Poverty, Ethnicity and Politics in Guyana

“One people, one nation, one destiny”

Guyana National Motto (Mahabir, 284)

Guyana• Population:698,209

• Capital:Georgetown

• Major Cities: Berbice, Linden

• Language: English

(The only English speaking country in South America)

• Independence: May 26, 1966

• Ethnicity: Indo-Guyanese 51%, Afro-Guyanese 43%, Amerindian 4%, European 1%, Chinese 1%

• Religion: Christian 50%, Hindu 33% , Muslim 9%, Other 8%

Regional Layout of GuyanaRegion Population

ThousandArea per sq

milePopulation

Density

1 18,249 7,853 2.3

2 43,139 2,392 18.0

3 95,276 1,450 65.7

4 294,493 862 341.6

5 51,274 1,610 31.8

6 141,445 13,998 10.1

7 14,682 18,229 0.8

8 5,574 7,742 .07

9 14,947 22,313 .07

10 39,271 6,595 6.0

1

6

5

4

2

10

3

8

9

7

Definition of Poverty

• What is Poverty?

Inability to attain a minimal standard of living (Gafar)

• Perceptions of Poverty:

A: Poverty’s Economic Face

• Joblessness

• Underemployment

• Lack of finances to satisfy the family’s basic needs

• Inability to access loans for self-employment and job creation through lack of collateral

• Child Labor

Perceptions of Poverty

B: Social • High levels of illiteracy• Ignorant and/or violent

behaviour• High levels of teenage

pregnancy and single parenthood

• High level of substance abuse (drugs and alcohol)

• Large number of idle men or women

C: Psychological• Lack of self-esteem• Lack of knowledge• Lack of motivation to

access vital information

• Feeling of hopelessness

• Dependency

But what is really poverty?Poverty is ...

• Only eating a piece of cake and having a soft drink on Christmas Day

• Parents standing in line to collect used clothing and food hand-outs

• Fathers/husbands leaving families for long periods while working out of the community

• People buying substandard expired goods because they are cheap

• Being unable to send children to school

• Overcrowding in small dilapidated structures

• Frequent illness because of poor diet

• Sin, punishment, suffering, hardship

A single mother from Guyana defines poverty in these terms;

“Poverty is hunger, loneliness, nowhere to go when the day is over, deprivation, discrimination, abuse and illiteracy.” (Gafar(a) , 61)

Characteristics of the Poor

Indicator FiguresPopulation Growth Rate % 0. 23

% Population Below Poverty line 35

Child malnutrition rate (% of children under 5) 18

Infant mortality Rate ( Per 1000 live births) 38.37

Illiteracy rate( % over 15 yrs.) 2

Life Expectancy (yrs) 65

Unemployment Rate ( %) 12

Indicator (2002 est..) Figures% Population with access to safe water 94

Urban Population 98

Rural Population 91

Adult Literacy Rates in %

Male

Female

9998

Primary School Enrollment (Gross %)

Male Female

89

84

Secondary School Enrolment Ratio (Gross %)

Male Female

73

78

Measurements of Poverty

• How is poverty measured?

• Headcount Approach - proportion of people living below the poverty line (Earnings are equal or less than US$ 1 per day)

