conclusion.

2 Summary of received manuscripts

The special issue received 77 submissions, with the contributing authors hailing from 22 countries, as illustrated in Fig.  1 . This diversity highlights the global interest and wide-ranging contributions to the issue. Notably, over half of these submissions (53.2%) originated from corresponding authors in India and China, with 29 and 12 manuscripts, respectively. New Zealand authors contributed six manuscripts, while their Australian counterparts submitted four. Following closely, authors from the United Kingdom and Kenya each submitted three manuscripts. Authors from Thailand, Pakistan, Japan, and Germany submitted two manuscripts each. The remaining 12 manuscripts came from authors in Vietnam, Uzbekistan, the Philippines, Nigeria, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Italy, Indonesia, Ghana, Ethiopia, Brazil, and Bangladesh.

Distributions of 77 received manuscripts by corresponding authors' countries

Among the 77 received manuscripts, 30 were desk-rejected by the guest editors because they did not meet the aims and scope of the special issue, and the remaining 47, considered candidate papers for the special issue, were sent for external review. The decision on each manuscript was made based on review reports of 2–4 experts in this field. The guest editors also read and commented on each manuscript before they made decisions.

3 ADBI virtual international conference

3.1 selected presentations.

The guest editors from Lincoln University (New Zealand) and the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) (Tokyo, Japan) organized a virtual international conference on the special issue theme “ Climate-Smart Agriculture: Adoption, Impacts, and Implications for Sustainable Development ”. The conference was organized on 10–11 October 2023 and was supported by the ADBI. Footnote 1 As previously noted, the guest editors curated a selection of 47 manuscripts from the pool of 77 submissions, identifying them as potential candidates for inclusion in the special issue, and sent them out for external review. Given the logistical constraints of orchestrating a two-day conference, the guest editors ultimately extended invitations to 20 corresponding authors. These authors were invited to present their work at the virtual international conference.

Figure  2 illustrates the native countries of the presenters, showing that the presenters were from 10 different countries. Most of the presenters were from India, accounting for 40% of the presenters. This is followed by China, where the four presenters were originally from. The conference presentations and discussions proved immensely beneficial, fostering knowledge exchange among presenters, discussants, and participants. It significantly allowed presenters to refine their manuscripts, leveraging the constructive feedback from discussants and fellow attendees.

Distributions of selected presentations by corresponding authors' countries

3.2 Keynote speeches

The guest editors invited two keynote speakers to present at the two-day conference. They were Prof. Edward B. Barbier from the Colorado State University in the United States Footnote 2 and Prof. Tatsuyoshi Saijo from Kyoto University of Advanced Science in Japan. Footnote 3

Prof. Edward Barbier gave a speech, “ A Policy Strategy for Climate-Smart Agriculture for Sustainable Rural Development ”, on 10th October 2023. He outlined a strategic approach for integrating CSA into sustainable rural development, particularly within emerging markets and developing economies. He emphasized the necessity of CSA and nature-based solutions (NbS) to tackle food security, climate change, and rural poverty simultaneously. Highlighting the substantial investment needs and the significant role of international and domestic financing, Prof. Barbier advocated reducing harmful subsidies in agriculture, forestry, fishing, and fossil fuel consumption to redirect funds toward CSA and NbS investments. He also proposed the implementation of a tropical carbon tax as an innovative financing mechanism. By focusing on recycling environmentally harmful subsidies and leveraging additional funding through public and private investments, Prof. Barbier’s strategy aims to foster a “win–win” scenario for climate action and sustainable development, underscoring the urgency of adopting comprehensive policies to mobilize the necessary resources for these critical investments.

Prof. Tatsuyoshi Saijo, gave his speech, “ Future Design ”, on 11th October 2023. He explored the significant impact of the Haber–Bosch process on human civilization and the environment. Prof. Saijo identifies this process, which synthetically fixed nitrogen from the atmosphere to create ammonia for fertilizers and other products, as the greatest invention from the twentieth century to the present, fundamentally transforming the world’s food production and enabling the global population and industrial activities to expand dramatically. He also discussed the environmental costs of this technological advancement, including increased greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, and contribution to climate change. Prof. Saijo then introduced the concept of “Future Design” as a method to envision and implement sustainable social systems that consider the well-being of future generations. He presented various experiments and case studies from Japan and beyond, showing how incorporating perspectives of imaginary future generations into decision-making processes can lead to more sustainable choices. By doing so, Prof. Saijo suggested that humanity can address the “Intergenerational Sustainability Dilemma” and potentially avoid the ecological overshoot and collapse faced by past civilizations like Easter Island. He called for a redesign of social systems to activate “futurability”, where individuals derive happiness from decisions that benefit future generations, ultimately aiming to ensure the long-term survival of humankind amidst environmental challenges.

4 Summary of published articles

As a result of a rigorous double-anonymized reviewing process, the special issue accepted 19 articles for publication. These studies have investigated the determinants and impacts of CSA adoption. Table 1 in the Appendix summarises the CSA technologies and practices considered in each paper. Below, we summarize the key findings of the contributions based on their research themes.

4.1 Determinants of CSA adoption among smallholders

4.1.1 influencing factors of csa adoption from literature review.

