Poverty in SAARC country
- Based on the country-wise data (ref. Asian Development Bank), it is estimated that 451 million people in the Region live below poverty line; and proportion of these hardcore people in the total population is 28.83%.
- The principal reason for high incidence of poverty in the region is low per capita income and inequitable distribution of income: with 23.7% share in global population, the region has only 2.62% share in global income.
The magnitudes of poverty in the SAARC region
- Agrarian Society:
- Majority population in South Asia lives in rural areas, depending on agricultural activities as their principal source of income and employment.
- Except for Maldives, share of agriculture in total GDP varies between 16.5% -40% .
- In Maldives, less than 3% of total GDP is contributed by agriculture. Due to low productivity of agriculture, per worker income in agriculture is low and, as a consequence, the proportion of population living under poverty is quite high.
- Gap between growth rate of agriculture and non-agriculture sector is rising:
- Growth rate of agriculture in SAARC region is low and unstable. Whereas total GDP in most Member States has shown high growth in the recent past, except for Nepal and Sri Lanka.
- Total GDP of other SAARC countries increased by more than 5% per annum over the first six years of the present decade.
- Gap between growth rate of agriculture and non-agriculture sector is rising in all the countries.
- Agriculture growth is necessary condition for access and affordability to ensure food and nutrition security.