Introduction to Sociology

Supplemental Section - Addressing Poverty

READ below to learn about one popular solution for alleviating poverty.

Sociologists not only examine the root causes of the socio-economic conditions of those in poverty, they also propose and consider a range of solutions. Since absolute poverty is a situation in which one barely manages to secure food and shelter, we can see that even a small increase in basic resources can have a decisive positive effect, but what programs are most effective?
While emergency aid can address absolute poverty that has advanced to the point of desperation, what happens after this initial distribution of help? Does the cycle of suffering and emergency assistance continue indefinitely? Or is there a way to enact changes that provide for a more durable, long-range, and potentially self-sustaining solution? 
See if you can guess one of the most successful solutions mentioned below:
Slide 2
On much of the African continent, many individuals live in absolute poverty and barely manage to maintain the minimal food and shelter requirements for survival. At this level of day-to-day subsistence, even a small increase in personal resources, for example enough money to buy raw materials to make salable items, or a bag of seeds, or a bicycle to transport one's items to a market, can enable an individual to be self-supporting beyond the initial disbursement of funds.
This type of potentially sustainable investment in basic individual entrepreneurship is called 

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  Microfinance
  
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  Macrofinance
  
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  Emergency food aid
  
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  Austerity policy
  

Slide 3
Microfinance consists of financial services, such as microcredit, small loans, or providing insurance or payment systems to those who need it. Microfinance services are designed to reach excluded customers, usually poorer population segments, possibly socially marginalized, or geographically more isolated, and to help them become self-sufficient. Ideally, microfinance is self-perpetuating in that it enables the recipient to become an entrepreneur.