Investigating the factors influencing farmers’ adoption of CSA practices through a literature review helps offer a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted determinants of CSA adoption. Investigating the factors influencing farmers’ adoption of CSA practices through a literature review helps provide a comprehensive understanding of the determinants of CSA adoption. Such analyses help identify consistent trends and divergences in how different variables influence farmers’ CSA adoption decisions. In this special issue, we collected four papers that reviewed the literature and synthesized the factors influencing farmers’ decisions to adopt CSA.

Li, Ma and Zhu’s paper, “ A systematic literature review of factors influencing the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices ”, conducted a systematic review of the literature on the adoption of CSA, summarizing the definitions of CSA practices and the factors that influence farmers’ decisions to adopt these practices. The authors reviewed 190 studies published between 2013 and 2023. They broadly defined CSA practices as “agricultural production-related and unrelated practices that can help adapt to climate change and increase agricultural outputs”. Narrowly, they defined CSA practices as “agricultural production-related practices that can effectively adapt agriculture to climate change and reinforce agricultural production capacity”. The review identified that many factors, including age, gender, education, risk perception, preferences, access to credit, farm size, production conditions, off-farm income, and labour allocation, have a mixed (positive or negative) influence on the adoption of CSA practices. Variables such as labour endowment, land tenure security, access to extension services, agricultural training, membership in farmers’ organizations, support from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), climate conditions, and access to information were consistently found to positively influence CSA practice adoption.

Thottadi and Singh’s paper, “ Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) adaptation, adaptation determinants and extension services synergies: A systematic review ””, reviewed 45 articles published between 2011 and 2022 to explore different CAS practices adopted by farmers and the factors determining their adoption. They found that CSA practices adopted by farmers can be categorized into five groups. These included resilient technologies (e.g., early maturing varieties, drought-resistant varieties, and winter ploughing), management strategies (e.g., nutrient management, water management, and pest management), conservation technologies (e.g., vermicomposting and residue management, drip and sprinkler irrigation, and soil conservation), diversification of income security (e.g., mixed farming, livestock, and crop diversification), and risk mitigation strategies (e.g., contingent planning, adjusting plant dates, and crop insurance). They also found that farmers’ decisions to adopt CSA practices are mainly determined by individual characteristics (age, gender, and education), socioeconomic factors (income and wealth), institutional factors (social group, access to credit, crop insurance, distance, land tenure, and rights), behavioural factors (climate perception, farmers’ perception on CSA, Bookkeeping), and factor endowments (family labour, machinery, and land size). The authors emphasized that extension services improved CSA adaptation by reducing information asymmetry.

Naveen, Datta, Behera and Rahut’s paper, “ Climate-Smart Agriculture in South Asia: Exploring Practices, Determinants, and Contribution to Sustainable Development Goals ”, offered a comprehensive systematic review of 78 research papers on CSA practice adoption in South Asia. Their objective was to assess the current implementation of CSA practices and to identify the factors that influence farmers’ decisions to adopt these practices. They identified various CSA practices widely adopted in South Asia, including climate-resilient seeds, zero tillage, water conservation, rescheduling of planting, crop diversification, soil conservation and water harvesting, and agroforestry. They also identified several key factors that collectively drive farmers’ adoption of CSA practices. These included socioeconomic factors (age, education, livestock ownership, size of land holdings, and market access), institutional factors (access to information and communication technology, availability of credit, input subsidies, agricultural training and demonstrations, direct cash transfers, and crop insurance), and climatic factors (notably rising temperatures, floods, droughts, reduced rainfall, and delayed rainfall).

Wang, Wang and Fu’s paper, “ Can social networks facilitate smallholders’ decisions to adopt Climate-smart Agriculture technologies? A three-level meta-analysis ”, explored the influence of social networks on the adoption of CSA technologies by smallholder farmers through a detailed three-level meta-analysis. This analysis encompassed 26 empirical studies, incorporating 150 effect sizes. The authors reported a modest overall effect size of 0.065 between social networks and the decision-making process for CSA technology adoption, with an 85.21% variance observed among the sample effect sizes. They found that over half (55.17%) of this variance was attributed to the differences in outcomes within each study, highlighting the impact of diverse social network types explored across the studies as significant contributors. They did not identify publication bias in this field. Among the three types of social networks (official-advising network, peer-advising network, and kinship and friendship network), kinship and friendship networks are the most effective in facilitating smallholders’ decisions to adopt climate-smart agriculture technologies.

4.1.2 Socioeconomic factors influencing CSA adoption

We collected three papers highlighting the diverse forms of capital, social responsibility awareness, and effectiveness of digital advisory services in promoting CSA in India, China and Ghana. These studies showcase how digital tools can significantly increase the adoption of CSA technologies, how social responsibility can motivate CSA practices and the importance of various forms of capital in CSA strategy adoption.

