GOVERNMENT OF THE GAMBIA 1998 NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD POVERTY SURVEY REPORT BANJUL, JUNE 2000 PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report has long been in the making but, having reviewed it, I am fully convinced that the wait was a worthwhile one. The wealth of information and critical analysis contained in these pages is a goldmine that all policy makers, planners and stakeholders in the fight against poverty should note and endeavour to operationalise in their day to day work. Poverty has long been on the development agenda of this country and is still relevant today, on the threshold of the new millennium. In actual fact, it remains the number one challenge to our efforts at achieving sustainable human development. I believe the 1998 National Household Poverty Report is a wakeup call to all the players in the National Poverty Alleviation Programme, and the overall national development process. It is evident that we have either not been doing the right thing or that it has not been enough. Our rural folk, in particular, continue to be shortchanged in the benefits of development. Poverty is rife in the rural areas and from the report, those that we depend on to earn the much needed foreign exchange for our development activities – the groundnut producers – suffer the most. Previous poverty studies, as well as this current one, place them at the bottom rung of the development ladder. Obviously, they are not getting the recognition and support that is due to them and that is a serious indictment against us all. I implore all readers of this report to seriously consider the findings and issues flagged herein with a view to seeking long lasting and effective solutions. Clearly, the linkages between the results and current policies and practices which the report brings out show the need to realign the latter to the needs and aspirations of ordinary Gambians. However, we must take cognisance of the fact that poverty alleviation strategies do not yield much fruit in the short term. Many have to gestate over a relatively long period of time before their full impact can be realised. That notwithstanding, the current poverty situation threatens to wipe out all the gains we have made since Independence to improve the situation of our people. As we enter the new millennium, such a scenario is too frightening to even contemplate. I wish to thank the United Nations Development Programme and the International Labour Organisation for their unflinching support, both financial and technical, in the conduct of the survey and the preparation of the report. The Government continues to be appreciative of their assistance, as well as that of other bilateral and multilateral donors, to all our national development efforts. The Director and staff of the Central Statistics Department should be singled out for particular appreciation and commendation. It is clear that they are effectively carrying out the mandate assigned to them. Members of the Poverty Monitoring System User Group who participated in the analysis and writing up of the report are also owed a debt of gratitude for bringing in the key sectoral issues and concerns which shed more light on the findings of the survey. It is this sort of analysis that informs us whether or not we are heading in the right direction. Many a time, our programmes and policies lack the human face and it is only through such studies that we get a response from our target beneficiaries. Once again, I would like to call on all interested parties to read the report thoroughly, digest it and seek ways and means of making our individual and collective activities, projects and interventions more effective in the fight against poverty. This is a task we must undertake not just for ourselves but also, and more importantly, for generations of Gambians yet unborn. HONOURABLE FAMARA JATTA SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FINANCE AND ECONOMIC AFFAIRS BANJUL, THE GAMBIA, MAY 2000 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1998 NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD POVERTY SURVEY REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BACKGROUND The 1998 National Household Poverty Survey Report is based on a nationwide poverty survey which was conducted in March and April of 1998 by the Central Statistics Department. The study was commissioned by the Strategy for Poverty Alleviation Coordinating Office (SPACO), Department of State for Finance and Economic Affairs. The report is an integral element of the National Poverty Monitoring System which is designed to track selected socioeconomic indicators at the household level in order to establish the incidence, nature and characteristics of poverty in The Gambia. The current study will constitute the baseline against which future surveys will be assessed. KEY FINDINGS In The Gambia, the poor constitute 55 per cent of households and 69 per cent of the population. A significant proportion of households (37 per cent) and persons (51 per cent) are extremely poor, meaning that they lack the minimum amount of income required to sustain a minimum standard of living. Over half of the children in the country live in poverty, with the majority residing in the rural areas. Poverty has increased considerably – about 52 per cent overall - between 1992 and 1998 when two poverty surveys were conducted, with farming households bearing the brunt of this increase. Wide variations exist in the incidence of poverty between households and persons in different geographical locations with 60 per cent incidence in the rural areas, compared to 13 per cent in Greater Banjul and 28 per cent in other urban areas. Two thirds of all households in Lower River Division are extremely poor as are 73 per cent of people in Upper River Division. Households engaged in medium and large-scale groundnut production in rural Gambia have the highest incidence of poverty among all socioeconomic groups at 85 and 80 per cent respectively. In the Greater Banjul area, households with heads working in the informal sector are the poorest socioeconomic group. Although poverty is lower among female headed households, women – in particular, poor women - consistently fare worse than their male counterparts in all spheres of human development. Households in the highest income quintile have incomes 13.8 times that of the lowest income quintile, translating into a high level of inequality, particularly in the Greater Banjul Area. Poor households in The Gambia spend more than two thirds of their income on food, most of it on staples such as rice and other cereals. Most poor persons are economically active in the Agriculture and Fisheries sub sector where average incomes are invariably the lowest across all industry categories. Average earnings of men are consistently higher than those of women regardless of poverty status and type of occupation. Child labour is widespread especially among extremely poor households, with a higher proportion of girls than boys engaged in some form of economic activity. Non farm enterprises, as a concrete attempt to diversify income sources, are predominantly operated by the non poor although a substantial proportion of extremely poor households are also engaged in such activities. In general, the nutritional status of children in extremely poor households is worse than that of their counterparts in the other poverty categories. A mother’s years of education is positively related to the nutritional status of her children. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1998 NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD POVERTY SURVEY REPORT III Enrolment at the primary cycle clearly indicates a bias in favour of the non poor and those residing in the urban areas. Although female enrolment rates are higher than those of males at the primary level, this scenario is reversed at the secondary level. Average annual household expenditure on education is highest for non poor households and households in the urban areas. A little over one quarter of persons 15 years and above are literate, with females accounting for one third of this proportion. Poverty category notwithstanding, the higher one’s educational level, the higher the level of earnings. Those parents (especially from the extremely poor category) who send their children to madrassah, as opposed to Western system schools, do so primarily for religious reasons. Most poor households, particularly in the rural areas, depend on wells for their drinking water and pit latrines for sanitary purposes. Electricity as a main source of lightning is the preserve of urban and non poor households. Ownership of assets by extremely poor and rural households is low relative to their better off counterparts from non poor and urban households. Past macroeconomic policies have not favoured the poor, especially those in the rural areas of the country, with the agricultural sector being particularly hard hit by the removal of subsidies and low world market prices for the country’s major foreign exchange earner – groundnuts. KEY RECOMMENDATIONS Rather than targeting existing groups, who may not be homogenous in terms of poverty status, the National Poverty Alleviation Programme should target poor households for specific poverty alleviation interventions. The communities themselves can identify who are the poor members of their communities. This was amply demonstrated during the Participatory Poverty Assessment study. The programme should also embark on programmes that benefit the poor directly such as encouraging