Assess the effects on the poverty cycle in Botswana (8marks)

The poverty cycle is where living in poverty makes it difficult for you to get away poverty in the long–run. As a result of Botswana being an LEDC, the country does not have access to a Welfare state which people can obtain benefits which assure that they obtain a minimum standard of living- for example: access to free medical care, health education, and unemployment benefits e.t.c.

The causes of Botswana being faced with the poverty cycle is because of the low salary rate. This factor has a “domino” effect, which leads onto low productivity levels. In addition, poor infrastructure effects the low levels of productivity as goods cannot be transported with ease – which could be the reason why Botswana has very low GDP. There are many more causes such as the lack of skills as well as technology there is and disease such as malaria for example.

However, the government of Botswana could help the low levels of productivity. They could do this by putting in place an on going education system which will allow families who send their children off to work at a young age, to bring back a decent wage which they can live on comfortably. By putting in place this on going education system, it will solve many causes for example, the lack of skills. The education system could teach classes which will give children the basic skills to work, consequently meaning that by people being taught the basic skills they need to work, the levels of output would go up, increasing the level of GDP made in a specific period of time. Furthermore, classes could be put in place on disease and how to prevent/overcome diseases like malaria, AIDS – just like developed countries like the UK do.

To conclude, one of the main causes of the poverty cycle is the poor government. The government could solve many factors which contribute to the poverty cycle existing by making sure that an ongoing education system was taking place. By doing this, most of the causes such as the low levels of productivity, secondly the lack of skills & technology, as well as the disease rate. The government could tackle the rest of the causes by the levels of GDP the country would make after this happening.