Sandilya and Goswami’s paper, “ Effect of different forms of capital on the adoption of multiple climate-smart agriculture strategies by smallholder farmers in Assam, India ”, delved into the determinants behind the adoption of CSA strategies by smallholder farmers in Nagaon district, India, a region notably prone to climate adversities. The authors focused on six types of capital: physical, social, human, financial, natural, and institutional. They considered four CSA practices: alternate land use systems, integrated nutrient management, site-specific nutrient management, and crop diversification. Their analyses encompassed a dual approach, combining a quantitative analysis via a multivariate probit model with qualitative insights from focus group discussions. They found that agricultural cooperatives and mobile applications, both forms of social capital, play a significant role in facilitating the adoption of CSA. In contrast, the authors also identified certain barriers to CSA adoption, such as the remoteness of farm plots from all-weather roads (a component of physical capital) and a lack of comprehensive climate change advisories (a component of institutional capital). Furthermore, the authors highlighted the beneficial impact of irrigation availability (a component of physical capital) on embracing alternate land use and crop diversification strategies. Additionally, the application of indigenous technical knowledge (a component of human capital) and the provision of government-supplied seeds (a component of institutional capital) were found to influence the adoption of CSA practices distinctly.

Ye, Zhang, Song and Li’s paper, “ Social Responsibility Awareness and Adoption of Climate-smart Agricultural Practices: Evidence from Food-based Family Farms in China ”, examined whether social responsibility awareness (SRA) can be a driver for the adoption of CSA on family farms in China. Using multiple linear regression and hierarchical regression analyses, the authors analyzed data from 637 family farms in five provinces (Zhejiang, Shandong, Henan, Heilongjiang, and Hebei) in China. They found that SRA positively impacted the adoption of CSA practice. Pro-social motivation and impression management motivation partially and completely mediated the relationship between SRA and the adoption of CSA practices.

Asante, Ma, Prah and Temoso’s paper, “ Promoting the adoption of climate-smart agricultural technologies among maize farmers in Ghana: Using digital advisory services ”, investigated the impacts of digital advisory services (DAS) use on CSA technology adoption and estimated data collected from 3,197 maize farmers in China. The authors used a recursive bivariate probit model to address the self-selection bias issues when farmers use DAS. They found that DAS notably increases the propensity to adopt drought-tolerant seeds, zero tillage, and row planting by 4.6%, 4.2%, and 12.4%, respectively. The average treatment effect on the treated indicated that maize farmers who use DAS are significantly more likely to adopt row planting, zero tillage, and drought-tolerant seeds—by 38.8%, 24.9%, and 47.2%, respectively. Gender differences in DAS impact were observed; male farmers showed a higher likelihood of adopting zero tillage and drought-tolerant seeds by 2.5% and 3.6%, respectively, whereas female farmers exhibited a greater influence on the adoption of row planting, with a 2.4% probability compared to 1.5% for males. Additionally, factors such as age, education, household size, membership in farmer-based organizations, farm size, perceived drought stress, perceived pest and disease incidence, and geographic location were significant determinants in the adoption of CSA technologies.

4.1.3 Climate-smart villages and CSA adoption

Climate-Smart Villages (CSVs) play a pivotal role in promoting CSA by significantly improving farmers’ access to savings and credit, and the adoption of improved agricultural practices among smallholder farmers. CSV interventions demonstrate the power of community-based financial initiatives in enabling investments in CSA technologies. In this special issue, we collected two insightful papers investigating the relationship between CSVs and the adoption of CSA practices, focusing on India and Kenya.

Villalba, Joshi, Daum and Venus’s paper, “ Financing Climate-Smart Agriculture: A Case Study from the Indo-Gangetic Plains ”, investigated the adoption and financing of CSA technologies in India, focusing on two capital-intensive technologies: laser land levelers and happy seeders. Conducted in Karnal, Haryana, within the framework of Climate-Smart-Villages, the authors combined data from a household survey of 120 farmers, interviews, and focus group discussions with stakeholders like banks and cooperatives. The authors found that adoption rates are high, with 77% for laser land levelers and 52% for happy seeders, but ownership is low, indicating a preference for renting from Custom-Hiring Centers. Farmers tended to avoid formal banking channels for financing, opting instead for informal sources like family, savings, and money lenders, due to the immediate access to credit and avoidance of bureaucratic hurdles. The authors suggested that institutional innovations and governmental support could streamline credit access for renting CSA technologies, emphasizing the importance of knowledge transfer, capacity building, and the development of digital tools to inform farmers about financing options. This research highlights the critical role of financing mechanisms in promoting CSA technology adoption among smallholder farmers in climate-vulnerable regions.

Asseldonk, Oostendorp, Recha, Gathiaka, Mulwa, Radeny Wattel and Wesenbeeck’s paper, “ Distributional impact of climate‑smart villages on access to savings and credit and adoption of improved climate‑smart agricultural practices in the Nyando Basin, Kenya ”, investigated the impact of CSV interventions in Kenya on smallholder farmers’ access to savings, credit, and adoption of improved livestock breeds as part of CSA practices. The authors employed a linear probability model to estimate a balanced panel of 118 farm households interviewed across 2017, 2019, and 2020. They found that CSV interventions significantly increased the adoption of improved livestock breeds and membership in savings and credit groups, which further facilitated the adoption of these improved breeds. The findings highlighted that community-based savings and loan initiatives effectively enable farmers to invest in CSA practices. Although there was a sustained positive trend in savings and loans group membership, the adoption of improved livestock did not show a similar sustained increase. Moreover, the introduction of improved breeds initially benefited larger livestock owners more. However, credit availability was found to reduce this inequity in ownership among participants, making the distribution of improved livestock more equitable within CSVs compared to non-CSV areas, thus highlighting the potential of CSV interventions to reduce disparities in access to improved CSA practices.