• Poverty Gap – measures the depth of poverty

Head Count Index

Region % Extreme Poverty

1992

% Extreme Poverty

1999

% in Poverty

1992

% in Poverty

1999

Guyana 28.7 21.3 43.2 35

Georgetown 15.8 9 28.9 16.3

Other Urban 12.3 3.7 23.1 15.4

Rural Coastal 27.9 19.6 45.2 36.7

Rural Interior 70.8 88 78.6 92.5

Poverty Gap

Region 1993 Gap 1999 Gap

Guyana 16.2 12.4

Georgetown 8.7 5.4

Other Urban 6.3 3.0

Rural Coastal 14.4 11.3

Rural Interior 46.1 44.9

Measures of Poverty by Region

Region % of Population Head Count Poverty Gap

(1) Barima-Waini 3.5 78.9 45.7

(2) Pomeroon-Supenaam 6.7 55.0 23.8

(3) Essequibo Island-West Demerara 10.9 45.8 14.9

4) Demerara-Mahaica 39.8 32.0 9.6

(5) Mahaica-Berbice 7.5 56.4 18.8

6) East Berbice-Corentyne 17.0 37.2 9.7

(7) Cuyuni-Mazaruni 2.6 44.7 13.4

(8) Potaro-Siparuni 1.9 94.8 66.1

9) Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo 3.8 93.3 58.7

(10) Upper Demerara-Berbice 6.4 30.9 10.9

Measurements of Poverty by Ethnic Group

Ethnicity Total 1993

Total 1999

Ist Q 1993

Ist Q 1999

Indo-Guyanese 45.9   30.0  

Afro-Guyanese 36.7   28.3  

Amerindian 10.3   37.4  

Mixed 6.2   4.1  

Other 0.9   0.2  

Causes of Poverty1/ Political history

2/ Economic Factors 3/ Social Aspects

“Ethnicity is a powerful instrument in these plural societies because it can act as a measure of

control, and as a symbol of racial and cultural superiority. It can be used as a mechanism to

project and protect the interest of certain segments of the society.” (Mahabir)

1/Political HistoryPeople’s Progressive Party(PPP)

Civic History:

The first modern political party Forbes Burnham First Platform: 2 Objectives Cheddi Jagan Women

               

PPP Programs

• 1953 Labors Relation Bill

• Market oriented economy

• Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper

People’s National Congress History

Split Forbes Burnham PNC Focus of Party

             

PNC Platform

Manifesto 2001 Major focuses Social reforms Gender issues Task forces Economic Recovery Act

Race: A Factor

• Race

• PNC - Urban Afro-Guyanese

• PPP - Indo-Guyanese• An Interesting feature of these racially and culturally heterogeneous

societies is the development and accentuation of antagonism between and among the disparate groups, often aided and abetted by small racial elite power (Mahabir, 285)

• When political power and economic resources are up for grabs, competition will always resolve around ethnicity. People would bound into seperate groups on the basis of a shared history, destiny, the myth of blood or of an imagined community. (Mahabir, 298)

2/ Economic Factors

Poverty from an economic perspective is “failure to achieve certain minimum capabilities.” (Gafar)

3 Periods of Economic Policy

• 1966 Ind. – 1970 Rep. ‘import substitution model’ • 1970-1988 ‘cooperative socialism’ • 1988 – today ‘liberalization and market reforms’

Economic Recovery Program

1992 free elections“ Any financial crisis results in widespread

unemployment, a loss of purchasing power by the poor, and increased poverty.” (Gafar 68)

GDP per capita (constant 1995 US$)

500.00

550.00

600.00

650.00

700.00

750.00

800.00

850.00

900.00

950.00

Time Period

GDP per capita (constant 1995 US$)

Economic Growth and Poverty

GDP growth (annual %)

-15.00

-10.00

-5.00

0.00

5.00

10.00

GDP growth (annual %)

Trade

75

100

125

150

175

200

225

250

275

300Trade (% of GDP)

Unsustainable Growth: Why?

Lack of Economic Opportunities

• Agriculture• Manufacturing• Eco-tourism• Poor tax system‘Non-growth’

Infrastructure

Poor Governance• Insecurity and lack of

adequate access to justice

• Corruption• Discrimination• Insufficient attention

to decentralization

Agriculture and the Rural Poor

Importance of Agriculture

• 20% of GDP

• ½ of exports

• 27% of labor force = 280,000

• Over 90% of Guyana’s 25,000 farm households are concentrated along the narrow coastal plains

Rural poverty

• 66% of the rural population lives in poverty

• 27% small farmers

• 15% women-headed households

• 12% Amerindians

• The rest do not own any land

Income Inequality

3 measurements by year 1988 1993

1st Quintile % of income 7.5 5.3

2nd 11.7 7.7

ration of top 20 to bottom 40%

2.3 4.4

gini coefficient N/A 0.42

Unemployment

• of the population: some 50.8 % of those capable to work (15 or older) are working

• of the poorest: • 52.9 % are working

• 12.7 % unemployed

• 34.4 % inactive

• of the poorest: 57% are involved in the infomal sector 

Foreign Debt

Projected gross external financing requirements:

US $ 1.4 billion in the next 5 years (2002-2006) or about US $ 272 million per year

The government is estimated to be able to provide for US $ 181 million, which gives an esimated gap of US $ 91 million per year.

