Publication:
Poverty Trends in Uganda: Who Gained and Who Was Left Behind?

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Files in English
English PDF (1.36 MB)
307 downloads
English Text (81.58 KB)
13 downloads
Published
2012-06
ISSN
Date
2017-05-23
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Uganda had one of the best poverty reduction performances in the world since 1992, a result of a subtle structural transformation of household livelihood portfolios, rooted in strong growth of private wage and salary employment and non-farm household enterprises, and increased agricultural productivity among agricultural households. But depth and character of growth was not the same across Uganda. This triggered rising inequality throughout the country (within and between rural and urban and all regions) resulted in many households in the North and the East being left behind while the center pulled away. The evolution of spatial inequality is tightly linked to spatial differences in public and private investments, particularly in education - a legacy of inadequate public investments and conflict in the lagging regions. Addressing this inequality in growth is Uganda's shared growth challenge.
Link to Data Set
Citation
World Bank. 2012. Poverty Trends in Uganda: Who Gained and Who Was Left Behind?. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26712 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Report Series
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Publication
    Rural Transport : Improving its Contribution to Growth and Poverty Reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-11) Banjo, George; Gordon, Henry; Riverson, John
    Poverty reduction is a long-standing development objective of many developing countries and their aid donors, including the World Bank. To achieve this goal, these countries and organizations have sought to improve smallholder agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) as part of a broader rural development agenda aimed at providing a minimal basket of goods and services in rural areas to satisfy basic human needs. These goods and services include not only food, health care, and education, but also infrastructure. As a result, rural transport remains a constraint to increasing agricultural productivity, achieving rural growth, and thus alleviating rural poverty. The first major finding of the review of rural transport theory and practice is that many of the approaches needed to improve the impact of rural transport interventions on poverty reduction are known, particularly from the work of the Rural Travel and Transport Program (RTTP) of Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Policy Program (SSATP). Unfortunately, many of the recommended approaches remain untested within Sub-Saharan Africa beyond the pilot scale, notwithstanding their influence on rural transport policy and project design in other operational regions of the Bank. For SSA, these are missed opportunities. Even where SSA countries have applied these approaches, institutional and financial sustainability and scaling up local successes remain significant challenges for both their agriculture and transport sectors. The second key finding is that rural households are rarely the point of focus in the design of rural transport interventions in SSA, even though a methodology to allow this focus has been developed and successfully tested in several pilot projects since the 1980s, the result is that the transport needs of rural households continue to be analyzed and understood by means of an indirect assessment of those needs, which means that most projects have a less than desirable impact on improving the rural access and mobility situation of such households.
  • Publication
    Household Enterprises in Mozambique : Key to Poverty Reduction but Not on the Development Agenda?
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-08) Sohnesen, Thomas Pave; Fox, Louise
    Household enterprises -- usually one-person-operated tiny informal enterprises -- are a rapidly growing source of employment in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially in lower-income countries. Household enterprises tend to operate with limited interest or support from governments. This is the case in Mozambique, where neither the poverty reduction strategy nor small and medium enterprise development policies include household enterprises. Using multiple household surveys, including a recent panel data set, this paper identifies the characteristics of the sector and its development during the period in which Mozambique experienced rapid economic growth. The analysis finds that household enterprises in Mozambique are associated with higher household consumption, lower rural poverty, as well as upward mobility, particularly for rural and poorly educated households. But if the Mozambican government wants to tap this potential, it will need a different strategy than one designed to support small and medium enterprises, because creation and survival in this sector seems to depend on a set of factors related to the human capital in the household and development in the location, not the soft business environment constraints, such as licensing and permitting and corruption, which are cited by larger business.
