Out of Poverty

Dhaki Wako Baneta knows what it’s like to struggle to survive. The 26-year-old mother of four (right) lives in a rural Ethiopian village where many people lack running water, access to electricity, and economic opportunities. For years, she’d wake up at 6 in the morning, milk her cows, and walk two hours along dusty roads to town to try to sell the milk. Most days, she’d spend hours in the scorching heat without making a single sale.   

But Baneta’s life has recently started to improve. A few years ago, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) introduced her to a store owner in town who agreed to buy her milk (as well as milk that Baneta collects from her neighbors) on a daily basis. Now she has a regular ­customer—and a steady income. She no longer worries about being unable to feed her children or pay for medicine, and she can spend more time with her family. 

Baneta plans to eventually use her savings to open a small store in town that sells sugar, oil, and salt. And she wants to teach other women how to start businesses of their own. 

“My life is changing,” she says. “I am a focal person in my community.”

Stories like Baneta’s have become increasingly common in recent years. Worldwide, more people are pulling themselves out of extreme poverty than ever before. (Extreme poverty is defined as living on less than $1.90 a day—often without basic necessities like food, clothing, and ­shelter.) According to the World Bank, the number of people living in extreme poverty has dropped by more than half in the past 25 years. In 1990, an estimated 1.9 billion people lived in extreme poverty. Today, about 700 million do.  

Dhaki Wako Baneta knows what it is like to struggle to survive. The 26-year-old mother of four (right) lives in a rural Ethiopian village. Many people there lack running water, access to electricity, and economic opportunities. For years, she woke up at 6 in the morning and milked her cows. Then she walked two hours along dusty roads to town to try to sell the milk. Most days, she spent hours in the scorching heat without making a single sale.

But Baneta’s life has recently started to improve. A few years ago, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) introduced her to a store owner in town. He agreed to buy her milk, plus milk that Baneta collects from her neighbors, on a daily basis. Now she has a regular ­customer and a steady income. She no longer worries about being unable to feed her children or pay for medicine. She can also spend more time with her family.

Baneta plans to eventually use her savings to open a small store in town. She hopes to sell sugar, oil, and salt. She also wants to teach other women how to start businesses of their own.

“My life is changing,” she says. “I am a focal person in my community.”

Stories like Baneta’s have become increasingly common in recent years. Worldwide, more people are pulling themselves out of extreme poverty than ever before. (Extreme poverty is defined as living on less than $1.90 a day. Often, that is without basic necessities like food, clothing, and ­shelter.) According to the World Bank, the number of people ­living in extreme poverty has dropped by more than half in the past 25 years. In 1990, an estimated 1.9 billion people lived in extreme poverty. Today, about 700 million do.

“What we’ve seen in the last two decades has been remarkable,” says Aaron Roesch of USAID. “Never before have so many people been lifted out of poverty in such a short period of time.”

Experts say that much of the growth can be attributed to rising economies around the world and huge advancements in technology and medicine. In recent years, governments, humanitarian groups, private companies, and the United Nations (U.N.) have also increased investments in education, health care, and infrastructure—roads, bridges, sewer systems, and electrical grids. Such projects help fuel economic growth and improve people’s quality of life. 

Now world leaders are working toward an ambitious goal: to eliminate extreme poverty altogether by 2030. The aim is one of the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a series of 17 targets set last fall that are meant to improve the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people. Other goals include ending hunger and ensuring gender equality. (See “Global Goals,” below.)

Jim Yong Kim, the president of the World Bank, is confident that eradicating extreme poverty in the next 14 years is within reach. But, he says, the key to the world’s success lies in growing the economies of ­developing nations in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Those regions are home to 75 percent of the world’s poorest people. (See map below.)

Still, the progress that’s been made in the past few years has Kim optimistic: “We are the first generation in human history that can end extreme poverty.”  

“What we’ve seen in the last two decades has been remarkable,” says Aaron Roesch of USAID. “Never before have so many people been lifted out of poverty in such a short period of time.”

Experts say that much of the growth can be explained by rising economies around the world and huge advancements in technology and medicine. In recent years, governments, humanitarian groups, private companies, and the United Nations (U.N.) have also increased investments in education, health care, and infrastructure (roads, bridges, sewer systems, and electrical grids). Such projects help fuel economic growth and improve people’s quality of life.

Now world leaders are working toward an ambitious goal. They want to eliminate extreme poverty ­altogether by 2030. That aim is one of the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a series of 17 targets set last fall that are meant to improve the lives of the world’s most easily harmed people. Other goals include ending hunger and ensuring gender equality. (See “Global Goals,” below.)

Jim Yong Kim is the president of the World Bank. He is confident that wiping out extreme poverty in the next 14 years is within reach. But, he says, the key to the world’s success lies in growing the economies of ­developing nations in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Those regions are home to 75 percent of the world’s poorest people. (See map, below.)

Still, the progress that has been made in the past few years has Kim optimistic: “We are the first generation in human history that can end extreme poverty.” 

In other parts of the world, tremendous progress has been made, because of humanitarian groups and the U.N., which are bringing lifesaving medications to poor communities. Improved health care and vaccines mean that today deadly diseases like polio and measles are ­finally on their way out, the spread of malaria has been brought under control in many countries, and the number of HIV/AIDS cases is receding around the globe. Such changes help slash extreme poverty rates by creating a healthy, productive workforce. 

Increased access to affordable technology is making a difference as well. In Africa, governments, aid organizations, and private companies are working together to finance electrical grids and telecommunications systems. A recent Pew Research Center poll found that 90 percent of people in Nigeria, a poor country with a rising economy, now own cell phones—about the same proportion as in the United States. In poor nations such as Ghana, phones are helping farmers and fishermen get weather reports, sell their goods to people in other towns, and learn new skills. In Kenya and Uganda, mobile banking is helping the poor manage their money better.

Around the world, reliable electricity and light bulbs are positively influencing the lives of people like Teresia Olotai, a mother of six in rural Tanzania. For years, her children had to do their homework by candlelight or kerosene lamp, which put their hut at risk of burning down. But in 2013, Olotai’s town was connected to the energy grid as part of a USAID project called Power Africa. Now her children can safely study at night. 

“The greatest challenge we faced . . . was the darkness in our houses,” Olotai says. “The life of my kids will be better because of the electricity.” 

In other parts of the world, immense progress has been made because humanitarian groups and the U.N. are ­taking lifesaving medications to poor communities. Improved health care and vaccines mean that deadly ­diseases like polio and measles are ­finally on their way out. The spread of malaria has been brought under control in many countries, and there are fewer cases of HIV/AIDS worldwide. Such changes help slash extreme poverty rates by creating a healthy, productive workforce.

Increased access to affordable technology is making a difference as well. In Africa, governments, aid organizations, and private companies are working together to provide money for electrical grids and telecommunications systems. Nigeria is a poor country with a rising economy. A recent Pew Research Center poll found that 90 percent of the people there now own cell phones. That is about the same proportion as in the United States. In poor nations such as Ghana, phones are helping farmers and fishermen get weather reports, sell their goods to people in other towns, and learn new skills. In Kenya and Uganda, mobile banking is helping poor people manage their money better.

Around the world, reliable electricity and light bulbs are helping improve the lives of people like Teresia Olotai, a mother of six in rural Tanzania. For years, her children had to do their homework by candlelight or kerosene lamp. That put their hut at risk of burning down. But in 2013, Olotai’s town was connected to the energy grid as part of a USAID project called Power Africa. Now her children can safely study at night.

“The greatest challenge we faced . . . was the darkness in our houses,” Olotai says. “The life of my kids will be better because of the electricity.”