Measuring Poverty in Mozambique: A Critique
21 - July - 2010 | 0Issue 21/July-September 2010
By Frank Vollmer
Mozambique is a country that is riddled with poverty. It is placed on the UN’s list of the 50 Least Developed Countries, and accommodates 0.61% of the world’s population living below the global poverty line of US$1 a day. It continues to have one of the lowest GDP per capita in the world, and shows dramatic limitations in crafting human development (with 900 US$ in 2009, Mozambique is ranked 218/228 countries worldwide in GDP per capita terms, and 172/182 on the 2009 Human Development Index). On the other hand is it a country that has been hailed by the World Bank for its vehement reduction in poverty levels: “poverty declined rapidly in Mozambique over the 96/97-02/03 period” one report stated (Fox et.al, 2005).
How is this possible? This article sets out to meaningfully critique the way poverty is measured in Mozambique, by analysing the measurements usefulness against the capabilities framework of Amartya Sen, which is the philosophical base of the country’s poverty definition used in the government’s PRSP. Considering the influence measurement techniques have gained on directing policies, and to judge progress made on reducing levels of absolute poverty, it concludes with a call to replace the current unidimensional poverty measure with a multidimensional measurement application, one that shall allow the better crafting of policy responses to fight poverty defined as “capabilities deprivation”.