Cycle of Poverty

by Maria Karlya

According to Sangoras George, the Environment Agent for Logobou Province, there is a continual cycle of poverty due to the recent recognition of the cash crop cotton. Because of already existing poverty, farmers have made cotton their priority crop, while staple crops that the community depends on for food have received considerably less cultivation. As a result of the increase in cotton, illiterate farmers are unaware that the pesticides they are using are extremely harmful to the land, wildlife and health of the people. If the cotton crops are not successful this year, the people of Burkina Faso will inevitably be left with little money, little food, and a severely damaged environment.