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by Moraa Gitaa

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G21 AFRICA - THE FACE OF GLOBAL POVERTY: Kenyan writer MORAA GITAA returns to provide an in-depth look at our Focus Issue 20007: Relieving Globa l Poverty.

Moraa Gitaa

Mombasa, KENYA - "We do not want to create a country of 10 millionaires and 10 million paupers" - The Late J.M. Kariuki (Populist Kenyan politician assassinated in 1971.

"We all know the basic facts. Half the people in the world live on less than $ 2 a day. A fifth live on less than $ 1 a day. Over the next three decades, two billion more people will be added to the global population - 97 percent of them in developing countries, most of them born into poverty." - James D. Wolfensohn - Former World Bank President, World Bank. October 3rd 2004.

"... Poverty reduction begins with children... making sure that every child has the best possible start in life... is the only reasonable choice for responsible leadership." - UNICEF's 'State of the world's children - 2006 report.

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In a country where, in some parts of our motherland, a child owning a pair of sandals intimates that you are well-off, we have a long way to go if as a country we are to heed UNICEF's call and attain half of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

A recent Reuters report, in a local daily indicated that in neighboring Zanzibar, 20% of Zanzibaris aged between 18 and 24 years are unemployed or without gainful employment. Thus poverty seems to be a global phenomenon.

In yet another newspaper - The East African of January 08th-14th 2007 we were reliably informed that Kenyan retirees are doomed to poverty as pensions eat up 25% of GDP. Meaning that the liability to pensioners amounts to one quarter of the wealth created in the economy.

The short of it is that workers who retire in Kenya are condemned to abject poverty because for the majority of pensioners the monthly stipend is woefully inadequate even to provide their basic needs.

Now the question that beggars is, if this is how we treat our pensioners - how much more severe do we treat the ones who have never known gainful or permanent employment?

This first new month this new year, two mind boggling bank robberies have held the attention of Kenyans.

The first robbery occurred on the Nakuru highway early this month - armed robbers killed two policemen and one policewoman who were escorting a CIT (Cash in Transit) convoy. The gangsters, armed with pistols and AK47s, got away with Kenya shillings 22 million.

The second robbery occurred in Mombasa. Robbers calmly walked into Habib Bank and walked away with Kenya shillings 40 million after duping the front door bank guard with the story that they were on official business. Never mind that one of the back door bank guards was later arrested in a guest house with 2 million stuffed in his pillow case!

At the time the robberies were being announced on the Prime News, I was in both instances having a chat with a group of youth. They nodded their heads in glee and satisfaction saying that it was good. Where does the Government expect them to get food if they do not have jobs? Does the President expect them to buy sugar at 120 Kenyan Shillings per kg and a 2kg maize meal flour packet at 66 Kenyan Shillings and bread at 25 Kenyan Shillings - same as he and a clique of well-heeled elite?

No wonder small children point out highrise apartment blocks and say that that and that building belongs to so-and-so'sDdad who works for the KRA (Kenya Revenue Authority.) Make hay while the sun shines so the old adage goes!

The fundamental issues raised by various commentators on the socio-economic scene, serve as typical case studies of how far those who have over the years benefited from ill-gotten wealth are prepared to go in defense of their loot. Most elite had rather they buried their heads in the sand like the proverbial ostrich as Kenya's poor masses go to the dogs, reminding me of Fanon's book, Wretched of the Earth.

Were it not for impeccable sources letting on that the Kenya Anti Corruption Commission Director Aaron Ringera's earns Kenya shillings 2.5 Million per month, I would think it a lie! Rhe salary itself seems a bribe, seeing as that he earns more than his boss, the President, while other Kenyans starve.

1. POVERTY: A THEORETIC BACKGROUND.

Poverty may be defined in two ways: poverty in the absolute sense, and poverty in the relative sense. In the absolute sense, poverty is defined in terms of a minimum income that is necessary for subsistence. Rowntree (1899) in his York study defined poor families as those with an income insufficient to obtain the minimum necessities for the maintenance of merely physical efficiency. In his study, Rowntree utilized the estimates of minimum nutritional requirements and requirements of clothing, fuel and other household necessities.

Defining poverty in the absolute, involves making some arbitrary assumptions. It is difficult to make precise definitions of minimum nutritional requirements as each individual's needs differ, depending on factors such as physiology and level of physical activity. Nevertheless agencies concerned with relief activities, such as Red Cross and Oxfam, foten employ this concept of poverty in planning their emergency relief efforts.

Poverty in the relative sense, involves defining a household as poor if its income is insufficient to enable its members to participate in the normal life of the society. To make this definition operational would require the application of value judgments, as well as economic ones. What constitutes normal life will differ greatly from country to country and may even differ within the social strata of the same country.

In a modern developed economy, members of a household might expect to own a range of household appliances, such as a television, cell phones, participate in social events and take an annual holiday. Such facilities regarded as part of a normal life in a developed country, would be beyond the expectations of a poor family in a developing country.

International Dimensions Of Poverty

The World Bank defines poverty as "the ability to attain a minimum standard of living".

The World Bank employs a consumption-based poverty line that includes two elements:

1. The expenditure necessary to purchase a minimum nutritional standard and other household necessities.
2. An amount necessary to enable participation in the everyday life of the society.

