India is Far Poorer than Africa in Intensity and in Number

[Kofi]

Africa is poor but India is poorer. Africans are poor people but Indians are poorer than Africans. Africa is the poorest continent but India is far poorer than the poorest African countries combined and that poverty is worse in India not just in number but also in intensity. Recent studies show that Africa is far better than India in terms of economic and social development. Recent Studies show that taking the population size, Human development, poverty levels, education, and everything else into consideration, there are more poor people in India than In Africa and that the poverty of the poor in India is far greater than the poverty of the poor in Africa. To put it in simple terms, Recent studies show that Life in Africa is far better than Life in India and that Indians are living in worse conditions than Africans which means that Indians are poorer than Africans not only in the number but also in intensity.

According to a new study more people live in poverty in eight Indian states than in 26 of sub-Saharan Africa's poorest countries combined. The creators of the new study said the level of poverty in South Asia compared to Africa was a surprising discovery.

The Multidimensional Poverty Index takes into account issues such as health and education and whether or not people have access to clean water and electricity.

Sabina Alkire is director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative and she co-created the new index.

"One striking feature is that most of the poor people live in South Asia – 51 percent of the 1.7 billion people that we have identified as poor are resident in that continent," says Alkire. "And it is not only the number, but also the intensity."
She says about one-quarter of the world's poor live in Africa, according to the MPI.

"When we compare the 26 poorest countries of Africa with states in India that have the same intensity of deprivation, we find there are more poor people with this intensity of deprivation in India than in sub-Saharan Africa. And that is quite striking," Alkire adds.

Alkire says the new Index paints a different and sometimes surprising picture of poverty than studies that look at income alone.


For example, in Ethiopia 90 percent of people are 'MPI poor' compared to the 39 percent who are classified as living in 'extreme poverty'. And 1.7-billion people living in the countries covered by the Index live in poverty according to the MPI – that is higher than the 1.3-billion people who live on $1.25 a day or less.

Alkire says a benefit of the new index is that it shows how poverty affects people living in different regions of a country.

"So we looked at Kenya, where Nairobi has the poverty of the Dominican Republic – not too much poverty – whereas the northeastern rural area of Kenya is worse than our poorest country, Niger, with more than 90 percent of people poor," Alkire said.

She says it also shows the range of poverty amongst different ethnic groups – she says in some countries the variety is tremendous.

The Multidimensional Poverty Index was developed by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative with support from the United Nations. It will be featured in the upcoming UNDP Human Development Report, replacing the Human Poverty Index.

Researchers analyzed data from 104 countries with a combined population of 5.2 billion – just under 80 percent of the world's total population.

What are your views on this? What do you think?

[GoodLove]

Indian government officials try to hide the true figures because India is always competing with countries like Pakistan and China in terms of economic development but as we can see from this holistic view of poverty, India is the poorest country on earth.

It is good to know people are beginning to view poverty not just from one angle but from several angles. If you have good education, good health care and a good family that supports you but you have just $1 in your pocket, I think you are far better than someone who has no education, no health care, no family but have $1.10 in his pocket. The multidimensional poverty index takes all these things into account which will allow us to see which parts of the world are in most need.

I have been to India twice and these figures are not surprising to me at all. India is very very poor but the Indian media try to hide the true nature of the situation of poverty and hunger in India. Not that everybody is poor in India. There are some rich people in India but compared to the number of poor people and how poor these people are, India is the poorest country in the world. As I said earlier on, the rich people in India try to cover this 'shame' because they are always competing with Pakistan and China. They show only the best parts on TV whereas the majority continue to live in absolute poverty.

I saw the report on BBC this morning. People think it is just the number but that is not the case. The intensity of poverty in India is worse than in any other country. India is the second largest country in the world so the number isn't shocking but the Intensity is what I am concerned about. According to the BBC report, India's poverty is worse than any other country in the world but people don't see it that way.

[Atubiga]

well India is not a continent whereas Africa is a continent so Africa is still the poorest continent but India is far poorer than some countries in Africa and it is understandable comparing the population of India to the entire continent of Africa combined. One thing I have noticed is that in all poor countries as the population size increases, so does the poverty level.