Poverty

==== Improving technology ====
[[File:Spraying Oilseed Rape near Barton Grange - geograph.org.uk - 1842382.jpg|thumb|Spreading [[fertilizer]] on a field of [[rapeseed]] near [[Barton-upon-Humber]], England]]

Agricultural technologies such as [[nitrogen fertilizer]]s, pesticides, new seed varieties and new irrigation methods have dramatically reduced food shortages in modern times by boosting yields past previous constraints.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97jan/borlaug/borlaug.htm |title=Forgotten benefactor of humanity |publisher=Theatlantic.com |access-date=24 October 2010 |date=January 1997 |archive-date=4 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104005841/http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97jan/borlaug/borlaug.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Before the [[Industrial Revolution]], poverty had been mostly accepted as inevitable as economies produced little, making wealth scarce.<ref name=britannica>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/473136/poverty|title=Poverty (sociology)|publisher=britannica.com|access-date=24 October 2010|archive-date=15 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100315150947/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/473136/poverty|url-status=live}}</ref> Geoffrey Parker wrote that "In [[Antwerp]] and [[Lyon]], two of the largest cities in [[western Europe]], by 1600 three-quarters of the total population were too poor to pay taxes, and therefore likely to need relief in times of crisis."<ref>[[Geoffrey Parker (historian)|Geoffrey Parker]] (2001). "''[https://books.google.com/books?id=qy8y8rHgucoC&pg=PA11 Europe in crisis, 1598–1648] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160519014755/https://books.google.com/books?id=qy8y8rHgucoC&pg=PA11&dq&hl=en |date=19 May 2016 }}''". Wiley–Blackwell. p. 11. {{ISBN|978-0-631-22028-2}}</ref> The initial industrial revolution led to high economic growth and eliminated mass absolute poverty in what is now considered the developed world.<ref name=Britannica>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/243118/Great-Depression Great Depression] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150509121741/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/243118/Great-Depression |date=9 May 2015 }}, Encyclopædia Britannica</ref> [[Mass production]] of goods in places such as rapidly industrializing China has made what were once considered luxuries, such as vehicles and computers, inexpensive and thus accessible to many who were otherwise too poor to afford them.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/27/world/asia/27laos.html|title=In Laos, Chinese motorcycles change lives|work=The New York Times|access-date=27 May 2011|first=Thomas|last=Fuller|date=27 December 2007|archive-date=9 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130409105223/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/27/world/asia/27laos.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0625/p12s01-woaf.html?page=2 |title=China boosts African economies, offering a second opportunity |journal=Christian Science Monitor |date=25 June 2007 |access-date=24 October 2010 |archive-date=12 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512071516/http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0625/p12s01-woaf.html?page=2 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Other than technology, advancements in sciences such as medicine help provide basic needs better. For example, [[Sri Lanka]] had a [[maternal mortality rate]] of 2% in the 1930s, higher than any nation today, but reduced it to 0.5–0.6% in the 1950s and to 0.6% in 2006 while spending less each year on [[maternal health]] because it learned what worked and what did not.<ref name="Disease Control Priorities Project">{{cite web|url=http://www.dcp2.org/main/Home.html|title=Disease Control Priorities Project|publisher=dcp2.org|access-date=21 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110623001000/http://www.dcp2.org/main/Home.html|archive-date=23 June 2011}}</ref><ref name=post>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/02/AR2006040200813.html|title=Saving millions for just a few dollars|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=3 April 2006|access-date=21 June 2011|first=David|last=Brown|archive-date=20 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110620195857/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/02/AR2006040200813.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Knowledge on the cost effectiveness of healthcare interventions can be elusive and educational measures have been made to disseminate what works, such as the [[Copenhagen Consensus]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Prabhat|first=Jha|title=Benefits and costs of the health targets for the post-2015 development agenda|url=http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/publication/post-2015-consensus-health-assessment-jha-et-al|website=copenhageconsensus.com|publisher=Copenhagen Consensus Center|access-date=10 November 2016|archive-date=11 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161111000019/http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/publication/post-2015-consensus-health-assessment-jha-et-al|url-status=live}}</ref> Cheap [[water filter]]s and promoting hand washing are some of the most cost effective health interventions and can cut [[child mortality|deaths]] from [[diarrhea]] and [[pneumonia]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8399692.stm|title=India's Tata launches water filter for rural poor|work=BBC News|date=7 December 2009|access-date=21 June 2011|archive-date=18 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718134728/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8399692.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7670855.stm|title=Millions mark UN hand-washing day|work=BBC News|date=15 October 2008|access-date=21 June 2011|archive-date=9 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009215006/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7670855.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Food fortification|Fortification]] with [[micronutrient]]s was ranked the most cost effective aid strategy by the Copenhagen Consensus.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/opinion/04kristof.html?_r=0|title=Raising the World's I.Q.|newspaper=New York Times|date=4 December 2008|access-date=5 January 2016|archive-date=17 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160717055221/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/opinion/04kristof.html?_r=0|url-status=live}}</ref> For example, [[iodised salt]] costs 2 to 3 cents per person a year while even moderate [[iodine deficiency]] in pregnancy shaves off 10 to 15 [[Intelligence quotient|IQ]] points.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/16/health/16iodine.html?ref=todayspaper|title=In Raising the World's I.Q., the Secret's in the Salt|work=The New York Times|date=16 December 2006|access-date=5 January 2016|archive-date=17 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160717055236/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/16/health/16iodine.html?ref=todayspaper|url-status=live}}</ref>