POVERTY: DIMENSIONS, TRENDS AND REDUCTION STRATEGIES

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POVERTY DIMENSIONS, TRENDS AND REDUCTION
STRATEGIES

• NDA and Sangonet National Poverty Conference
• Johannesburg, 17 October 2006
• Michael Aliber
• Human Sciences Research Council

2
Overview

• What is poverty?
• What are the trends in poverty?
• What accounts for these trends?
• Implications for partnerships?

3
Main idea / argument

• There is evidence of progress in the fight
  against poverty
• However, we have a limited number of poverty
  reduction tools that work
• Understanding this better could help us identify
  the roles of various partners
• Main role of civil society partners to offer
  solidarity, integration, care and hope?

4
What is poverty?

• The usual suspects
• Income poverty
• Service poverty
• Asset poverty
• Etc.
• All this is true, however, poverty is also an
  experience

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What is poverty?

• We did not have food at home, we could sleep for
  two days without a meal and suffer stomach aches
  because of hunger.
• Poverty is suffering

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What is poverty?

• At our old home we did not suffer as much from
  hunger as here. We used to plow . Now everything
  is bought and money is needed.
• Poverty is contextual, e.g. socio-economic, etc.

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What is poverty?

• we are expected to go and work as domestic
  workers and earn close to nothing because our
  father did nothing for us . You struggle from
  birth till death.
• Poverty is often passed on from one generation to
  the next

8
What is poverty?

• As children growing up in poor families we were
  shouted at, at any given opportunity.
• Poverty is stigma

9
What is poverty?

• My grandmother died and that is when we started
  to suffer because she was getting a pension when
  she died.
• Poverty is vulnerability

10
What is poverty?

• Here we are suffering. They write us letters
  that we have to pay water and other services. We
  dont have money. There is no work.
• Poverty is stress and conflict

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What are the trends in poverty?

• Income poverty improving since 2000?
• Hunger appears to be declining
• Access to services definite improvements since
  1994

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Est. poverty trends using alternative poverty
lines, 1993-2004
Source van den Berg et al., 2006
13
Spatial pattern of poverty changes
14
In the past 12 months, did any child in this HH
go hungry because there wasnt enough food?
Source HSRC, 2006
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Index of multiple deprivation
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What accounts for these trends?

• Government programmes
• Social grants - yes
• Service delivery / infrastructure yes
• Development projects? only modestly
• Improved job creation?
• Something else?

17
Approx. govt budgets for main interventions to
support the poor, 2004/05
Source HSRC, 2006
18
Expenditure on social grants, 1992/3-2004/5
Source HSRC, 2006
19
What is the main source of income for this
household?
Source HSRC, 2006
20
Notwithstanding increased employment levels
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The contribution of government devt projects,
2002/03 2005/06?
Source OPSC, 2006 (note - excludes school
nutrition programme)

• versus 2.4 to 5.0 mn poor households
• and actual benefits often meagre

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Implications for partnerships?

• Devt projects we dont know how
• Civil society can help govt do it better? /or
• Civil society should steer clear until we know
  what works?
• Social services
• Where govt cant reach
• To improve the reach of government