Linking Sustainable Livelihoods to Natural Resources and Governance

This book addresses the level of poverty currently prevalent in the Muslim World, the extent to which natural resource endowments and utilization influence social and economic development thereby impacting poverty alleviation in the Muslim World, the potency and success of the public poverty alleviation strategies and programmes pursued in the Muslim world, the extent to which the institution of Zakat has been effectively incorporated into the public poverty alleviation strategies in the Muslim world and the policy options required to enhance social and economic development and to help pull the poor out of the poverty trap into the mainstream economy in the Muslim world. These poverty-related concerns are worthy of investigation because poverty, the author contends, is in all probability a dehumanizing phenomenon. In fact, poverty challenges self-esteem and integrity. In the context of development, poverty hampers full-fledged social and economic development of many nations. Pertaining to environmental sustainability, poverty contributes to poor environmental stewardship. Finally, poverty puts to test the faith of many believers. These and a host of many negative attributes of poverty render it a social canker, which deserves not only proper and serious scrutiny, but also constant scrutiny.