Republic of Niger : Trends of Poverty, Inequality, and Growth, 2005-2011

World Bank

Washington, DC

关键词: HOUSEHOLD INCOMES;    LIVING STANDARDS;    PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION;    GROWTH RATES;    ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE;   

RP-ID  :  89837

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The ability to accurately monitorpoverty trends is crucial to ensure the adoption ofeffective antipoverty policies and to assess progress towardthe achievement of national development goals. In Niger,efforts to assess poverty dynamics between 2005 and 2011 arecomplicated by methodological differences in the threehousehold surveys conducted over the period, in 2005,2007-08 and 2011. While Niger’s overall poverty rate hasdropped significantly between 2005 and 2011, changes in thepoverty incidence are highly uneven across location types.Among the major causes of persistent poverty are thecountry’s minimal economic diversification and extremelylimited agricultural infrastructure, which leave themajority of Nigerien households dependent on highlyvulnerable farming and livestock production. In addition,the country’s extremely high rate of population growthpresents a serious obstacle to sustainable povertyreduction. Not only does Niger have one of the highestpopulation growth rates in the world, but fertilitycorrelates inversely with income level. In other words, thefastest-growing segments of the population are also thepoorest, and as a result, the declining trend in thenational poverty rate is continuously offset by a steadyincrease in the absolute number of Nigeriens living inpoverty. In addition, the relationship between populationgrowth and rural-urban migration has important implicationsfor poverty trends. Urban fertility rates are lower thanrural rates and have been declining over time, while ruralfertility rates remain both extremely high and relativelystable. Over the long run urbanization may have the addedbenefit of slowing nationwide population growth. However,this dynamic will be greatly accelerated by an independentimprovement in conditions associated with lower birth ratesin rural areas, including sustained increases in householdincomes, broad improvements in education indicators,especially among women, and expanded access to healthcarefacilities and family planning services.