[Zimbabwe] Poverty Datum Line Up 21,7 Percent

from All Africa

Martin Kadzere
Harare

THE Total Consumption Poverty Line (TCPL) for an average family of five shot up 21,7 percent to $31,1 million in March from $25,5 million, latest statistics from the Central Statistical Office (CSO) show.

An individual, according to the CSO data, required about $6 million in March to purchase both food and non-food items if they were to be considered not poor. However, salaries of many citizens fell below this figure which means most Zimbabweans are considered poor. In other words, a household of five persons must earn an income at par or above $31,1 million per month in order not to be regarded as living in poverty. During the past 12 months, the TCPL increased by 1 000 percent from $2,8 million to $31,1 million in March this year. During the same month, the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) also reported that the consumer basket for an urban family of six in December had shot to $34,9 million. However, the CCZ survey is not representative of all the provinces. CSO figures look at both rural and urban set-ups. The Food Poverty Line, on the other hand, had also gone up from $9 million to $10,3 million in March for an average household of five representing a 13,6 percent rise.

Bulawayo, Matabeleland and Manicaland are the most expensive to live in as FPL is above the national average level of $9 million due to high food prices. The average family needed $12 million in Bulawayo and about $11 million and $11,5 million in Manicaland and Matabeleland provinces respectively. Midlands, Masvingo, Mashonaland East and Mashonaland -- the country's agriculturally productive regions -- are the cheapest, with the FPL relatively below the national average. The FPL represents the minimum consumption expenditures necessary to ensure that each household member can (if all expenditures were devoted to food) consume a minimum food basket representing 2 100 kilocalories. On the other hand, the TCPL is derived by computing the non-food consumption expenditures of poor households whose consumption expenditures were equal to the FPL.