Growth not enough to end poverty: ADB
Despite Asia’s rapid growth, vast sections of its population still live in poverty and suffer hunger and other forms of deprivation which could threaten the sustainability of the region’s growth and its integration, says a new study by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the National University of Singapore (NUS).
According to the study titled “The Ending Asian Deprivations”, “Despite a sharp reduction in income poverty in recent decades, a fifth of Asia’s population still lives in extreme poverty.”
If those vulnerable to reverting to poverty are included this figure could rise to one in two, it said, adding many countries were likely to fall short of achieving the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) in areas of basic sanitation, underweight children, infant and maternal mortality as the issues of growing income gaps and other inequities became increasingly acute.
The study, compiled with contributions from 23 Asian development experts, said the number of people being left behind despite the region’s boom showed that previous development efforts were not been sufficient to end deprivation.
According to the study, although GDP growth helps to reduce income poverty, it plays a much smaller role in reducing education and health deprivations.
The spike in inequality was also likely to impact future economic growth through slower poverty reduction and employment generation, the report stated.
“New approaches may need to be considered to make growth more inclusive and to promote more effective state action in areas such as skills development, delivery of quality education, and incentives for entrepreneurs,” it said.
These measures must be carried out in conjunction with institutional improvements and partnerships with the private sector and civil society.
Policymakers would also need to improve the conditions of small-and-medium enterprises which were key job generators.
“Other areas requiring increased state-support are infrastructure, urban dwellings and social protection programs,” the report said.
The removal of gender inequities and labor market rigidities was necessary to boost employment opportunities, it said.
According to the report, closer regional cooperation was crucial, with the ADB estimating that the infrastructure for cross-border connectivity would deliver benefits equivalent to about $13 trillion for Asian development upto 2020 and beyond.
The report said any successful new development approach must have clearly defined goals with a definite timeframe, a credible strategy to achieve them and a detailed list of public interventions.
The MDGs provide an effective base but future development goals also need to incorporate region and country-specific needs, it said.
“A reasonable time frame for ending deprivations in Asia would be 2025,” it added, “a decade after the MDGs target ends.”
