CAUSES OF POVERTY IN AFGHANISTAN

SOCIAL/DEMOGRAPHIC
1. Lack of education - low skilled, illiterate population (28%) so can't get jobs and get out of poverty
2. Youthful population - more U16 than adults so little money to feed them and look after them.
3. War/Conflict - 35 years of conflict which has been financed more than services so people are stuck in temporary homes with no schooling/jobs.
ECONOMIC
1. Lack of jobs - the majority aren't earning so can make a living or pay taxes to improve services
2. Opium - they produce 90% of world's opium (makes up 1/3 of Afghanistan's economy) but the money is not used to improve the poverty situation
3. Foreign aid - no loans/immigrants coming into the country due to the state of conflict so poverty remains huge
POLITICAL
1. Corruption in government - money from heroin production is intercepted and a minority become rich, whilst the majority remain extremely poor
2. Loss of control - some rural areas aren't in control of the government and cant benefit from any changes to quality of life.
3. Warlords/Taliban - they control small areas of Afghan and steeply tax civilians as well as control the wealth of the territory. Ordinary people are stuck in poverty
ENVIRONMENTAL
1. Poor quality land - arid land which can't be used to grow crops so many struggle to make food and can't sell surplus crops
2. Deforestation - refugees, especially, cut down trees to use for firewood/building which means there's no wood to build better homes or sell as timber

Resource summary

	Created by s30686 about 11 years ago