By Daniel Itai.
Dodoma, Tanzania. (News of The South) – The World Bank has agreed to release a 1.03 trillion Tanzanian shilling (approximately US$445 million) loan to support the country’s anti-poverty drive.
Tanzania Action Fund (TASAF), a state-run program that helps poor people to fight poverty will be heading the country’s anti-poverty drive.
However, the poverty reducing impact of economic growth has been slowing down, according to the latest World Bank report on Tanzania Mainland Poverty Assessment.
The Poverty Assessment, which is an analysis of the government’s 2018 Household Budget Survey, confirms its findings that the basic needs poverty rate declined from 34.4 percent in 2007 to 28.2 percent in 2012, and to a further 26.4 percent in 2018.
“It is important for the country to accelerate the trend, as the number of the poor is still high, and the majority of Tanzanians are vulnerable to falling back into poverty at the slightest shock.
Almost half of the population lives on less than US$1.90 per person per day, so there is a lot of work ahead to improve the living standards of all citizens.
With an increase in the economic returns outside agriculture, there is a growing need for investments in human capital especially among the poor and the vulnerable.
Increasing access to productive employment opportunities is key to sustaining the momentum picked up during the last decade,” said Bella Bird, World Bank Country Director for Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi.
Persistent high population growth is a major challenge for poverty reduction efforts in Tanzania, but it can be a huge opportunity with the right investments and policy initiatives.
Comments
About Author