  • Publication
    Tackling Poverty in Northern Ghana
    (World Bank, 2011-03-01) World Bank
    Twenty years of rapid economic development in Ghana has done little, if anything, to reduce the historical North, South divide in standards of living. While rural development and urbanization have led to significant poverty reduction in the South, similar dynamics have been largely absent from Northern Ghana (or equivalently the North, defined as the sum of the administrative regions Upper West, Upper East, and the Northern region), which cover 40 percent of Ghana's land area. Between 1992 and 2006, the number of the poor declined by 2.5 million in the South and increased by 0.9 million in the North. In sharp contrast with the South, there was no significant decline in the proportion of poor in the population of the North. Ghana's success story in poverty reduction is the success story of its South. Finally, North-South migration should not be seen as detracting from the potential development of Northern Ghana. North-South migration is potentially a strong instrument for poverty alleviation. With the right human capital, many individuals could escape from poverty through migration to the dynamic South. This phenomenon however, remains marginal today. By the same token, greater North-South migration will most likely be a consequence of any development in Northern Ghana, at least for some decades. Indeed, with greater economic integration and better public service provision, the probability that residents of Northern Ghana will benefit from migration will tremendously increase, thus their incentive to migrate. Hence, one should not expect lower migration pressures from the development of Northern Ghana in the short run. On the contrary, attention should be paid to the quality of migration, which will entail strengthening social protection mechanisms to reduce negative migration, and raising human capital while increasing the absorptive capacities of cities to encourage positive migration. This migration to the South will further benefit the North, since migrants will add to the pool of remittances sent to Northern Ghana.
  • Publication
    The Impact of Remittances on Rural Poverty and Inequality in China
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008-05) Zhu, Nong; Luo, Xubei
    Large numbers of agricultural labor moved from the countryside to cities after the economic reforms in China. Migration and remittances play an important role in transforming the structure of rural household income. This paper examines the impact of rural-to-urban migration on rural poverty and inequality in the case of Hubei province using the data of a 2002 household survey. Since remittances are a potential substitute for farm income, the paper presents counterfactual scenarios of what rural income, poverty, and inequality would have been in the absence of migration. The results show that, by providing alternatives to households with lower marginal labor productivity in agriculture, migration leads to an increase in rural income. In contrast to many studies that suggest the increasing share of non-farm income in total income widens inequality, this paper offers support for the hypothesis that migration tends to have egalitarian effects on rural income for three reasons: (i) migration is rational self-selection - farmers with higher agricultural productivities choose to remain in local agricultural production while those with higher expected return in urban non-farm sectors migrate; (ii) poorer households facing binding constraints of land shortage are more likely to migrate; and (iii) the poorest poor benefit disproportionately from remittances.
  • Publication
    The Rural Investment Climate : Analysis and Findings
    (Washington, DC, 2008) World Bank
    Interest in investment climates has emerged relatively recently. In the 1960s and 1970s, governments in many countries believed they should play a direct role in rural credit, input supply, production, trade, transport, distribution, and even marketing. However, in the 1980s and 1990s, government-dominated systems fell into disgrace because of poor performance. For the rural sector, the primary focus had traditionally been on agriculture, particularly commercial agriculture and agribusiness, which were perceived to be the main drivers of rural growth. This study's essential findings and policy implications are organized into the following six chapters. Annexes provide supporting material. Chapter two presents an overview of related work and of the literature; it also describes the subsequent chapters' methodological framework, including new ways of addressing questions of endogeneity in these kinds of surveys while seeking to isolate cause and effect. Chapter three, by applying econometric analysis, measurably extends the examination of enterprise performance and investment climate constraints initiated in RIC1 (first rural investment climate). A rigorous examination of enterprise dynamics and entrepreneurial choice is developed in chapter four. Aiming to highlight the differing effects on Rural Nonfarm Enterprises (RNFEs), chapter five draws together the main implications RIC2 findings on the rural investment climate in the three country pilots. Community-level influences also matter, and chapter six examines how the local IC and other community characteristics shape the environment for economic activity. Conclusions and recommendations appear in chapter seven, including suggestions for using RIC results for policy reform and for targeting the rural public expenditures needed to foster improvements in the rural investment climate. The annexes describe the databases employed and the methodologies used in the study, as well providing detailed regression results.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

  • Publication
    Wealth Sharing for Conflict Prevention and Economic Growth : Botswana Case Study of Natural Resource Utilization for Peace and Development
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-12) Sebudubudu, David
    There are countries in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and even a few such countries in Africa that are using non-renewable resources to drive development and have not experienced conflict. South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Zambia are such typical cases in Africa. Instead, the presence of significant minerals in Botswana is associated with economic development and democracy as well as peace. This paper applies the "resource curse", thesis to the case of Botswana, a country that is rich in minerals, yet it has realized positive development thus avoiding conflict and 'the resource curse'. The focus of this study is to examine the experience of Botswana in using natural resources to promote equitable development and thereby avoid conflict which often results from selfish private or ethnic group interests that elsewhere have used natural resources to the exclusion of other groups in society. This study specifically looks at the conditions and factors that facilitated the absence of internal conflict in the extraction of natural resources in Botswana. The key questions answered are: what contextual conditions and factors facilitated the peaceful extraction of natural resources in Botswana?; and were these factors unique to Botswana or can they be replicated elsewhere?. The first chapter gives introduction. The second chapter deals with the socio-political setting of the chiefs' rule during the pre-colonial and colonial periods. The third chapter discusses Botswana's democracy and how it has evolved not only to democratize society but also to become a management culture of good governance for defining how the natural resources will be utilized for the country's development. Chapter four outlines the mineral resource base of Botswana and the policies and strategies used by government in ensuring that such resources were used for public good rather than the self-interest of either the leaders or mining houses. Chapter five focuses attention on cases of local conflicts relating to mineral and other natural resources around different parts of the country. Chapter six brings the issues together to explain Botswana's democratic and mineral dividends in attaining a high development success rate. Chapter seven presents conclusion.
