Institute for Democracy in South Africa (Cape Town)
25 May 2009
press release
Higher levels of political freedom in African countries often correspond with lower levels of poverty, according to the Afrobarometer, an African-wide survey tool that measures public attitudes on democracy, governance and economic performance.
In the latest findings from the surveys, conducted in 18 African countries between 2001 and 2008, the Afrobarometer Network found that those countries in Africa with more political freedom displayed lower levels of poverty.
The survey clearly showed that the more a country expanded political liberties and political rights over a given period, the more it reduced poverty during the same period. Countries like Zambia and Ghana, that have undergone a process of democratisation, have experienced steady poverty reduction, while in Zimbabwe, Senegal and Madagascar, as political freedom has decreased, poverty has steadily increased.
Round 4 of the Afrobarometer survey was conducted in Botswana, Cape Verde, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Benin, Madagascar, Liberia and Burkina Faso.
The survey set out to measure what it called "lived poverty", a tool developed by the Afrobarometer Network, an international consortium of researchers who between them interviewed more than 105,000 Africans in four rounds of surveys between 1999 and 2008.
The Afrobarometer Network comprises Idasa (South Africa), the Centre for Democratic Development (Ghana), the Institute for Empirical Research in Political Economy (Benin) and other partner organisations in each African country. Michigan State University and the University of Cape Town provide technical and advisory support.
The Lived Poverty Index (LPI) is determined according to how frequently people go without five basic necessities (enough food to eat, clean water, medicines or medical treatment, cooking fuel and a cash income).
From public attitude surveys conducted last year, Afrobarometer found that on the whole lived poverty has declined between 2000 and 2008 in Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Cape Verde, Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia. It has remained essentially unchanged in Mali, Benin, Madagascar, Senegal and Tanzania, and has shown sharp increases in Botswana, Nigeria and (up to 2005 when the last survey could be conducted) in Zimbabwe.
In every country, the most commonly reported shortage was a cash income, followed by shortages of medical care, food, clean water and cooking fuel, in that order. The typical African citizen went without a cash income "several times" a year and experienced "just one or two" shortages in food and medical care. The average African "never" went without clean water or home cooking fuel (though just barely).
However the experience of a typical African citizen masks substantial variation across countries. For example, while just over half of all South Africans experienced at least one shortage of cash in the previous 12 months, the figure is as high as nine of every ten Malians, Zimbabweans, Basotho, Burkinabe, Beninois and Senegalese.
Just three in ten Ghanaians and Cape Verdians experienced any kind of food insecurity in the previous year, compared to seven of every ten Basotho (and eight of 10 Zimbabweans in 2005). Shortages of clean water for cooking and home use affected approximately 35% of respondents in Ghana, South Africa, Mali and Madagascar, compared to 60% or more of Zambians and Zimbabweans.
In the first nine years of the 21st century, sub-Saharan Africa experienced its strongest period of sustained growth in decades. But improved economic indicators have not always translated into material improvements in the everyday lives of ordinary Africans.
"Examining trends across the countries, lived poverty fell only in those countries that achieved growth rates of 5.5% or higher. But the disparate paths of lived poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa appear to have at least one other important source: freedom and democracy. In each round of surveys, lived poverty has had a substantial correlation with indicators of political freedom," stated one of the Afrobarometer survey reports, written by Robert Mattes of the University of Cape Town and Michael Bratton of Michigan State University, released in Pretoria on Monday.
"In sum, lived poverty remains extensive. While most Afrobarometer countries have managed to reduce lived poverty, others have allowed it to increase. However, a more complete picture must also take into consideration the state of political freedom. Lived poverty is strongly related to measures of political freedom, and changes in poverty are related to changes in freedom," the report concluded.
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Surely the connectionn between democratic government and the availability of financial aid from Europe, the Americas and Asia is the primary factor?