In Chapter 2 of Poor Economics,
the authors argue that the reason poor people are hungry and malnourished in
developing countries is not because of a scarcity of food but a consequence of
certain decisions the poor make with regard to their income. They see the
problem as not a lack of food but more a lack of proper nutrition. They believe that an increase in the poor’s
income will not change their eating habits. However, proper changes in
government policy, such as investment in pregnant mothers and children, could
increase their income and health in the long run.
The hunger-based poverty trap is a cycle of poverty caused by hunger
and malnutrition. Because the poor
in developing countries do not have enough money to purchase food they do not
get the nutrition and energy that is required to be productive at work. By not having sufficient energy to
supply labor they cannot increase their incomes. The authors used statistics to show that the reason for
hunger and malnutrition may not be because of the poverty trap. They use statistics that argue that if
the poor were to choose to spend their limited money on better quality food with
higher nutritional value rather than spending it on better tasting food that is of poor
nutritional value they could escape the poverty trap. They also use statistics to show that real incomes are
increasing and food prices are decreasing and that there is no scarcity of food
in the world today. They compare
the affect of calorie consumption and productivity in labor and find that there
is not a large increase in income when people consume more calories. They also statistically show that poor
people choose to allocate their income for other goods instead of nutritious food.
I believe that some portion of the poor in developing countries act in
the ways that the authors described. However, I also believe that there are a lot of poor people who are
stuck in the poverty trap because of limited education, limited opportunities,
limited talents and rigid social and cultural structures . Though nutrition is probably an
important factor, just because there is enough nutritious food to feed
everybody in the world that could give the poor additional energy does not mean that every
person in the world will be productive in society.
