许多组织都研究过贫困的一般成因，其中包括资源匮乏、当地气候条件以及缺乏民主等因素。社会学家和智库对于成因通常没有共识。然而，一种占主导地位的观点认为，只有推行资本主义及其自由市场才是解决之道。仅粗略地看一看，不只是穆斯林世界，整个第三世界的情况都表明，当今世界贫困的形成，主要是由少数几个因素造成的，而并非粮食短缺。

Numerous organisations have researched into the general causes of poverty which range from the lack of resources to the nature of the local climate to the lack of democracy. There is generally no consensus on the causes by sociologists and think tanks. However, a dominant idea that exists is that only the diffusion of capitalism with its free markets is the cure. A cursory glance at not just the Muslim world but the third world in general shows a handful of factors have played a large part in contributing to the poverty in the world today rather than the shortage of food.

国际货币基金组织和世界银行及其声名狼藉的结构调整政策，在巴基斯坦、土耳其、印度尼西亚、孟加拉国和埃及等国家，直接加剧了一些深层的经济问题。这些机构提出的普遍解决方案，是通过贸易摆脱贫困。它们迫使这些国家实施了一系列政策，包括减少并取消粮食储备、取消对来自欧洲和美国的食品征收的关税，以及撤销化肥和其他农业投入品的补贴。这实际上意味着，应当进口西方商品，而不是允许来自较贫穷国家的进口。其理论认为，只有通过贸易，各国才能自我拯救、摆脱贫困。因此，发展由私营部门发挥更大作用的市场经济，被视为促进经济增长、消除贫困的关键。

The role of IMF and World Bank and their notorious structural adjustment policies in countries such as Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Egypt have directly aided some of the underlying economic problems. The general solution provided by such institutions is one of trading their way out of poverty. They were forced to implement policies such as reducing and eliminating grain reserves, eliminating tariffs on food coming from Europe and the US and removing subsidies for fertilizer and other agricultural inputs. What this actually means is that Western goods should be imported rather than allow imports from poorer countries. The theory is that only via trade will nations pull themselves out of poverty. The development of a market economy with a greater role for the private sector was therefore seen as the key to stimulating economic growth and removing poverty.

例如，巴基斯坦实际上需要在医疗、教育和基础设施方面进行必要的投资，才能参与国际竞争。世界银行和国际货币基金组织却要求巴基斯坦减少对这些领域的国家支持，转而专注于出口。他们坚持将巴基斯坦推向那些它无法与国际私营部门的强大实力竞争的市场。此类政策必然削弱了巴基斯坦的经济发展。

As an example, Pakistan actually required essential investment in health, education and infrastructure before they could compete internationally. The World Bank and IMF instead required Pakistan to reduce state support to these sectors and concentrate on exports. They insisted on pushing Pakistan into markets where they were unable to compete with the might of the international private sector. Such policies inevitably undermined the economic development of Pakistan.

另一个使第三世界陷入贫困的因素是债务。非洲被要求偿还殖民时代遗留的债务。非洲的债务部分源于殖民国家的债务被不公正地转嫁给了非洲国家，数额以数十亿美元计，且利率极高。债务也源于“恶债”：富裕国家明知资金会被浪费，却仍向独裁者和腐败领导人提供贷款。例如，南非继承了数额为280亿美元（现已增至460亿美元）的“种族隔离造成的债务”。种族隔离后的非洲被迫偿还种族隔离政权所欠的债务，实际上，南非人是在为自己所受的压迫买单。1998年，ACTSA（南部非洲行动组织）估计，南非为维持种族隔离借贷了110亿美元（现为180亿美元），邻国则因种族隔离借贷了170亿美元（现为280亿美元）。因此，颠覆与侵略行为如今占非洲所负债务的74%。殖民主义在第三世界的贫困中起了很大作用。殖民主义造成了对西方的依附，使西方得以持续存在并干预那些拥有丰富矿产资源的地区。今天的非洲仍然饱受西方干预之苦，这种干预始于殖民时代，并迫使非洲集中生产当地民众根本无力购买的商品。

Another factor which has handcuffed the third world in poverty is debt. Africa is being asked to repay its legacy of the colonial era. Africa’s debt is partly the result of the unjust transfer to them of the debts of the colonizing states, in billions of dollars, at very high interest rates. It also originates from ‘odious debt’, whereby debt was incurred as rich countries loaned funds to dictators and corrupt leaders when it was known that the money would be wasted. South Africa, for example inherited “apartheid-caused debt” at $28 billion (which is now $46 billion). Post Apartheid Africa was forced to repay debts incurred by the apartheid regime so, in effect, South Africans are paying for their own oppression. In 1998 ACTSA (Action for Southern Africa) estimated that South Africa borrowed $11 billion (now $18 billion) to maintain apartheid, and neighbouring states borrowed $17 billion (now $28 billion) because of apartheid. Therefore, destabilisation and aggression now represents 74% of African owed debt. Colonialism has played a large part in the poverty of the third world. Colonialism has ensured dependency on the West, which allowed the continued presence and interference in parts of the world where extensive mineral resources exist. Africa today still labours from Western interference which began in the colonial era and has been forced to concentrate on commodities which the native populations would never be able to purchase.

当今全球农业体系取代了以自给自足为主的农耕方式，那种耕种土地主要为满足家庭自身消费的模式。自1960年以来，国际金融机构一直试图消除这种体系，以及各国政府用以控制粮食供应的机制。在这些机制缺位之后，国内外私营企业便趁虚而入，为了自身的利润率而左右粮食政策。在局势紧张之时，各国政府原本借以保护本国公民免受价格波动冲击的机制已不复存在。

The current global agriculture setup replaced subsistence farming where the cultivation of land was primarily for domestic consumption. Since 1960, international financial institutions have attempted to eliminate such a system and the mechanisms whereby governments can control food supplies. In their absence, national and international private companies have stepped in and have been dictating food policy in the interests of their profit margins. In times of stress, the mechanisms whereby governments could protect their citizens from the impacts of fluctuating prices no longer exist.