4.1.4 Civil-society initiatives and CSA adoption

Civil society initiatives are critical in promoting CSA by embedding its principles across diverse agricultural development projects. These initiatives enhance mitigation, adaptation, and food security efforts for smallholder farmers, demonstrating the importance of varied implementation strategies to address the challenges of CSA. We collected one paper investigating how civil society-based development projects in Asia and Africa incorporated CSA principles to benefit smallholder farmers and local communities.

Davila, Jacobs, Nadeem, Kelly and Kurimoto’s paper, “ Finding climate smart agriculture in civil-society initiatives ”, scrutinized the role of international civil society and non-government organizations (NGOs) in embedding CSA principles within agricultural development projects aimed at enhancing mitigation, adaptation, and food security. Through a thematic analysis of documentation from six projects selected on the basis that they represented a range of geographical regions (East Africa, South, and Southeast Asia) and initiated since 2009, the authors assessed how development programs incorporate CSA principles to support smallholder farmers under CSA’s major pillars. They found heterogeneous application of CSA principles across the projects, underscoring a diversity in implementation strategies despite vague definitions and focuses of CSA. The projects variedly contributed to greening and forests, knowledge exchange, market development, policy and institutional engagement, nutrition, carbon and climate action, and gender considerations.

4.2 Impacts of CSA adoption

4.2.1 impacts of csa adoption from literature review.

A comprehensive literature review on the impacts of CSA adoption plays an indispensable role in bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical implementation in the agricultural sector. In this special issue, we collected one paper that comprehensively reviewed the literature on the impacts of CSA adoption from the perspective of the triple win of CSA.

Zheng, Ma and He’s paper, “ Climate-smart agricultural practices for enhanced farm productivity, income, resilience, and Greenhouse gas mitigation: A comprehensive review ”, reviewed 107 articles published between 2013–2023 to distill a broad understanding of the impacts of CSA practices. The review categorized the literature into three critical areas of CSA benefits: (a) the sustainable increase of agricultural productivity and incomes; (b) the adaptation and enhancement of resilience among individuals and agrifood systems to climate change; and (c) the reduction or avoidance of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions where feasible. The authors found that CSA practices significantly improved farm productivity and incomes and boosted technical and resource use efficiency. Moreover, CSA practices strengthened individual resilience through improved food consumption, dietary diversity, and food security while enhancing agrifood systems’ resilience by mitigating production risks and reducing vulnerability. Additionally, CSA adoption was crucial in lowering Greenhouse gas emissions and fostering carbon sequestration in soils and biomass, contributing to improved soil quality.

4.2.2 Impacts on crop yields and farm income

Understanding the impact of CSA adoption on crop yields and income is crucial for improving agricultural resilience and sustainability. In this special issue, we collected three papers highlighting the transformative potential of CSA practices in boosting crop yields, commercialization, and farm income. One paper focuses on India and the other concentrates on Ghana and Kenya.

Tanti, Jena, Timilsina and Rahut’s paper, “ Enhancing crop yields and farm income through climate-smart agricultural practices in Eastern India ”, examined the impact of CSA practices (crop rotation and integrated soil management practices) on crop yields and incomes. The authors used propensity score matching and the two-stage least square model to control self-selection bias and endogeneity and analyzed data collected from 494 farm households in India. They found that adopting CSA practices increases agricultural income and paddy yield. The crucial factor determining the adoption of CSA practices was the income-enhancing potential to transform subsistence farming into a profoundly ingrained farming culture.

Asante, Ma, Prah and Temoso’s paper, “ Farmers’ adoption of multiple climate-smart agricultural technologies in Ghana: Determinants and impacts on maize yields and net farm income ”, investigated the factors influencing maize growers’ decisions to adopt CSA technologies and estimated the impact of adopting CSA technologies on maize yields and net farm income. They considered three CSA technology types: drought-resistant seeds, row planting, and zero tillage. The authors used the multinomial endogenous switching regression model to estimate the treatment effect of CSA technology adoption and analyze data collected from 3,197 smallholder farmers in Ghana. They found that farmer-based organization membership, education, resource constraints such as lack of land, access to markets, and production shocks such as perceived pest and disease stress and drought are the main factors that drive farmers’ decisions to adopt CSA technologies. They also found that integrating any CSA technology or adopting all three CSA technologies greatly enhances maize yields and net farm income. Adopting all three CSA technologies had the largest impact on maize yields, while adopting row planting and zero tillage had the greatest impact on net farm income.

Mburu, Mburu, Nyikal, Mugera and Ndambi’s paper, “ Assessment of Socioeconomic Determinants and Impacts of Climate-Smart Feeding Practices in the Kenyan Dairy Sector ”, assessed the determinants and impacts of adopting climate-smart feeding practices (fodder and feed concentrates) on yield, milk commercialization, and household income. The authors used multinomial endogenous switching regression to account for self-selection bias arising from observable and unobservable factors and estimated data collected from 665 dairy farmers in Kenya. They found that human and social capital, resource endowment, dairy feeding systems, the source of information about feeding practices, and perceived characteristics were the main factors influencing farmers’ adoption of climate-smart feeding practices. They also found that combining climate-smart feed concentrates and fodder significantly increased milk productivity, output, and dairy income. Climate-smart feed concentrates yielded more benefits regarding dairy milk commercialization and household income than climate-smart fodder.

