This paper outlines the regression analysis addressed to determine variables and factors influencing poverty alleviation in Mozambique and estimate their magnitude; its aim being to support the careful interpretation of poverty estimates and to emphasise the need for policy makers to account for poverty measurement in their work.
Poverty and health
Modelling PRSP II & poverty reduction in Mozambique
Monitoring and Evaluating Poverty Reduction Policies in Mozambique, Study 1
Paulo M, Rosário C, Tvedten I: CMI Brief 7 (2), 2008
From the vantage point of a rural district in northern Mozambique, the development efforts by government and donors are visible through the enhanced capacity of the local administration and investments in education and health, but not where it really matters for poor people: employment creation and reasonable returns from their agricultural production, which currently are adversely affected by an absent or exploitative private sector. The very poorest are marginalised or excluded from social relationships with the extended family, traditional institutions as well as the state, underlining the need to give special attention to the chronically poor and destitute in rural areas.
Monitoring and Evaluating Poverty Reduction Policies in Mozambique, Study 2
Paulo M, Rosário C, Tvedten I: CMI Brief 7 (3), 2008
Issues of urban poverty have received little attention in Mozambique, even though the urban poverty rate is high and urban inequality is on the rise. In the bairros of Maputo, unemployment, crime and the high costs of food, housing and land inhibit the poor from converting progress in education and health into increased income and consumption. In a context where money is an integral part of most social relationships, the most destitute become marginalised with no one to turn to. Rising poverty and inequality in Maputo also have an adverse impact on vital urban-rural relationships, and may jeopardise political stability.
More relatively poor people in a less absolutely poor world
Chen S and Ravallion M: World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 6114, 1 July 2012
The authors of this paper argue that the effects of relative deprivation, shame and social exclusion call for a reconsideration of how we assess global poverty. However, the authors do not support use of standard measures of relative poverty. Instead they call for using a weakly relative measure as the upper-bound complement to the lower-bound provided by a standard absolute measure. New estimates of global poverty are presented, drawing on 850 household surveys spanning 125 countries over 1981–2008. The absolute line is US$1.25 a day at 2005 prices, while the relative line rises with the mean, at a gradient of 1:2 above $1.25 a day. The authors show that these parameter choices are consistent with cross-country data on national poverty lines. The results indicate that the incidence of both absolute and weakly relative poverty in the developing world has been falling since the 1990s, but more slowly for the relative measure. While the number of absolutely poor has fallen, the number of relatively poor has changed little since the 1990s, and is higher in 2008 than 1981.
More than 116 million people march as Stand Up Against Poverty shatters the world record for mass mobilisation
e-Civicus: 22 October 2008
Citizens have demanded that world leaders keep promises to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and end inequality. More than 116 million people – nearly 2% of the world’s population – mobilised at events in 131 countries on 17–19 October as part of the Stand Up and Take Action campaign. The mobilisation, which was ratified by the Guinness Book of Records as breaking the world record for the biggest mass mobilisation on a single issue, sends a clear message to world leaders that citizens want promises to end poverty to be fulfilled. At least five million additional people – many in Africa and Latin America – participated at events not submitted before the Guinness deadline. The United Nations Millennium Campaign has vowed not to stop mobilising and advocating for action until the Millennium Development Goals are achieved for the poorest people in the world.
Mortality and health among internally displaced persons in western Kenya following post-election violence, 2008: Novel use of demographic surveillance
Feikin DR, Adazu K, Obor D, Ogwang S, Vulule J, Hamela MJ and Laserson K: Bulletin of the World Health Organization 88: 601–608, August 2010
This study’s objective was to evaluate mortality and morbidity among internally displaced persons (IDPs) who relocated in a demographic surveillance system (DSS) area in western Kenya following post-election violence. In 2007, 204 000 individuals lived in the DSS area, where field workers visited households every four months to record migrations, births and deaths. Between December 2007 and May 2008, 16,428 IDPs migrated into the DSS, and over half of them stayed six months or longer. In 2008, IDPs aged 15–49 years died at higher rates than regular residents of the DSS. A greater percentage of deaths from HIV infection occurred among IDPs aged ≥ 5 years (53%) than among regular DSS residents (25–29%). Internally displaced children < 5 years of age did not die at higher rates than resident children but were hospitalised at higher rates. In conclusion, HIV-infected internally displaced adults in conflict-ridden parts of Africa were found to be at increased risk of HIV-related death. Relief efforts should extend to IDPs who have relocated outside IDP camps, particularly if afflicted with HIV infection or other chronic conditions.
Moving Out of Poverty: Success from the bottom-up
World Bank, 2009
The Moving Out of Poverty study, carried out in 15 countries, is one of the few large-scale comparative research attempts to analyse mobility out of poverty rather than poverty alone. This book is about local realities and the urgent need to develop poverty-reducing strategies informed by the lives and experiences of millions of poor people in communities around the world. The report notes the diversity of experience across households in their movement in and out of poverty within countries. It points to the need to examine the local realities of communities rather than countries and to move beyond assumptions and beliefs about poor people to identify the underlying causes of poverty and to inform development plans, policies and actions that address poverty.
Multi-country analysis of palm oil consumption and cardiovascular disease mortality for countries at different stages of economic development: 1980-1997
Chen BK, Seligman B, Farquhar JW and Goldhaber-Fiebert JD: Globalisation and Health 7(45), 16 December 2011
There is concern that increased consumption of palm oil could exacerbate mortality from ischemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke, particularly in developing countries where it represents a major nutritional source of saturated fat. The authors of this study analysed country-level data from 1980-1997 derived from the World Health Organisation's Mortality Database, United States Department of Agriculture international estimates, and the World Bank (234 annual observations; 23 countries). They found that, in developing countries, for every additional kilogram of palm oil consumed per-capita annually, IHD mortality rates increased by 68 deaths per 100,000, whereas, in similar settings, stroke mortality rates increased by 19 deaths per 100,000 but were not significant. Inclusion of other major saturated fat sources including beef, pork, chicken, coconut oil, milk cheese, and butter did not substantially change the differentially higher relationship between palm oil and IHD mortality in developing countries. The authors urge policy makers to consider palm oil consumption as a saturated fat source relevant for policies aimed at reducing cardiovascular disease burdens.
Namibia: Drought funds to last until month end
The Namibian, 5 July 2016
The N$90 million for drought relief set aside by the government from April 2016 to feed the 595 000 needy people in Namibia will last only until the end of July said Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa- Amadhila. In the light of this, she said that the government needs to raise N$659 million for the drought relief programme from 1 August 2016 until March 2017. President Hage Geingob declared a state of emergency in 2016 due to the ongoing drought in the country. This is the second time in three years that the Namibian government has declared a state of emergency. The 2016/17 Rural Food Security and Livelihood Vulnerability Forecast report presented yesterday by Obert Mutabani from the Prime Minister's Office shows that the price of maize meal increased from N$8 per kilogramme in 2012 to N$18 now. Millet now costs about N$14 from N$7 in 2012, while sorghum is at N$29, up from N$7. The report also revealed that about 595 839 people have been affected by the drought, and will need assistance. It gave recommendations that government should set up programmes to help communities become self-reliant.
Namibia: No rest - and limited government support - for the aged
Sasman C: Inter Press Service (Johannesburg), 20 March 2006
The sight of an elderly person caring for children with AIDS-related illnesses (and grandchildren who may have been orphaned by the pandemic) has become a common one in Namibia, and the Southern African region as a whole. Have policies in Namibia kept pace with the extent to which the aged are taking on responsibility for sick children, and orphaned grandchildren?