  1996 1999 2000

Foreign direct investment (US $ million) 93 48 67.1

Total debt service (US $ million) 104.1 70 74

Aid per capita (current US $) 169.5 29.68 47.84

Foreign DebtExternal debt, total (DOD, current US$)

0.00

500000000.00

1000000000.00

1500000000.00

2000000000.00

2500000000.00

External debt, total (DOD, current US$)

3/ Social Aspects

“Most poverty in Guyana can be explained by inadequate access to incomes, job opportunities, education, health care, and declining

real wages.” (Gafar)

The facts

– Lack of proper Social Programs for Education, Health care, Water, Sanitation and Housing

– HDI (% of people not expected to live to 40, % of people who are illiterate, % of people without access to water and health services, and % of moderately and severely underweight children)

– HPI (average of the deprivation in longevity, knowledge, and a decent standard of living)

Measures

Countries HDI HPI

Guyana  0.708  N/A

Jamaica 0.736 12.1

Dominican Republic

0.718 18.3

Haiti 0.338 46.2

Barbados  .84  N/A

Social Development

  1990 1999Primary School Net Enrollment 92.8 96.6

Infant mortality rate (per 1000 live births) 63.8 58

Measeles: percent of 1-year olds immunized 77 83

Maternal mortality (per 1000 live births) N/A 190

HIV/AIDS number of reported cases N/A 237

HIV/AIDS reported cases among women aged 15-45

N/A 74

% population with access to safe water N/A 92

The problems

• Women and children• Highest among women, esp. Amerindians

• 78.8% of total income received by men

• 60% of the total labor force

• Education• Free in Guyana

• Migration • 8.38 migrant(s)/1000 population (2001 est.)

Health

• Lige expectancy in 1998: 64 years – expected to rise to 68 years in 2010 (without

counting HIV/AIDS) – given the HIV/AIDS now estimated to fall to 50

years in 2010.

• It is estimated that in 1998 the HIV/AIDS epidemic has increased child mortality rate by 100% in Guyana.

• Only 34% of the poorest have access to preventive care

Effects of Poverty: A Vicious Cycle

• Negatively affects foreign and local investment

• Lowers business confidence

• Exacerbates ethnic conflicts

Poverty Aleviation

The Challenge remains how to envision a paradigm that can foster sustainable development for both developed and less-developed (core and peripheral) countries in the new global economy (Pantojas-Garcia, 10)

What has been done? 

• The government of Guyana• Poverty Alleviation ProgramIn the Caribbean and Guyana there has been a “move away from state-directed development

strategies in favor of market-centered ones” (Pantojas-Garcia,1)

The Past 10 Yrs under PPP/ Civic: Portable water supply Education Health Unemployment rate Poverty Rice, Sugar, and Bauxite Production

International Assistance• IMF /World Bank 1990 Poverty Reduction Strategy

• Broad based economic growth

• Emphasis on human capital formation

• Creation of social safety nets for the vulnerable groups

• IMF HIPC – 1999 $400 million in debt relief

• CARICOM

• USAID• US Foreign Policy

When considering the formal democracy rating, the USAID granted assistance to a larger percentage of education projects in the countries with the best ratings (Valverde, 5)

Poverty Reduction in Action

• Micro lendingThe Combination of this low-cost, working capital, the promotion of family

savings, and individual and group empowerment makes up the winning formula (Kelly, 2)

• CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency)– Purpose

– Intention

– Guyana intervention

Poverty Reduction in Action Cont’d

What should be done?

Gafar: Develop Human Capital for the Poor Gender Equality for Empowering Women Short-term public works Trade LiberalizationWhile Emphasis should be on promoting economic growth and economic efficiency, and on

providing quality education and maintenance of good health, it is imperative for the Government of Guyana to design and provide safety nets for the sick, the old, the unfortunate, the disabled, the poorest regions, and involving the poor (through employment) in the process of economic development (Gafar, 617)

Conclusion

Food for Thought

What role has the government played in poverty alleviation in your Caribbean

country? How successful have they been?

In the fight against poverty, what measures do you think would be the most effective?