Ripoti ya hali ya uchumi duniani imeonesha kuwa idadi ya watu wanaoishi katika umaskini uliopindukia imeongezeka zaidi, huku jirani zetu wa Kenya na Uganda wakiwa wamepiga hatua zaidi katika kupunguza idadi ya watu wanaoishi katika umaskini wa kipato.
Kwa mujibu wa Ripoti ya World Bank iliyoripotiwa kwenye mtandao na Global Monitoring Report 2013, Watu wanaoishi katika umaskini wa kupindukia (wa kipato) ni 38.01% kwa Uganda, 43.37% kwa Kenya na Tanzania ni 67.87%.
Hata hivyo, kwa kuwa tuko katika Jumuiya ya Afrika Mashariki, na hivi karibuni Rwanda na Burundi wamejiunga nasi kwenye Jumuiya hiyo, tunaweza kujifariji kuwa sisi si wa mwisho Afrika Mashariki, kwani tunaizidi Burundi ambayo 81.32% wanaishi kwenye umaskini uliokithiri (wa kipato). Nchi nyingine ndogo, isiyo na bandari na iliyotoka kwenye matatizo ya mauaji ya kimbari na vita, Rwanda, ina asilimia ndogo zaidi ya maskini kulinganisha na Tanzania, ambapo 63.17% ya Wanyarwanda wanaishi katika hali ya umaskini.
Nakaribisha mjadala wa nini kimesababisha sisi tupitwe na Kenya, Uganda na Rwanda katika juhudi hizo za kupunguza umaskini licha ya wingi wa rasilimali zetu, na licha ya kuwa na uchumi unaokua zaidi.
Kenya has poorer people than Uganda, despite having a far larger economy, a new report by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund shows.
According to the Global Monitoring Report 2013, Uganda’s poverty head count stands at 38.01 per cent against Kenya’s 43.37 per cent, using the poverty cut-off point of $1.25 per person.
The poverty level scoring is based on the number of people living below Sh105 ($1.25) a day. Previous studies have used $1 daily but that has since been replaced with the higher amount. According to the report, the level of poverty in Tanzania stands at 67.87 per cent, based on the latest available data.
In Rwanda, poverty stands at 63.17 per cent while in Burundi it is at 81.32 per cent, showing the extent to which war has continued to adversely impact livelihoods in the agriculture-rich country.
Burundi and neighbouring Tanzania therefore have the largest proportion of poor people among the members of the East African Community.
According to the report, sub-Saharan Africa has lagged behind in attaining the millennium development goals (MDGs), including halving poverty levels. “In 1990, with poverty rates of about 55 per cent, sub-Saharan Africa and East Asia were at the same starting position for MDG (and intention) to halve the number of people in extreme poverty,” the report reads.
“By 2010, East Asia made spectacular progress and reduced extreme poverty rate to 12 per cent compared to sub-Saharan Africa which still had a poverty rate of 48 per cent.”
The report suggested that growth of town dwellers helps to reduce poverty. In Africa urbanisation has increased from 30 per cent of the population in 1980 to 50 per cent in 2011. “Urbanisation helps pull people out of poverty and advances progress towards the MDGs, but, if not managed well, it can also lead to burgeoning growth of slums, pollution, and crime,” says the report.
At global levels From a global perspective, the report says urbanisation has been a major force behind poverty reduction and progress towards other MDGs. It noted that more than 80 per cent of global goods and services were produced in cities such that countries with relatively higher levels of urbanisation such as China, and many others in East Asia and Latin America, had played a major role in lowering extreme poverty worldwide.
“In contrast, the two least urbanised regions, South Asia and Sub-Sahara Africa), have significantly higher rates of poverty and continue to lag behind on most MDGs. Source: 'Kenyans poorer than Ugandans' - National - monitor.co.ug
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