Poverty is basically a rural problem in Asia.
Rural poverty is practically nonexistent in the European Union (EU) and in Northern Europe but it is a growing threat to people in rural areas in Eastern Europe and parts of Southern Europe.

Why more asians are poorer than europeans?

[b]Why? Let us know your thoughts about this?




http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/english/regions/asia/index.htm http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/english/regions/europe/

Articles declare:
Almost two thirds of the world's population lives in Asia. Some 4 billion people are scattered throughout rural areas or crowded into towns and cities on a land area of almost 45 million km2, roughly 17 per cent of the world’s surface. The region has a highly varied range of climatic and agro-ecological zones. Large areas have been affected by degradation over the past 50 years. Drier areas are particularly vulnerable, and 39 per cent of the region’s population lives in areas prone to drought and desertification.



Despite wide-ranging diversities in the region, many poor rural people in Asia share a number of economic, demographic and social characteristics, the most common of which is landlessness or limited access to land. Poor rural households tend to have larger families, less education and higher underemployment. They also lack basic amenities such as a safe water supply, sanitation and electricity. Their access to credit, equipment and technology is severely limited. Other constraints – including the lack of market information, business and negotiating experience and collective organizations – deprive them of the power to compete on equal terms in the marketplace.


Why???




<br><br>Post edited by: linsi, at: 2007/05/03 19:46

Dear Linsi

I think that in Europe the peasants are helped. Half of the E.U. budget is for assisting rural people.

In Asia, the rural people are not the ones who provide the richess of the country. So the goverments don't take care of them, except in democacies where they are a majority for electing polical forces. For instance in Thailand where Thaksin played the rural electorate, giving them a lot advantages.

Dear Linsi

I think that in Europe the peasants are helped. Half of the E.U. budget is for assisting rural people.

In Asia, the rural people are not the ones who provide the richess of the country. So the goverments don't take care of them, except in democacies where they are a majority for electing polical forces. For instance in Thailand where Thaksin played the rural electorate, giving them a lot advantages.

hi jacques,

let me re-post a portion of john's submitted article
about rural india's seeds of despair

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The story of India today is one of great expectations, as soaring economic growth lifts tens of millions of people out of poverty and swells the ranks of the middle class. But India's progress has also brought sorrow to many farmers and rural workers, who still make up two-thirds of the country's workforce. The income disparity in the new India is massive: there are now 36 billionaires in India—and some 800 million people living on less than $2 a day. In the most desperate pockets of rural India, a confluence of factors, from poor rainfall to the new availability of consumer goods, has driven some farmers into crushing debt. The financial hardships are so extreme that thousands, including Pravin, commit suicide every year. Far from benefiting from the country's new prosperity, whole villages of India's rural poor are being left adrift, eager to join in the boom but unable to afford it.

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i also think that is one of the problems of Asia,
I also think that the size matters in a way. Europe
is a conglomerate of small nations.That is one of the reasons why Europe as a continent fares well. Small nations are easier to maintain.example in Asia is Singapore and Hong Kong. I need some thoughts here, what else? religion? where women are kept inside the house as plain housewives as what is happening to rural india? instead of working to help in the family's finances as basically a trend in europe? <br><br>Post edited by: linsi, at: 2007/05/20 05:58

Hi Linsy,

I already read with attention the test posted by John. I agree with that EU countries are small, but they are also industrialized for a long time.

So long countries are mainly agricultural they will be poor. It the case of many countries in Asia : India, China...

So long countries are mainly agricultural they will be poor. I






is that so?

Yes, because The second sector (industry), and mainly the third one (services) provide a lot of money.

Jacques wrote:

QUOTE:
Yes, because The second sector (industry), and mainly the third one (services) provide a lot of money.

i remembered one of my articles about coffee, from the coffee farm to the consumers and coffee houses, those in the farm are paid scantily,while retailers and whole salers gets the big bulk of the money.

so unless asia gets to be highly industrialized then it won't get a lot of money? or there is also a great factor, the government and the people(tradition, religion etc)themselves?