Kenya’s Poverty Level Higher than Uganda Reports Says

By NewsfromAfrica

Kenya may have a larger economy in East Africa but has more poor people than its neighboring Uganda. The revelation is contained in a new joint report by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

According to the Global Monitoring Report 2013, Kenya’s poverty head count stands at 43.37 per cent against Uganda’s 38.01 per cent using the poverty cut-off point of $1.25 per person.

The Report , which measures how well countries are doing economically and socially, shows a profound shift in regional economic power. Landlocked Uganda, which gets more than half of its imports through our country, seems to be doing much better than Kenya, perceived as the regional economic tiger.

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.

In Tanzania’s  Poverty levels stands at 67.87 per cent, Rwanda, at 63.17 per cent compared to Burundi’s 81.32 per cent..This shows 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 (EAC).

Previous studies have used $1-a-day as the cut-off point but that has since been replaced with the higher amount..

According to the report, sub-Saharan Africa has lagged behind the rest of the world in attaining the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including reducing poverty levels by half.

In sub-Sahara Africa, 42 per cent of the urban population has access, compared with 23 per cent of rural residents. Access to safe water in cities in developing countries was almost complete in 2010, with 96 per cent coverage, compared with 81 per cent of the rural population, said the Bretton Woods report.

“Emerging market and developing countries are growing robustly notwithstanding slow growth in advanced economies. Sustaining this growth – by continuing to maintain prudent macro policies and strengthening the capacity to manage risks, including through a rebuilding of depleted policy buffers – is key to continued progress in poverty reduction as we approach 2015,” said IMF strategy, policy and review department deputy director Hugh Bredenkamp.

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 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but, if not managed well, it can also lead to burgeoning growth of slums, pollution, and crime,” says the report.