The Reality Of Poverty In Africa

Poverty is one of the greatest problems in Africa today. Many cities have large shanty town areas filled with wretchedly poor people who lack many of the essentials basic to human life. Urban areas are overcrowded with homeless and displaced people, war refugees, handicapped people,  beggars and abandoned street children. It is a situation that easily leads to despair in the hearts of even the most zealous crusaders for human needs. Can anything be done? What kind of perspective is needed to deal with such an overwhelming and depressing situation?

In his book, Hope for Africa, Kenyan Professor George Kinoti reports: “One out of every three Africans does not get enough to eat. A study covering the period 1988-1990 showed that some 168 million Africans were victims of chronic hunger. This was an increase of 40 million people in just one decade. Tens of millions of African children suffer from malnutrition, which means retarded physical and mental development, disease, disability and death”.

Kinoti goes on to point out that, ‘two thirds of the poorest 40 nations in the world are African, as are eight of the poorest 10 nations.’ There is a direct relationship between poverty and poor health. Kinoti observes, ‘poverty means disease. Disease means pain, inability to work and death.

There are already serious problems with poor health in Africa due to tropical disease and parasites such as bilharzias, malaria, hepatitis, dysentery and other things. Poverty and the poor nutrition usually lead to illness. God has created a natural immune system in the human body which can fight off many diseases, but this system only works properly when the body gets enough food and nutrition. Hence,  proper food is one of the most urgent physical needs of modern Africa.

It can also be said that poverty is directly related to crime. If people do not have enough to eat, they steal to survive. When people become desperate for food and other necessities, they will steal and even kill to get what they need. The great increase in crime in many African countries today, especially in the cities, is directly related to the problems of unemployment and poverty. If solutions to the problems of unemployment and poverty are not found, the problems of crime, suffering and poor health will increase at an alarming rate in the next few years.

What can anyone do in the face of such an overwhelming and discouraging situation as this? The answer is that no human being can solve or even understand such a great problem. Only God understands. But God also has the knowledge and wisdom needed to help his people do something about it.

Some people feel there is so much poverty in Africa that the situation is hopeless. That viewpoint shows a failure to understand the power of God or how God keeps his word throughout history, regardless of the time or place. God is not limited by geography, culture or difficult situations. His character and power do not change from one time in history to another. His promises do not depend on the country in which a person lives. He is not limited by conditions of extreme poverty.

From a strictly human perspective, however, it is very easy to be overwhelmed with a feeling of hopelessness in the face of great poverty. It is not being suggested that the problem of poverty can be overcome by the Church. Jesus said there would always be poor people(Mt. 26:11). However, he also said there was something Christians could do for individuals even in the most extreme situations (Mt. 19:21).

The Bible teaches that even in the midst of seemingly hopeless situations, the love of God can be expressed through God’s people in such a way that the hopeless are given hope and those who have given up on life can be given something to live for.

One of the secrets of being able to do something about a hopeless situation is to work on one small part of the problem at a time rather than trying to solve the whole problem. Putting this into everyday terms, it means helping just one person or a few people at a time instead of worrying about poverty in the whole nation. If many people become involved in helping just one or two people at a time, the sum of all their efforts will make a very significant difference.

Akpogena, A Christian devotional writer.

Lewis Akpogena