The forgotten people amidst development

The persistence of poverty, despite economic growth and development, has been a phenomenon the world over. For instance, the rapid economic growth in India and China in the last two decades reduced overall poverty significantly, though pockets of poverty remain in regions, among certain castes, in particular occupations, among the unemployed and unskilled labour and women. In Sri Lanka too poverty levels have declined according to macro economic data, but there are significant regional differences. Poverty is higher in rural areas and on the estates.

When overall poverty levels decline it is quite easy to forget the people left behind by the process and paths of economic growth. It is in this context of poverty amidst development that there is a need to focus on poverty in regions and among sections of the population. Therefore a proper understanding of poverty requires field level surveys and in-depth analysis of poverty conditions. Detailed in-depth studies of poverty are however few and quite inadequate to understand and address poverty in less developed areas of the country.

D.P. Munaweera’s study Who are the Poor fills this void in as far as the Galle District is concerned. This very detailed study, based on a sample from 11 areas in the Galle district, looks into a number of factors that determine poverty in the area. These include the type of employment, ownership of land and other resources and other socioeconomic characteristics.

The Report uses secondary data available on the Galle district and combines it with a comprehensive data collection to understand the economic and social factors that contribute to poverty in the Galle District. It gives us an understanding of incomes, food expenditure, household assets, credit sources, methods of cooking and other features of the poor and the not so poor. Indeed it explores household conditions to answer the question “Who are the Poor?”

An interesting feature of the survey is that the population has been divided into two groups: the poor and the non-poor. It compares the economic conditions and features of these two communities, one that has been affected by poverty and the other that has not been affected by poverty. This division into two communities enabled the author to draw distinctions between these two socio-economic groups.

Data that have been obtained includes incomes, pattern of consumption especially the expenditure on food, type of employment and occupation, household assets, ownership of land, sources of borrowing and collateral used for borrowing. All these factors have a significant bearing on the economic conditions and consequently the study is able to identify the most relevant factors that cause poverty, as well as capture characteristics in the behaviour of the poor and the non-poor.

According to the findings of the survey, those in casual and self-employment are among the poorest. Furthermore the extent of poverty is correlated to the number of members in each family. Number of family members is suggested as a measure to identify the poorest among the poor in the pov- erty-stricken community. An intriguing question is whether the larger families are the cause of the poverty or whether poverty is the reason for large families.

This report reveals a significant relationship between poverty and expenditure on food and non-food items by households. The study confirms the well known phenomenon of a very high proportion of expenditure of poor households being on food, while the expenditure of the non-poor on food is much lower. The proportion of expenditure on food is much higher in the poverty affected community than in the non- poor community.

Around 35 per cent of both communities have taken loans, especially for construction of houses and house repairs. An interesting disclosure is that: “The majority of the poverty community has taken loans from Samurdhi Banks or local community society, but the non-poverty families have mainly obtained loans from State Banks or from Private Banks”. This discloses the well known fact that the poorest of the poor cannot access banks. Microfinance organisations are more suited to meeting their needs.

There are little savings by the poverty group, except for recipients of Samurdhi. It is also interesting to note that most persons of both the poor and not so poor communities are not in favour of mortgaging their properties. Jewellery is often pawned as collateral for obtaining credit. The nonpoor mortgage property when the loan amount is high.

It appears that irrespective of their poverty, there is a high premium on purchasing a television.Both poverty and non-poverty communities use televisions and radios, more than any other electrical equipment. The poor depend on bicycles for transport while some of the rich have trishaws.

It is interesting to note that the poorest are assisted by Samurdhi, even though it is generally believed that a high proportion of beneficiaries are not the needy. Even though nationally many of the needy do not have access to Samurdhi benefits owing to the politicisation of the programme, the sample of the poor have had access to Samurdhi benefits and these have been useful to them.

This detailed baseline survey has identified the most vulnerable community groups as Samurdhi recipients, labourers and the self-employed. These are what Amartya Sen has described as those with the least “entitlements”. The author recommends that the government should pay their utmost attention to these three most affected community groups.

This can only be achieved by increasing and enhancing their sources of income, their “entitlements”. Education and development of skills is a means of enhancing incomes. The findings of the survey convey many of the conventional views on the causes of poverty and the characteristics of the poor. It confirms the need to enhance the capacity of the poor to move into employment that earns more than their self-employment and casual labour.

The author makes several important recommendations on these same lines. He urges that more income generating opportunities should be available to the poor, that they should be introduced to microfinance and credit systems, and that conservation farming systems should be introduced to increase their yields.

D.P. Munaweera draws our attention to one of the most pertinent issues that confront the country today in enhancing economic growth and human development. Though it is only a sample survey, which limits the author’s freedom to arrive at more definite functional relationships, the features of poverty that are disclosed point to possible strategies for poverty reduction. The book ( including soft copies) can be obtained from The Director, Jesuits Members Centre, Kaluwella, Galle