[Bangladesh] Quarter of Bangladeshis live in extreme poverty-study

from Reuters Alert Net

DHAKA, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Nearly a quarter of Bangladeshis live in extreme poverty and about a fifth of the rural population cannot afford three meals a day, a study shows.

"While Bangladesh has come out of the 'shadow of famine', the problem of starvation persists. About 24 percent of the total population currently live in extreme income poverty," said the study.

The study did not define extreme income poverty but economists described it as anyone living on less than $1 a day.

In parts of Bangladesh, particularly in the north, work is hard to find for months on end so many Bangladeshis go without even one meal a day, a situation often described as living in near-famine conditions.

However, these conditions have not occurred this year.

Jointly conducted by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) and the Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC) of the United Kingdom, the study found that around 19 percent of rural households can not afford more than two meals a day.

The study was released to the media late on Sunday.

It said that around 31 percent of the rural population have suffered from chronic poverty -- low consumption, hunger and under-nutrition, lack of access to basic health services, illiteracy and other deprivations, for more than a decade.

Accurate figures are not available for urban areas, but in effect between 25 and 30 million of the country's citizens are chronically poor, it said.

Bangladesh's has a population of 140 million, over 70 percent of them living in villages.

The study noted however that Bangladesh was making progress in economic growth and towards achieving millennium development goals (MDG).

"While it is clear that Bangladesh does not provide an easy context for poverty reduction, the recent economic growth in the country, improvements in services and the resilience and innovation of the poorest all augur well," it said.

"Overall, Bangladesh is well on its way to achieve most of the millennium development goals -- except income poverty reduction, reduction in maternal mortality rate, and perhaps reduction in under-five mortality rate."

"It is also lagging behind in respect of the key social indicator: adult illiteracy," the study said.

"Growth is essential if the poorest are to be helped out of poverty. But the quality of growth is as important as the quantity of growth," it said.

"However, growth alone will not be sufficient for the chronically poor to escape their poverty. Public action by the state, NGOs, communities and private citizens is needed to reduce the livelihood insecurity that keeps poor people poor and drives the vulnerable into abject poverty."

The study called for infrastructure support for both rural and urban areas, and reforming the tax system to finance public investments in poverty reduction for the poorest.