4.2.3 Impacts on crop yields

Estimating the impacts of CSA adoption on crop yields is crucial for enhancing food security, improving farmers’ resilience to climate change, and guiding policy and investment towards sustainable agricultural development. In this special issue, we collected one paper that provided insights into this field.

Singh, Bisaria, Sinha, Patasaraiya and Sreerag’s paper, “ Developing A Composite Weighted Indicator-based Index for Monitoring and Evaluating Climate-Smart Agriculture in India ”, developed a composite index based on a weighted index to calculate the Climate Smart Score (CSS) at the farm level in India and tested the relationship between computed CSS and farm-level productivity. Through an intensive literature review, the authors selected 34 indicators, which were then grouped into five dimensions for calculating CSS. These dimensions encompassed governance (e.g., land ownership, subsidized fertilizer, and subsidized seeds), farm management practices (mulching, zero tillage farming, and inter-cropping and crop diversification), environment management practices (e.g., not converting forested land into agricultural land and Agroforestry/plantation), energy management (e.g., solar water pump and Biogas digester), and awareness and training (e.g., knowledge of climate-related risk and timely access to weather and agro-advisory). They tested the relationship between CSS and farm productivity using data collected from 315 farmers. They found that improved seeds, direct seeding of rice, crop diversification, zero tillage, agroforestry, crop residue management, integrated nutrient management, and training on these practices were the most popular CSA practices the sampled farmers adopted. In addition, there was a positive association between CSS and paddy, wheat, and maize yields. This finding underscores the beneficial impact of CSA practices on enhancing farm productivity.

4.2.4 Impacts on incomes and benefit–cost ratio

Understanding the income effects of CSA adoption is crucial for assessing its impact on household livelihoods, farm profitability, and income diversity. Quantifying income enhancements would contribute to informed decision-making and investment strategies to improve farming communities’ economic well-being. In this special issue, we collected two papers looking into the effects of CSA adoption on income.

Sang, Chen, Hu and Rahut’s paper, “ Economic benefits of climate-smart agricultural practices: Empirical investigations and policy implications ”, investigated the impact of CSA adoption intensity on household income, net farm income, and income diversity. They used the two-stage residual inclusion model to mitigate the endogeneity of CSA adoption intensity and analyzed the 2020 China Rural Revitalization Survey data. They also used the instrumental-variable-based quantile regression model to investigate the heterogeneous impacts of CSA adoption intensity. The authors found that the education level of the household head and geographical location determine farmers’ adoption intensity of CSAs.CSA practices. The higher levels of CSA adoption were positively and significantly associated with higher household income, net farm income, and income diversity. They also found that while the impact of CSA adoption intensity on household income escalates across selected quantiles, its effect on net farm income diminishes over these quantiles. Additionally, the study reveals that CSA adoption intensity notably enhances income diversity at the 20th quantile only.

Kandulu, Zuo, Wheeler, Dusingizimana and Chagund’s paper, “ Influence of climate-smart technologies on the success of livestock donation programs for smallholder farmers in Rwanda ”, investigated the economic, environmental, and health benefits of integrating CSA technologies —specifically barns and biogas plants—into livestock donation programs in Rwanda. Employing a stochastic benefit–cost analysis from the perspective of the beneficiaries, the authors assessed the net advantages for households that receive heifers under an enhanced program compared to those under the existing scheme. They found that incorporating CSA technologies not only boosts the economic viability of these programs but also significantly increases the resilience and sustainability of smallholder farming systems. More precisely, households equipped with cows and CSA technologies can attain net benefits up to 3.5 times greater than those provided by the current program, with the benefit–cost ratios reaching up to 5. Furthermore, biogas technology reduces deforestation, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, and lowering the risk of respiratory illnesses, underscoring the multifaceted advantages of integrating such innovations into livestock donation initiatives.

4.2.5 Impacts on factor demand and input substitution

Estimating the impacts of CSA adoption on factor demand and input substitution is key to optimizing resource use, reducing environmental footprints, and ensuring agricultural sustainability by enabling informed decisions on efficient input use and technology adoption. In this field, we collected one paper that enriched our understanding in this field. Understanding the impacts of CSA adoption on factor demand, input substitution, and financing options is crucial for promoting sustainable farming in diverse contexts. In this special issue, we collected one paper comprehensively discussing how CSA adoption impacted factor demand and input substitution.

Kehinde, Shittu, Awe and Ajayi’s paper, “ Effects of Using Climate-Smart Agricultural Practices on Factor Demand and Input Substitution among Smallholder Rice Farmers in Nigeria ”, examined the impacts of agricultural practices with CSA potential (AP-CSAPs) on the demand of labour and other production factors (seed, pesticides, fertilizers, and mechanization) and input substitution. The AP-CSAPs considered in this research included zero/minimum tillage, rotational cropping, green manuring, organic manuring, residue retention, and agroforestry. The authors employed the seemingly unrelated regression method to estimate data collected from 1,500 smallholder rice farmers in Nigeria. The authors found that labour and fertilizer were not easily substitutable in the Nigerian context; increases in the unit price of labour (wage rate) and fertilizer lead to a greater budget allocation towards these inputs. Conversely, a rise in the cost of mechanization services per hectare significantly reduced labour costs while increasing expenditure on pesticides and mechanization services. They also found that most AP-CSAPs were labour-intensive, except for agroforestry, which is labor-neutral. Organic manure and residue retention notably conserved pesticides, whereas zero/minimum tillage practices increased the use of pesticides and fertilizers. Furthermore, the demand for most production factors, except pesticides, was found to be price inelastic, indicating that price changes do not significantly alter the quantity demanded.