  • Publication
    Ten Steps to a Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation System : A Handbook for Development Practitioners
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2004) Zall Kusek, Jody; Rist, Ray C.
    An effective state is essential to achieving socio-economic and sustainable development. With the advent of globalization, there are growing pressures on governments and organizations around the world to be more responsive to the demands of internal and external stakeholders for good governance, accountability and transparency, greater development effectiveness, and delivery of tangible results. Governments, parliaments, citizens, the private sector, Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), civil society, international organizations, and donors are among the stakeholders interested in better performance. As demands for greater accountability and real results have increased, there is an attendant need for enhanced results-based monitoring and evaluation of policies, programs, and projects. This handbook provides a comprehensive ten-step model that will help guide development practitioners through the process of designing and building a results-based monitoring and evaluation system. These steps begin with a 'readiness assessment' and take the practitioner through the design, management, and importantly, the sustainability of such systems. The handbook describes each step in detail, the tasks needed to complete each one, and the tools available to help along the way.
  • Publication
    Botswana Mining Investment and Governance Review
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-08) World Bank Group
    The Botswana Mining Investment and Governance Review (MInGov) collects and shares information on mining sector governance, its attractiveness to investors and how its activities affect national development. It reviews sector performance from the perspective of three main stakeholder groups – government, investors in the mining value chain and civil society – and identifies gaps between declared and actual government policy and practice. The reviews findings are: Performance across the minerals value chain is better in the latter stages related to investment, accumulation, and expenditure of mineral revenue. The mining policy and legal framework are largely sound. The environmental protection legislation is quite current and mostly based on ‘good practice’ except for access to Environmental Impact Assessments. Land use issues, including resettlement and compensation, require a more inclusive process and stronger legislated framework. A local content policy for the mining industry should be developed with mining sector participation to ensure that both the needs of government and industry are met. Institutions are for the most part staffed with trained, qualified people although sometimes there are not sufficient numbers of staff with the required experience. The top shared priority by all three stakeholder groups is Sector Management and Intragovernmental Coordination. MInGov’s methodology focuses on the status of governance and investment conditions in the mining sector from the perspective of stakeholders, and as reportedin primary and secondary sources.
  • Publication
    Rural-Urban Migration in Developing Countries
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-05) Shilpi, Forhad; Selod, Harris
    This paper reviews the recent literature on rural-urban migration in developing countries, focusing on three key questions: What motivates or forces people to migrate? What costs do migrants face? What are the impacts of migration on migrants and the economy? The literature paints a complex picture whereby rural-urban migration is driven by many factors and the returns to migration as well as the costs are very high. The evidence supports the notion that migration barriers hinder labor market adjustment and are likely to be welfare reducing. The review concludes by identifying gaps in current research and data needs.
  • Publication
    World Development Report 1984
    (New York: Oxford University Press, 1984) World Bank
    Long-term needs and sustained effort are underlying themes in this year's report. As with most of its predecessors, it is divided into two parts. The first looks at economic performance, past and prospective. The second part is this year devoted to population - the causes and consequences of rapid population growth, its link to development, why it has slowed down in some developing countries. The two parts mirror each other: economic policy and performance in the next decade will matter for population growth in the developing countries for several decades beyond. Population policy and change in the rest of this century will set the terms for the whole of development strategy in the next. In both cases, policy changes will not yield immediate benefits, but delay will reduce the room for maneuver that policy makers will have in years to come.