Poverty in Ghana is Basically a Rural Phenomenon: Are we Underestimating Urban Poverty?
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Date
2007
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Ghana Journal of Development Studies 1(4): 87-105
Abstract
Poverty in Ghana is generally described as a rural phenomenon. While this statement is widely quoted, little attention has been given to the methodology used in the measurement of poverty which leads to this conclusion. This article argues for a critical re-examination of this statement. While not underestimating the extent and depth of rural poverty, it argues that the present consumption-based approach used in estimating or measuring the level of poverty in Ghana is bias against urban areas, which may therefore underestimate urban poverty, and consequently the overall poverty level of the country. The article examines the poverty line setting methodology and the biases against urban areas, and the implications of underestimating urban poverty. It concludes that the bias against urban areas may be a logical extension of the ‘anti-urban’ development perspective, which has its roots in the urban bias thesis (the perception that urban areas have always been favoured in development policies and in the allocation of resources). It stressed that poverty reduction programmes such as the Ghana’s poverty reduction strategy papers (GPRSI&II) should place equal emphasis on both rural poverty and urban poverty
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Keywords
Urban poverty, Poverty measurement, Poverty reduction, Consumption-based approach, Locational characteristics