Publication: Ghana Poverty Assessment
Loading...
Date
2020-11
ISSN
Published
2020-11
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
After the return to democracy, Ghana achieved significant economic growth and poverty reduction. However, in recent years, the rate of poverty reduction has slowed, becoming insignificant after 2012. The largest reduction in poverty, 2 percent per year, was reached from 1991–1998. Subsequently, the rate of decline fell to 1.4 percent in 1998–2005, 1.1 percent in 2005–2012, and dropped to 0.2 percent per year between 2012 and 2016. The slowdown in poverty reduction was not due to a reduction in GDP per capita growth, which peaked between 2005 and 2012 and remained high between 2012 and 2016. Rather, it was due to a drop in the rate to which economic growth translated into poverty reduction. The growth elasticity of poverty (percentage reduction in poverty associated for every one percentage change in GDP per capita) was 1.2 between 1991 and 1998 but declined to less than 0.1 between 2012 and 2016, indicating a 1 percent increase in GDP per capita led to less than 0.1 percent reduction in poverty.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2020. Ghana Poverty Assessment. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34804 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Tackling Poverty in Northern Ghana(World Bank, 2011-03-01)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 Albania - Urban Growth, Migration and Poverty Reduction : A Poverty Assessment(Washington, DC, 2007-12-03)This sector report claims that in the three years between 2002 and 2005 alone, almost 235,000 people have moved out of poverty in Albania. Strong economic growth and large inflow of remittances are at the center of this impressive achievement. However, low productivity of predominantly small family farms has put a drag on rural growth prospects. Moreover, Ndihma Ekonomike (NE) program, the means-tested income support program is small in scale, and has a low coverage so that it has had only a modest impact on poverty reduction. As a result of these developments, the poor are mostly rural residents, low skilled (measured as years of schooling completed) and large families. The main conclusion of this report is that as Albania looks ahead it faces the challenges of consolidating and sustaining these improvements in living conditions and narrow the widening rural and urban differences. To tackle these challenges, Albania needs to maintain the high growth path, raise rural productivity and improve the targeting performance of its NE programPublication Panama - Poverty Assessment : Toward Effective Poverty Reduction(Washington, DC, 2007-06)The Poverty Assessment for Panama, Toward Effective Poverty Reduction, focuses on: analyzing poverty, inequality, human development, GDP growth and other social indicators in Panama between 1997 and 2003; providing analytical and advisory support to the Government of Panama aimed at implementing a new strategic vision for poverty reduction; and supporting the country in capacity building in poverty diagnostics and policy evaluation. The report concludes that there is a need to develop a clear social protection strategy with specific targets which should drive the process of resource allocation in the sector. Specific policy recommendations are made in the areas of nutrition programs, education, housing, water and energy subsidies, monitoring mechanisms and institutional arrangements.Publication Ghana - Meeting the Challenge of Accelerated and Shared Growth : Country Economic Memorandum, Volume 3. Background papers(Washington, DC, 2007-11-28)Ghana has done increasingly well in recent years. This report has analyzed these issues in considerable depth, making it a prime reference on Ghana's growth and poverty experience and current policy challenges. The Ghana Country Economic Memorandum (CEM) report presented in these three volumes brings together detailed, relevant analyses of Ghana's growth and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), poverty reduction, infrastructure, agriculture, investment climate, export competitiveness, social inclusion and political economy.Publication Philippines(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011)The main report is organized into three parts: part one provides the overall context by describing the level and evolution of poverty and inequality in the Philippines and by analyzing the factors that could be weakening the link between economic growth and poverty reduction. It also provides a brief profile of the poor. Part two addresses the first strategic component for fostering inclusive growth, which refers to the enhancement of income opportunities and ensuring greater labor mobility for the poor. It begins by reviewing recent economic developments, with particular attention to employment generation, and evaluates the potential of key economic sectors to generate growth and productive employment. Part two then turns to the related challenge of ensuring labor mobility, identifying signs of labor market segmentation and factors that may be responsible for labor market rigidities which inhibit the fluid movement of workers toward the most productive activities. Part three discusses the other main component of fostering inclusive growth, which is to ensure that workers and households are well-equipped to take advantage of productive employment opportunities. It reviews the current state of health, education, and social protection in the Philippines and proposes measures for strengthening social service delivery.