The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPC) report released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has revealed rather, a miserable pictorial view of rural poverty in Ghana.
This report was conducted with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the German Agency for International Cooperation, and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative of Oxford University.
According to the National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report, which monitors the social progress of individuals and households towards meeting the Sustainable Development Goals, 45.6 per cent of Ghana’s population is multi-dimensionally poor.
The report also reveals that, out of five people, two out of these five people are multidimensionally poor.
Speaking at the launch, Government Statistician and National Project Director of the report, Prof. Samuel Kobina Annim, said the report helps to provide an assessment of a deficiency in basic survival needs for the implementation of policy interventions.
The report looked at how people experience poverty in their health, education, and living standards.
The indicators that contribute most to multi-dimensional poverty in Ghana are lack of health insurance coverage, under-nutrition, the slow response in school and households with members without any educational qualification.
The intensity of poverty is 51.7 per cent. This means that poor people experience, on average, more than half of the weighted deprivations. The MPI, which is the product of the incidence and intensity of poverty, is 0.236.
It also showed that the rural-urban differences are evident, with 64.6 per cent of the rural population and 27.0 per cent of the urban population being multi-dimensionally poor.
It also stated that the Northern Region recorded the highest rate of multidimensional poverty – with every eight out of ten persons being multi-dimensionally poor (80.0%), followed by the Upper East Region- with close to seven out of every ten persons being multi-dimensionally poor (68.0%).
On Health
Access to health services had declined over the years. Relatively, there has been an increase in the proportion of the ill or injured that are likely not to consult a doctor or even visit a health facility for treatment. This situation is quite worrying since a healthy population assures increasing economic productivity. It is important to know why a good number of the population would not consult a doctor or even visit any health facility when ill or injured. The reduction in the proportion of the injured/ill who consulted a doctor or visited any health facility in 2016/17 was more pronounced in rural localities of the country.
On Education
On the aspect of school attendance rate, it shows all levels have increased between 2012/13 and 2016/17. There have been appreciable improvements in both Gross Attendance Rate (GAR) and Net Attendance Rate (NAR) at primary, Junior High School (JHS), and Senior High School (SHS) levels. The improvements in school attendance favoured the female child in most localities compared to the male child.
Net enrolment increased much more for households with higher income relative to households in the lower quintiles. Household ownership of different transportation assets reduced in urban households in 2016/17. Again, a lot more injured or persons that are ill are more likely not to consult a doctor today than in 2012/13.
In general, however, there have been improvements in access to electricity, potable water, and improved toilet facilities, among others. These and many others are symptoms of the steady poverty reduction in the country that has been reported over the years.
