Publication: Bolivia : Poverty Diagnostic 2000
Date
2002-06-28
ISSN
Published
2002-06-28
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
The report presents a diagnostic of
poverty, human development, and access to social
infrastructure in Bolivia, based on analytical work, to
serve as an input for the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper
(PRSP). Findings suggest that poverty affects half of the
population in large cities, two thirds in other urban areas,
and eighty percent in rural areas. Nonetheless, there is
seemingly a recent decrease in inequality, although this
does not imply a long-term trend. The complex determinants
of poverty, are also increased by the fact of being from an
indigenous population, and of having a household head
unemployed, underemployed, and/or female. Since poverty
decreases with education, and employment in non-agricultural
occupations, and geography affects poverty, migration
becomes a poverty-reducing tool. A qualitative study of
farmers in the Altiplano suggest decreased rural
productivity, intensified by climatic, demographic, and
environmental pressures, with little gain from most
development projects. Hence, progress in non-monetary
indicators show that while unsatisfied basic needs fell
significantly from 1976 to 2001, the gains were mainly
achieved in urban areas, and needs remain large in rural
areas. It is suggested that this progress in basic needs
measures, lies in the increased social spending, but the
scope for reducing monetary poverty, lies in the
accessibility to public infrastructure services, in reducing
violence, and gender issues. But the impact of growth needs
further understanding, with improvements in productivity and
competitiveness, enlarged by improvements in education,
health, and nutrition, where the poor may benefit more than
the non-poor from the expansion of these services.
Citation
“World Bank. 2002. Bolivia : Poverty Diagnostic 2000. © Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/15382 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”