... Progress made, but only rich benefiting
... Poverty reduction in 90s
Sept 7, 2005 (Vienna) ? Ghana may be a beacon of democracy and stability in the sub region, but it continues to lag behind in quality of life, with its Human Development Index (HDI) rank falling from 131 to 138 (full report).

In the ranking done annually by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Ghana?s HDI value has remained static at 0.520 - a fall from the highest rate of 0.556 in 2000 - but ranking has dropped to 138 amongst 177 countries. Ghana was ranked 128 in 2003

Of the 32 countries that scored lowest in the HDI, 30 were in Africa. Drought-hit Niger comes bottom of the table with Norway topping. Many of the world's poorest countries are doing worse in 2005 than they were 15 years ago.

Ghana is ranked lower than the Occupied Palestinian Territories(102), Papua New Guinea(137), Namibia(125) and Mongolia(114) but higher than Nigeria, Angola, Ivory Coast and many African countries.

On the Human Poverty Index (HPI), Ghana?s rank is a modest 62 amongst 103 developing countries.

The HDR notes that in many of the countries, like Ghana, that are making progress, only the wealthiest are benefiting. The gap between child mortality rates among rich and poor is increasing in Ghana.

Ghana was mentioned in the report in several pages. Here is a summary

• Children born into the poorest 20% of households in Ghana are two to three times more likely to die before age 5 than children born into the richest 20% of households.

• Recent years have witnessed signs of recovery in several countries, including Ghana. However, recovery has to be put in context. It will take Sub-Saharan Africa until 2012 just to restore average incomes to their 1980 levels at the 1.2% per capita annual growth experienced since 2000.

• Ghana reduced income poverty from 51% in 1991 to 40% at the end of the 1990s.

• In Ghana the incidence of poverty is 2% in the capital city of Accra but 70% in the rural savannah. The rural savannah accounts for one-fifth of Ghana?s population, but two-fifths of the population living in poverty. While poverty has been declining in Accra, it has remained unchanged in the savannah

• Ghana?s rural-urban divide is equally marked in access to basic services. One in five rural residents has access to piped water compared with four in five urban residents.

• Death rates for children under age 5 are far higher in rural areas, reflecting a higher incidence of poverty and more limited coverage of basic services

• In Ghana 36% of child deaths occur among the poorest 20% of the population, while 7% occur among the richest 20%

• In Ghana net aid increased from 3% of GDP in the mid-1990s to more than 7% in 2001?03, yet the real exchange rate changed by less than 1% in the second period

• Ghana managed a surge of aid in 2001 not by increasing domestic money supply but by selling into foreign exchange markets to stabilize the currency following a terms of trade shock.

• In countries such as Ghana rice farmers have been pushed out of national markets by US imports, undermining prospects for the development of a dynamic rural economy. In Ghana rice farmers in the poorest northern part of the country have seen markets squeezed by cheap US imports.

• In Ghana five smallholder cooperatives have created a company that has been at the forefront of an increase in pineapple exports to the European Union and regional markets. Initially supported by the World Bank, the company works with public bodies and private providers to contract for technical services that assist farmers in meeting product standards, procuring credit and exporting.

Human development index trends for Ghana

The HDI focuses on three measurable dimensions of human development: living a long and healthy life, being educated and having a decent standard of living. Thus it combines measures of life expectancy, school enrolment, literacy and income to allow a broader view of a country?s development than does income alone.