4.3 Progress of research on CSA

Understanding the progress of research on CSA is essential for identifying and leveraging technological innovations—like greenhouse advancements, organic fertilizer products, and biotechnological crop improvements—that support sustainable agricultural adaptation. This knowledge enables the integration of nature-based strategies, informs policy, and underscores the importance of international cooperation in overcoming patent and CSA adoption challenges to ensure global food security amidst climate change. We collected one paper in this field.

Tey, Brindal, Darham and Zainalabidin’s paper, “ Adaptation technologies for climate-smart agriculture: A patent network analysis ”, delved into the advancements in technological innovation for agricultural adaptation within the context of CSA by analyzing global patent databases. The authors found that greenhouse technologies have seen a surge in research and development (R&D) efforts, whereas composting technologies have evolved into innovations in organic fertilizer products. Additionally, biotechnology has been a significant focus, aiming to develop crop traits better suited to changing climate conditions. A notable emergence is seen in resource restoration innovations addressing climate challenges. These technologies offer a range of policy options for climate-smart agriculture, from broad strategies to specific operational techniques, and pave the way for integration with nature-based adaptation strategies. However, the widespread adoption and potential impact of these technologies may be hindered by issues related to patent ownership and the path dependency this creates. Despite commercial interests driving the diffusion of innovation, international cooperation is clearly needed to enhance technology transfer.

5 Summary of key policy implications

The collection of 19 papers in this special issue sheds light on the critical aspects of promoting farmers’ adoption of CSA practices, which eventually help enhance agricultural productivity and resilience, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve food security and soil health, offer economic benefits to farmers, and contribute to sustainable development and climate change adaptation. We summarize and discuss the policy implications derived from this special issue from the following four aspects:

5.1 Improving CSA adoption through extension services

Extension services help reduce information asymmetry associated with CSA adoption and increase farmers’ awareness of CSA practices’ benefits, costs, and risks while addressing their specific challenges. Therefore, the government should improve farmers’ access to extension services. These services need to be inclusive and customized to meet the gender-specific needs and the diverse requirements of various farming stakeholders. Additionally, fostering partnerships between small and medium enterprises and agricultural extension agents is crucial for enhancing the local availability of CSA technologies. Government-sponsored extension services should prioritize equipping farmers with essential CSA skills, ensuring they are well-prepared to implement these practices. This structured approach will streamline the adoption process and significantly improve the effectiveness of CSA initiatives.

5.2 Facilitating CSA adoption through farmers’ organizations

Farmers’ organizations, such as village cooperatives, farmer groups, and self-help groups, play a pivotal role in facilitating farmers’ CSA adoption and empowering rural women’s adoption through effective information dissemination and the use of agricultural apps. Therefore, the government should facilitate the establishment and development of farmers’ organizations and encourage farmers to join those organizations as members. In particular, the proven positive impacts of farmer-based organizations (FBOs) highlight the importance of fostering collaborations between governments and FBOs. Supporting farmer cooperatives with government financial and technical aid is essential for catalyzing community-driven climate adaptation efforts. Furthermore, the successful use of DAS in promoting CSA adoption underscores the need for government collaboration with farmer groups to expand DAS utilization. This includes overcoming usage barriers and emphasizing DAS’s reliability as a source of climate-smart information. By establishing and expanding digital hubs and demonstration centres in rural areas, farmers can access and experience DAS technologies firsthand, leading to broader adoption and integration into their CSA practices.

5.3 Enhancing CSA adoption through agricultural training and education

Agricultural training and education are essential in enhancing farmers’ adoption of CSA. To effectively extend the reach of CSA practices, the government should prioritize expanding rural ICT infrastructure investments and establish CSA training centres equipped with ICT tools that target key demographics such as women and older people, aiming to bridge the digital adoption gaps. Further efforts should prioritize awareness and training programs to ensure farmers can access weather and agro-advisory services. These programs should promote the use of ICT-based tools through collaborations with technology providers and include regular CSA training and the establishment of demonstration fields that showcase the tangible benefits of CSA practices.

Education plays a vital role in adopting CAPs, suggesting targeted interventions such as comprehensive technical training to assist farmers with limited educational backgrounds in understanding the value of CAPs, ultimately improving their adoption rates. Establishing robust monitoring mechanisms is crucial to maintaining farmer engagement and success in CSA practices. These mechanisms will facilitate the ongoing adoption and evaluation of CSA practices and help educate farmers on the long-term benefits. Centralizing and disseminating information about financial products and subsidies through various channels, including digital platforms tailored to local languages and contexts, is essential. This approach helps educate farmers on financing options and requirements, supporting the adoption of CSA technologies among smallholder farmers. Lastly, integrating traditional and local knowledge with scientific research and development can effectively tailor CSA initiatives. This integration requires the involvement of a range of stakeholders, including NGOs, to navigate the complexities of CSA and ensure that interventions are effective but also equitable and sustainable. The enhanced capacity of institutions and their extension teams will further support these CSA initiatives.

