What is Poverty?

Abungamuri is a wealthy man. He is head of his 30-member family and lives in a mud compound about 25 km from the closest town, Navrongo. He has at least three wives and his sons also have multiple wives. He has a heap load of cows, land, crops and family. But he, and all the members of his household, live on less than $1 per day – the definition of extreme poverty.

Michael is also a wealthy man. He lives in the town of Paga and has a full gym, flat screen TV, rocking stereo system, countless movies, etc. He works for the Ghanaian government installing water towers, is unmarried, and has a level of disposable income that is rarely found in Ghana. However, his home is a single concrete room, with one small barred window, no running water, a shared shower and latrine, and flaking green wall paint.

So why do I call these men wealthy? And what is poverty anyway?

They are wealthy because both Michael and Abungamuri chose their lifestyles and are being adequately compensated for work they enjoy and excel at.

Now I’ve only been here two weeks, but so far it seems there are only two ways to be rich in Ghana: 1. You’re VERY hard working and really good at farming; or 2. You are fortunate to be born into a family with connections and/or money for post secondary education and you are smart enough to get one of the few high paying jobs.

So what about everyone else? Imagine for a minute that you only have those two options open to you. What if you wanted to be an architect, start your own company, or become a chef? Sorry, you’re a farmer.

Doing something you don’t really want to, that doesn’t pay all that well, so that you can keep you and your family fed, clothed and educated: that is a lack of opportunity; that is poverty.

Here is where you ask me “But Ashley, what can I do to help Africans rise out of poverty?” Well, I definitely don’t have a full answer for you, and I might come up with something completely different tomorrow but here is what I’m thinking right now.

Do you work at a company that has overseas operations?

If the answer is yes, I think the single greatest thing you can do is have your company hire locals. And you say “But we already DO hire locals.” Well then take it one step further and have the entire overseas operation run by locals: CEOs, managers, labourers, financial analysts, everything. Give the folks overseas more opportunities for entrepreneurship and varied employment.

If the answer is no, well, I haven’t figured that out yet. I’ll get back to you.

P.S. Feel free to comment!