Irma Suffern: Blog 8 Poverty in Afghanistan

Analysis:

            Around the world the rates of poverty has been doing well and decreasing. Even Afghanistan has seen some improvements for their native people. In the NRVA (Afghanistan's National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment) survey between 2008 and 2012 it showed results of infant mortality rates decreasing by 57 percent. There was better drinking water for the public, which ultimately led to less people becoming ill and dying. And the literacy rate amongst adults had increased by 5 percent. Despite all of these improvements Afghanistan still suffers from poverty. The improvement of poverty ridden countries has been proven to be more difficult when they are in a fragile state.

Response:

            The extent of poverty within Afghanistan is so great that over 50 percent of households reported to live off of less than $1.25 a day. This is less than what a cup of coffee costs in America. The poverty rate is stuck at 36 percent in Afghanistan. Afghanistan suffers from great inflation prices, although they have had great economic growth. Most of the stagnation of recent poverty numbers is due to inequality. Consumption amongst the richest Afghanis has grown significantly more and the consumption amongst the poor has hardly grown at all. However, the pace of future growth rates is unknown. Due to the current state of Afghanistan they are now facing the possibility of fragility challenges. These challenges can make it much more difficult to end and even reduce poverty in Afghanistan.

           

URL: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/borany-penh/a-tough-job-tackling-pove-afghanistan_b_5084874.html

Title: A Tough Job: Tackling Poverty and Fragility in Afghanistan

Date/Time: April 3, 2014 2:16 pm