5.4 Promoting CSA adoption through establishing social networks and innovating strategies

The finding that social networks play a crucial role in promoting the adoption of CSA suggests that implementing reward systems to incentivize current CSA adopters to advocate for climate-smart practices within their social circles could be an effective strategy to promote CSA among farmers. The evidence of a significant link between family farms’ awareness of social responsibility and their adoption of CSA highlights that governments should undertake initiatives, such as employing lectures and pamphlets, to enhance family farm operating farmers’ understanding of social responsibility. The government should consider introducing incentives that foster positive behavioural changes among family farms to cultivate a more profound commitment to social responsibility. The government can also consider integrating social responsibility criteria into the family farm awards and recognition evaluation process. These measures would encourage family farms to align their operations with broader social and environmental goals, promoting CSA practices.

Combining traditional incentives, such as higher wages and access to improved agricultural inputs, with innovative strategies like community-driven development for equipment sharing and integrating moral suasion with Payment for Ecosystem Services would foster farmers’ commitment to CSA practices. The finding that technological evolution plays a vital role in shaping adaptation strategies for CSA highlights the necessity for policy instruments that not only leverage modern technologies but also integrate them with traditional, nature-based adaptation strategies, enhancing their capacity to address specific CSA challenges. Policymakers should consider the region’s unique socioeconomic, environmental, and geographical characteristics when promoting CSA, moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach to ensure the adaptability and relevance of CSA practices across different agricultural landscapes. They should foster an environment that encourages the reporting of all research outcomes to develop evidence-based policies that are informed by a balanced view of CSA’s potential benefits and limitations.

Finally, governance is critical in creating an enabling environment for CSA adoption. Policies should support CSA practices and integrate environmental sustainability to enhance productivity and ecosystem health. Development programs must offer financial incentives, establish well-supported voluntary schemes, provide robust training programs, and ensure the wide dissemination of informational tools. These measures are designed to help farmers integrate CAPs into their operations, improving economic and operational sustainability.

6 Concluding remarks

This special issue has provided a wealth of insights into the adoption and impact of CSA practices across various contexts, underscoring the complexity and multifaceted nature of CSA implementation. The 19 papers in this special issue collectively emphasize the importance of understanding local conditions, farmer characteristics, and broader socioeconomic and institutional factors that influence CSA adoption. They highlight the crucial role of extension services, digital advisory services, social responsibility awareness, and diverse forms of capital in facilitating the adoption of CSA practices. Moreover, the findings stress the positive impact of CSA on farm productivity, income diversification, and resilience to climate change while also pointing out the potential for CSA practices to address broader sustainability goals.

Significantly, the discussions underline the need for policy frameworks that are supportive and adaptive, tailored to specific regional and local contexts to promote CSA adoption effectively. Leveraging social networks, enhancing access to financial products and mechanisms, and integrating technological innovations with traditional agricultural practices are vital strategies for scaling CSA adoption. Furthermore, the discussions advocate for a balanced approach that combines economic incentives with moral persuasion and community engagement to foster sustainable agricultural practices.

These comprehensive insights call for concerted efforts from policymakers, researchers, extension agents, and the agricultural community to foster an enabling environment for CSA. Such an environment would support knowledge exchange, financial accessibility, and the adoption of CSA practices that contribute to the resilience and sustainability of agricultural systems in the face of climate change. As CSA continues to evolve, future research should focus on addressing the gaps identified, exploring innovative financing and technology dissemination models, and assessing the long-term impacts of CSA practices on agricultural sustainability and food security. This special issue lays the groundwork for further exploration and implementation of CSA practices, aiming to achieve resilient, productive, and sustainable agricultural systems worldwide and contribute to the achievements of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Data availability

No new data were created or analyzed during this study. Data sharing is not applicable to this article.

The conference agenda, biographies of the speakers, and conference recordings are available at the ADBI website: https://www.adb.org/news/events/climate-smart-agriculture-adoption-impacts-and-implications-for-sustainable-development .

Profile of Prof. Edward B. Barbie: http://www.edwardbbarbier.com/ .

Google Scholar of Prof. Tatsuyoshi Saijo: https://scholar.google.co.nz/citations?user=ju72inUAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao .

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Acknowledgements

We want to thank all the authors who have submitted papers for the special issue and the reviewers who reviewed manuscripts on time. We acknowledge the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) for supporting the virtual international conference on “ Climate-smart Agriculture: Adoption, Impacts, and Implications for Sustainable Development ” held on 10-11 October 2023. Special thanks to the invited keynote speakers, Prof. Edward Barbier and Prof. Tatsuyoshi Saijo. Finally, we would like to express our thanks, gratitude, and appreciation to the session chairs (Prof. Anita Wreford, Prof. Jianjun Tang, Prof. Alan Renwick, and Assoc. Prof. Sukanya Das), ADBI supporting team (Panharoth Chhay, Mami Nomoto, Mami Yoshida, and Raja Rajendra Timilsina), and discussants who made substantial contributions to the conference.