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication World Development Report 2019(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2019)Work is constantly reshaped by technological progress. New ways of production are adopted, markets expand, and societies evolve. But some changes provoke more attention than others, in part due to the vast uncertainty involved in making predictions about the future. The 2019 World Development Report will study how the nature of work is changing as a result of advances in technology today. Technological progress disrupts existing systems. A new social contract is needed to smooth the transition and guard against rising inequality. Significant investments in human capital throughout a person’s lifecycle are vital to this effort. If workers are to stay competitive against machines they need to train or retool existing skills. A social protection system that includes a minimum basic level of protection for workers and citizens can complement new forms of employment. Improved private sector policies to encourage startup activity and competition can help countries compete in the digital age. Governments also need to ensure that firms pay their fair share of taxes, in part to fund this new social contract. The 2019 World Development Report presents an analysis of these issues based upon the available evidence.Publication Supporting Youth at Risk(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008)The World Bank has produced this policy Toolkit in response to a growing demand from our government clients and partners for advice on how to create and implement effective policies for at-risk youth. The author has highlighted 22 policies (six core policies, nine promising policies, and seven general policies) that have been effective in addressing the following five key risk areas for young people around the world: (i) youth unemployment, underemployment, and lack of formal sector employment; (ii) early school leaving; (iii) risky sexual behavior leading to early childbearing and HIV/AIDS; (iv) crime and violence; and (v) substance abuse. The objective of this Toolkit is to serve as a practical guide for policy makers in middle-income countries as well as professionals working within the area of youth development on how to develop and implement an effective policy portfolio to foster healthy and positive youth development.Publication Zimbabwe(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-03-01)This report presents an assessment of Zimbabwe’s agriculture sector disaster risk and management capacity. The findings indicate that Zimbabwe is highly exposed to agricultural risks and has limited capacity to manage risk at various levels. The report shows that disaster-related shocks along Zimbabwe’s agricultural supply chains directly translate to volatility in agricultural GDP. Such shocks have a substantial impact on economic growth, food security, and fiscal balance. When catastrophic disasters occur, the economy absorbs the shocks, without benefiting from any instruments that transfer the risk to markets and coping ability. The increasing prevalence of ‘shock recovery-shock’ cycles impairs Zimbabwe’s ability to plan and pursue a sustainable development path. The findings presented here confirm that it is highly pertinent for Zimbabwe to strengthen the capacity to manage risk at various levels, from the smallholder farmer, to other participants along the supply chain, to consumers (who require a reliable, safe food supply), and ultimately to the government to manage natural disasters. The assessment provides the following evidence on sources of risks and plausible risk management solutions. It is our hope that the report contributes to action by the Government of Zimbabwe to adopt a proactive and integrated risk management strategy appropriate to the current structure of the agricultural sector.Publication The Power of Survey Design : A User's Guide for Managing Surveys, Interpreting Results, and Influencing Respondents(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2006)The vast majority of data used for economic research, analysis, and policy design comes from surveys-surveys of households, firms, schools, hospitals, and market participants, and, the accuracy of the estimate will depend on how well the survey is done. This innovative book is both a 'how-to' go about carrying out high-quality surveys, especially in the challenging environment of developing countries, and a 'user's guide' for anyone who uses statistical data. Reading this book will provide data users with a wealth of insight into what kinds of problems, or biases to look for in different data sources, based on the underlying survey approaches that were used to generate the data. In that sense the book is an invaluable 'skeptics guide to data'. Yet, the broad storyline of the book is something that should be absorbed by statistical data users. The book will teach and show how difficult it often is to obtain reliable estimates of important social and economic facts, and, therefore encourages you to approach all estimates with sensible caution.Publication Ten Steps to a Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation System : A Handbook for Development Practitioners(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2004)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.