Individual assignment: Article on poverty

Anthony Kalulu is a Ugandan farmer fighting against poverty. In the article

“I have seen how top-down solutions condemn the world’s poorest to eternal poverty”,
published in the Guardian (1-13-2023), he tells his story and experience of poverty, alongside
with what he believes to be the solution.

Claiming that the world is already spending enough resources to fight poverty, Anthony says
the main problem is the money is being spent badly. He argues that the west’s current view
on fighting poverty is flawed from within, criticizing global aid and humanitarian assistance
for being ineffective, and never reaching its intended purpose, referring to a 2021 Ubos
report.

According to the article, waiting for a visit from the global development sector is the only
way to escape poverty, for those living in extremely impoverished communities such as
Kalulu’s own Namisita. He states that since the development sector operates at an arm’s
length from the poor, it’s a near impossibility to get their aid on poor people-led solutions.

Describing how the global north has been conditioned into suspecting direct aid to poor
communities, he exemplifies this with the fact that large media such as Forbes ill-advised
sending donations to foreign accounts. This mindset is a contributing factor in condemning
people to eternal poverty, he claims, and points to international media and the global
development sector as being at fault.

Kalulu concludes that the top-down approach to ending poverty is doomed to fail, and that
the global north must see over its worldview and methods for fighting global poverty. To
sum up he claims that the world must put the ultra-poor first and in charge over their own
destiny.

Personal response:
In large, I agree with Kalulu with his approach to ending poverty. I share the perception that
the global north not adequately spends its resources on ending poverty but instead profits
from it. Grass root movements against poverty are always more likely to successfully
represent the movement’s interests.

However, I deem the problem to be larger than the lack of direct aid to poor communities. I
believe that more direct economic policy and fair loans for infrastructure projects and social
development is needed. The west also must stop, effectively, exploiting the global north for
resources such as metals but also food products. Here, large political movements are needed
for global south emancipation.
Response:
a) Yes, there is a clear and complete source reference
b) The text is easy to understand without the context of reading the original article
c) It’s easy to differentiate the opinions by design since the text is split into a summary and
personal response part
d) In the text you can find reporting verbs such as Claiming, according to, he tells, concludes
etc
e)The writer has followed the instructions from blueprint
f) maybe a bit more general at times in the summary, the summary mostly focuses on
concrete examples which is good but it would be nice to get a better overview
g) I learnt about how we must change our way of trying to solve poverty by working from the
ground instead of from a top-down approach

My comment:
I agree with the criticism. I’ve learned that I shouldn’t always avoid being general in texts,
since that kind of perspective also helps to understand the concrete examples.