The poverty situation in Ethiopia

Reporter
November 06 ,2002

According to a recent study made by Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED) on the poverty situation in Ethiopia, based on the 1999/00 household income consumption expenditure survey, the proportion of people in Ethiopia who were absolutely poor during the year 1999/00 was 44.2 percent. The proportions of people who were absolutely poor are 37% in the urban areas and 45% in the rural areas.

The per capita consumption expenditure of Ethiopia for the year 1999/00 was 1,057 birr at 1995/96 constant prices, which is equivalent to 139 US dollars at the exchange rate that prevailed during the reference year. The per capita consumption expenditure on rural people was 995 birr, and that of urban people 1,453 birr. Thus, the per capita expenditure of urban areas is higher than that of rural areas by 46 percent.

Comparisons among urban areas indicate that Addis Ababa had the highest per capita consumption expenditure, closely followed by the urban areas in Afar and Benishangul-Gumuz in 1999/00.

The levels of consumption poverty also show significant variation among rural areas across regional states. By 1999/00, the highest poverty incidence was recorded in rural Afar, followed by Tigray and Benishangul-Gumuz. And the lowest poverty incidence was recorded in the Harari Regional State, followed by Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa.

Among the urban areas, the highest poverty was recorded in Tigray, followed by SNNP, Gambella and Addis Ababa. The lowest poverty incidence was indicated in Somali, followed by Afar and Benishangul Gumuz. In general consumption poverty is higher in the rural areas than the areas of the country. By 1999/00, a decline in poverty incidence was witnessed in most of the major towns of Ethiopia. Gondar had the lowest poverty incidence, followed by Bahir Dar. The highest poverty incidence was observed in Mekelle during the same year, followed by Jimma. The proportion of the population under food poverty in rural areas was about 42 percent, whereas the corresponding figure for urban areas stood at approximately 47 percent in 1999/00.

Access to health services

A quarter of the population in the country was reported to have been sick in the two months prior to the administration of the survey questionnaire. In terms of gender disaggregating, the results indicated that 24.2 percent of males are reported to have been sick. The figure for females was about 26 percent. On the other hand, while around 27 percent of the rural population was reported to have been sick, only 19.3 percent of their urban counterparts reported the same.

Literacy

The overall literacy rate in Ethiopia for 1999/00 was 29.4 percent. Females have a lower literacy rate (19.5) than males (40). The literacy rate is much higher in urban areas (70.4) than in rural areas (21.8). It increased from 27.4 percent in 1995/96 to 29.4 percent in 1999/00.

School enrollment

By 1999/00, the gross and net primary school enrollment rate stood at 59 and 34 percent, respectively. The gross and net secondary enrollment rate was 15.5 and 11.5 percent, respectively, during the same year. In general, school enrollment rates are higher for urban areas than they are for rural areas. By 1999/00, both gross and net primary and secondary enrollment rates witnessed improvement, compared to those of 1995/96.

Housing and household durables

About 85 percent of the households in Ethiopia are living in low quality houses made of wood and concrete - coated mud. And 65 percent of the houses are thatch-roofed. The average number of rooms per household was 1.6. For the country as a whole, only 17 percent of the households use pit latrines, and 81.7 percent use nearby open fields.

Access to public services and economic infrastructure

The average distance to elementary schools for the country as a whole is three kilometers. About three quarters of the population live some four kilometers away from the nearest primary school. In 1999/00, for the country as a whole, the average distance households had to travel to fetch water varied from 0.36 kilometers during the rainy seasons to 0.74 kilometers during the dry season. About a quarter of the total population fetches water from sources that are at least one kilometer away from their residence.

Poverty in Ethiopia is highly linked with the size of households, the education of the head of the household, the degree of dependency within the household, asset ownership, the occupation of the head of the household, and other institutional variables that provide public services.

In conclusion  the determinants of poverty in Ethiopia clearly show the need for intervention on population in general and reproductive health in particular.

(Compiled by Melaku Demissie)