Thus, this definition seeks to take into account poverty in both the absolute and relative senses. The bank defines the extremely poor as those with income of up to $275 per capita per year in 1985 purchasing power parity (PPP) dollars. The World Bank figures reflect exchange rates that seek to measure each currency's domestic purchasing power rather than market exchange rates.

This section explores poor peoples' definitions of poverty as documented by PPA.

Let us use an inductive approach to uncover dimensions of poverty that are important to poor people and to capture characterization of poverty. This approach requires us to set aside our prejudices and assumptions about what is important for the poor, about the importance of particular sectors in reducing poverty, about regional or gender differences and about the best conceptual framework for understanding poverty.

As a result, the following readings and the concepts that I use are determined by what emerges from various analysis of definitions of poverty.

There are seven main findings:

1. Many factors converge to make poverty an interlocking multi-dimensional phenomenon.
2. Poverty is routinely defined as lack of what is necessary for material well-being especially fo od, but also housing, land and other assets. In other words poverty is the lack of multiple resources that leads to hunger and physical deprivation.
3. Poor peoples' definitions reveal important psychological aspects of poverty.

   Poor people are acutely aware of their lack of voice, power and independence that subject them to exploitation. Their poverty leaves them vulnerable to rudeness, humiliation and inhuman treatment by both public and private agents of the state from whom they seek help. Poor people also speak about the pain brought about by their unavoidable violations of social norms and their inability to maintain cultural identity through participation in traditions, festivals and rituals. Their inability to fully participate in the community life often leads to social breakdown.

4. The absence of physical infrastructure particularly roads in rural areas, transport land water, emerges as a critical concern. In the countries of Eastern Europe and former Soviet Union, lack of affordable electricity for heating is a major concern during the winters.
5. Illness is always dreaded as the costs incurred for treatment and care of patients often plunge families into destitution.
6. While literacy is viewed as important, dropping out of school receives mixed reviews. Occasionally highly valued, but often notably irrelevant in the lives of the poor.
7. Poor people often focus more on assets rather than incomes, and link their lack of physical, human, social and environmental assets to their vulnerability and exposure to risk.

General Causes Of Poverty

In any given place, the causes of poverty are many and interact in complex ways. In general terms, however, the following are the main causes of poverty in Kenya:

1. Historical: Eviction of squatters e.g. forested areas.
2. Demographic: High level of dependence; Reliance on the practice family planning
3. Environmental/Drought: Kenya is classified as one of the drought-prone areas of sub-Saharan Africa, with almost three-quarters of the country facing cycles of food shortages, water scarcity, livestock losses and diseases.
4. Wildlife menace: The conflict between wildlife and human population is especially acute in areas bordering game reserves and national parks, where marauding animals routinely invade farms and homes leading to huge losses of property and lives.
5. Water hyacinth in fresh water lakes e.g. lake Victoria: This has mainly affected the fishermen who solely depend on the lake to supply their domestic sustenance as well as provide income to purchase other necessities. Since the weed reduces the number and quality of catches, their incomes are drastically affected.
6. Livestock disease: These have been known to wipe out entire herds leaving their owners without a means of sustenance e.g. trypanosomiasis, Anthrax, etc. Government extension services to forestall such ravages are non-existent, especially where they are most needed.
7. Economic: Lack of employment opportunities; High cost of living; Corruption; Over reliance on cash crop economy; Poor extension services at all levels and all sectors; Slow growth in industrial sector; Landlessness.
8. Personal: Individual sloth and lack of initiative; Ethnic clashes; Lack of personal security in urban and rural areas (Crime).

STEPS SO FAR AND WAY FORWARD

World Bank - Kenya:

• Last year (2006) welcomed the signing of the Public Procurement & Disposals Bill by President Kibaki.
• Geographic Dimensions of well-being in Kenya: Who & where are the poor? Report released by the (CBS) Central Bureau Of Statistics (The report was an eye-opener)

World Bank - Regional:

• Defines poverty as "The ability to attain a minimum standard of living."
• Debt relief synonymous with conflict resolution & development.
• Encourages Capacity building / women & development.

World Bank - Global:

• Initiated the Global Health Summit
• Thus global partnerships go hand in hand with Regional Initiatives.
• SPA - Strategic Partnership with Africa
• Third world priorities with emphasis on the African Region coinciding with progress towards the MDG's (Millennium Development Goals)

NEPAD - (New Partnership For African Development) given birth to APRM - (African Peer Review Mechanism)

MILESTONES

2006 Nobel Peace winner Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank/Foundation that lends to the poor who have no collateral at low interest rates and promoting Micro-Financing as a means to ending poverty, especially in the third world.

Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs - Director, The Earth Institute (Columbia University)& Director - UN Millennium Project (Who was Special Advisor to Koffi Annan) The Professor was also voted by Time Magazine as one of the most influential leaders in 2006) His book The End of Poverty contributed to the nomination. His argument is that Africa is in a poverty trap and bad governance is the major contributor. In other words, donor funds not effectively reaching the common lay person.

"The Diary of Angelina Jolie (UN Goodwill Ambassador) & Dr. Jeffrey Sachs in Africa": This documentary premiered in the USA last year. Sensitized its audience to poverty in Africa and means of alleviating it. Eg: Millennium Village they are both involved with in Kenya is Sauri village in Nyanza.Province.