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Persistent And Emerging Issues In Rural Poverty Reduction

In recent decades, the Asia-Pacific region as a whole has experienced rapid economic growth
and has shown impressive progress in reducing income poverty. Between the early 1990s and
the early 2000s, the proportion of people in the region living in extreme poverty (i.e. living
on less than $1 per day) fell from 31 per cent to 20 per cent. The absolute number of poor
people also fell during that period: from 931 to 679 million. Despite all this progress, the fact
remains that Asia and the Pacific is still home to two thirds of the world’s poor. An
ESCAP/UNDP/ADB report on progress made toward achieving the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) highlighted the fact that the region has the largest number of
people living in extreme poverty in the world (ESCAP/UNDP/ADB, 2005). Hunger and
malnutrition are also still widespread.
Disparities within countries still present major challenges. It is now clear that national level
data hide deep sub-national disparities. The ESCAP/UNDP/ADB report indicated that even
countries considered to be doing well in reducing poverty as a whole may have regions that
are significantly below the national average. This is posing problems even in countries like
China, which had been successful in reducing poverty through liberalization and export-led
economic growth. The national poverty rate in the Philippines is 16 per cent; the regional
rates vary from 8 to 63 per cent. The national child malnutrition rate in Indonesia is 26 per
cent, but the regional rates vary from 18 to 40 per cent. Poverty rates in India range from less
than 10 per cent in rich states to well above 40 per cent in the two poorest states, Orissa and
Bihar.
It is estimated that around 70 per cent of the region’s poor (i.e. approximately 475 million)
lives and works in rural areas. This simple fact is a clear indication that poverty reduction
efforts in the region have not been successful and it is a call for renewed attention to the
unique rural...