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Department of Global Value Chains and Trade, Faculty of Agribusiness and Commerce, Lincoln University, Christchurch, New Zealand

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Dil Bahadur Rahut

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Ma, W., Rahut, D.B. Climate-smart agriculture: adoption, impacts, and implications for sustainable development. Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change 29 , 44 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-024-10139-z

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The Issue of Ethics and Poverty Essay

Medical professionals working in the field of healthcare face various ethical dilemmas on a regular basis. One of the sources of such dilemmas is poverty among patients. A particular scenario of an ethical problem related to a patient in a state of poverty is the case of a patient suffering from a phobia. According to the doctor’s assessment, the best treatment for this person would be exposure therapy, and other kinds of treatment would not be sufficient for their case. However, this person lives far away from the establishments that could provide this kind of treatment. The patient cannot move or temporarily relocate closer to these facilities since their already insufficient income depends on them remaining in the original area.

This situation can be resolved in three distinctive ways, depending on the ethics code. First, prescribe exposure therapy as the most efficient measure. Second, prescribe a less effective therapy method as a result of consideration for their financial situation. Third, seek additional methods to resolve the issue, such as new medical technologies and crowdfunding. Ethics of rights would call for the patient to decide which way needed to be applied since it is their right to have freedom of opinion and expression. Care ethics would call for a search for a new solution that would allow the patient to both receive the necessary treatment and not disbalance their financial status (Rachels, 2003). Such a solution might come in the form of VR technology, which allows to virtually undertake the necessary, in this case, therapy measures. The costs of VR sets are not low; therefore, this method would require the social technology of crowdfunding.

The proposed solution might not be particularly practical since it would rely on garnering support from people, most likely strangers. Another way this solution is flawed is the matter of the patient’s consent. Many people have a bias against crowdfunding and asking for financial help since it reveals their vulnerability. For example, people who crowdfunded their fight with cancer described the experience as profoundly shameful (Ghazal et al., 2022). The ethics of rights is not a perfect strategy since the patient can easily opt for a solution that would hinder their recovery.

When employing new healthcare technologies, medical professionals should be wary of the ethical guidelines that are linked with the use of these devices. As the matter of this case deals with mental health, it is essential that it is approached with the utmost caution. There are certain issues that are connected with the employment of VR in the medical field. First, there is the matter of privacy, as due to possible hacking or malware, the patient’s data could be stolen. Second, certain malicious programs could disrupt the treatment process.

The ethical form of conduct with VR technology in healthcare is to explain in explicit detail to the patient the possible dangers of this device. Given the beneficial effects of this technological advancement, it should be allowed despite the adversities the patient might face from it. If the ethics of social contract were applied to this particular technology, they would stipulate that VR should be allowed for broad medical use if it is employed with specific protection measures. Social contract ethics rely on the foundation of mutual security and protection. This set of ethics implies an exchange between the government and its citizens (Rachels, 2003). Therefore, social contract ethics would demand placing this technology under the protection of governmental forces, although it might mean sacrificing certain privileges and rights, for example, privacy.

When employing crowdfunding, certain ethical guidelines need to be followed as well. In light of the continuous rise of crowdfunding campaigns, both for medical and business purposes, several prominent issues have been established. In the medical aspect, these issues are transparency regarding the donated funds, legitimization of the system’s failure to support those in need, and privacy invasion (Shneor, R., & Torjesen, 2020). In order to avoid or minimize these problems, specific guidelines should be imposed. Social contract ethics would require the government’s involvement in the matter of crowdfunding. First, it would call for the establishment of certain audits that would approve or deny applications based on their legitimacy. Second, they would have to provide appropriate rules that would ensure that the applicant does not disclose sensitive or unnecessary information. Third, these establishments would check the funds’ distribution post money received and be responsible for bringing the acts of policy infringements to the appropriate authorities’ attention. Fourth, the facilities would need to ensure that government agencies that could help the applicant’s case are mentioned during the application process to potentially redirect them toward more authorized sources.

In conclusion, the issue of healthcare and poverty is a serious one and requires a thorough understanding of several key components of ethics. Depending on the employed set of ethics, various solutions might present themselves in the case of inevitable moral dilemmas linked with a medical professional’s responsibilities. Therefore, when considering the appropriate ethical guideline, one has to review its benefits and potential detrimental outcomes.

Ghazal, L. V., Watson, S. E., Gentry, B., & Santacroce, S. J. (2022). “Both a life saver and totally shameful”: young adult cancer survivors’ perceptions of medical crowdfunding. Journal of Cancer Survivorship , 1–10.

Rachels, J. (2003). The elements of moral philosophy. 4th ed. McGraw Hill Higher Education.

Shneor, R., & Torjesen, S. (2020). Ethical considerations in crowdfunding. In R. Shneor, L. Zhao, & B.T. Flåten (Eds.), Advances in crowdfunding (pp. 161–182). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

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IvyPanda . 2024. "The Issue of Ethics and Poverty." May 8, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-issue-of-ethics-and-poverty/.

1. IvyPanda . "The Issue of Ethics and Poverty." May 8, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-issue-of-ethics-and-poverty/.

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IvyPanda . "The Issue of Ethics and Poverty." May 8, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-issue-of-ethics-and-poverty/.

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