Wa West tops in poverty-Report

Accra, Oct 9, GNA - The Ghana Poverty Mapping report for 2013 shows that Wa West in the Upper West region has the highest poverty incidence and depth rate at the district level.

The report shows that poverty incidence was highest in districts such as Wa West with 92.4 per cent followed by Wa East with 83.8 per cent and Sissala West with 81.2 per cent, while the poverty depth rate was relatively high in Wa West with 59.0 percent.

The report presents the poverty headcount, depth and inequality and estimated number of poor persons for all the 216 districts and 29 sub-districts in the country.

The report was the second poverty map produced by the Service. The first report was produced in May 2005, using data from the 2000 Population and Housing Census and 1998/1999 Ghana Living Standards Survey.

The poverty indicators in the current report have been computed based on data from the 2010 Population and Housing Census and the 2012/2013 Ghana Living Standards Survey 6 with financial assistance from UK-Department for International Development and technical support from the World Bank.

The methodology for the computations, which was developed by C. Elbers, J. Lanjouw and P. Lanjouw (2000), allows accurate estimates of consumption-based poverty and inequality at lower levels of disaggregation by combining information from censuses and household consumption surveys.

Mr Anthony Kraka, Head of Industrial Statistics, Ghana Statistical Service presenting the report said the incidence of poverty was quite high among districts in the Upper East Region, with the highest incidence observed in Builsa South District of 84.4 per cent followed by Bawku West with 68.1 per cent, Bongo with 67.4 per cent and Nabdam 63.0 per cent.

Mr Kraka said the report shows that the least incidence rate was recorded in La Dade Kotopon Municipal in the Greater Accra Region.

He stressed that with regard to welfare distribution, Sunyani Municipal in the Brong Ahafo region has the highest inequality. The least inequality was recorded in Upper Manya in the Eastern Region.

Mr Kakra added that East Gonja in the Northern region has more poor persons than any other district in Ghana. The least number of poor persons is in Suaman District in the Western Region.

He noted that Kassena Nankana West District had 13.1 per cent which represented the lowest poverty incidence in the Region, while poverty depth is highest in Builsa South with 51.8 per cent.

He explained that the need for data for planning developmental programmes, monitoring and evaluation at the district level has necessitated the preparation of this report.

Dr Philomena Nyarko, Government Statistician said the report also provides a ranking of all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies in the country based on the indicators.

She urged stakeholders to make good use of the report in formulation and implementation of their development plans and poverty reduction strategies.

Dr Nyarko said poverty maps have become more useful in the context of social safety-net programs and are best suited to guide spatial targeting, in identifying areas associated with high poverty rates.

'The poverty estimates in the report are based on consumption expenditure only, and may not adequately capture other attributes of poverty or vulnerability. These estimates do not explain the causes of poverty. Therefore, specialized surveys may be required to determine them,' she added.

'In an effort to reduce poverty in the country, households in the most affected districts in the Volta, Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper West and Upper East regions must be targeted for social intervention programs. Special studies also need to be undertaken to clarify the causes of poverty in the country'. GNA