The causes of poverty can be attributed to different social processes and forces, including war, agricultural cycles, weather conditions, natural disasters and structure government, corruption and environmental degradation. War: The material and human destruction caused by war constitutes a major development problem. For example, from 1990 to 1993, the period that encompasses Desert Storm, per capita GDP in Iraq fell from $3,500 to $761. The decline in average income, while a stark representation of the decline in well-being of the average Iraqi citizen in the aftermath of the war, fails to account for the broader effects of damage to infrastructure and social services , such as health care and access to drinking water. Agricultural Cycles: People who rely on the fruits and vegetables they produce for household food consumption (subsistence farmers) often go through cycles of relative abundance and scarcity. For many families whose survival depends on subsistence production, the period immediately preceding the harvest is a “famine period”. During these periods of scarcity, many families lack sufficient resources to meet their minimum nutritional needs. Knowledge of these cycles has enabled development practitioners to anticipate and prepare for periods of acute need for assistance. Droughts and floods: In addition to the immediate destruction caused by natural events such as hurricanes, environmental forces often cause periods of acute crisis by destroying crops and animals. .Natural Disasters: Natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes have devastated communities around the world. Developing countries often suffer much larger and more acute crises due to natural disasters, because limited resources prevent the construction of adequate housing, infrastructure and crisis response mechanisms. Colonial Histories: One of the most significant obstacles to development in poor countries is the lack of uniform basic infrastructure, such as roads and means of communication. Some development scholars have identified colonial history as a significant contributor to the current situation. In most countries with a history of colonization, colonizers developed local economies to facilitate the expropriation of resources for their own economic growth and development. Centralization of power: In many developing countries, political power is disproportionately centralized. Instead of having a network of political representatives evenly distributed across society, in centralized governance systems a large party, politician, or region is responsible for decision-making throughout the country. This often poses developmental problems. For example, in these situations, politicians make decisions in unfamiliar places, lacking sufficient knowledge of the context to design effective and appropriate policies and programs...