‘Poor Malawians do not know of their poverty’
In an attempt to explain poverty levels in Malawi, the Centre for Social Concern (CfSC) has said the poor, generally, do not of know of their own poverty and hence fail to take measures to liberate themselves.
Speaking in an interview last Thursday, during basic needs basket (BNB) data collection exercise in Ndirande Market, CfSC social conditions research programme officer Alex Nkosi said the lives of the poor must be improved.
“Poverty is multi-dimensional, embracing deprivations of income, and access to services. It is a sign that development has not occurred and blocks it by marginalising the poor. “Effective strategies against it include poverty alleviation through social security and safety nets, or eradication. The transformation involves identification of the attributes that are deemed to constitute poverty and identification of the population groups that possess the attributes,” said Nkosi.
He added that BNB—a monthly review of the cost of living through surveys—provides a straight forward look at households needs and their corresponding costs in Lilongwe, Blantyre, Mzuzu and Zomba.
He noted that the BNB dares people from all backgrounds to explore the gap between income and the cost of basic needs.
The tool challenges the community to organise people to proactively improve their own conditions before seeking assistance. It is also a policy guide to establish a poverty line, a minimum wage, and a fair tax code.
The BNB contains a minimum requirement for an average family of six living in medium and high density urban areas.
The BNB totals the food and the essential non-food baskets and represents the urban poverty line. Households whose monthly incomes are below basic food requirements are considered ultra poor.
According to the latest report—May BNB—cost of living in cities rose to an average K96 255, up from K95 708 in April.
Specifically, Lilongwe BNB stood at K108 950, Blantyre K99 458, Zomba K86 689 and Mzuzu at K92 663.
The food basket rose from K56 294 to K56 733 while the non food basket rose from K39 414 to K39 522 in May.
Notable in the May food basket, maize prices fell by a margin of 0.29 percent, usipa prices rose by 2.37 percent, eggs rose by 9.05 percent and in the food basket was charcoal that rose by 1.2 percent.
In Lilongwe, a 50kg bag of maize dropped from K5 286 in April to K5 179 in May, in Zomba from K4 150 to K4 333, Blantyre was stuck at K4 500, and in Mzuzu the price of maize from dropped from K5 200 to K5 000.
You know I don’t understand about;a.in Cities especially in Mzuzu we home owner pay city rents,but look how bad the roads,drains and un proper sanitations what does the city rents we pay do with it?b.in the Markets people they are trying to open their small businesses but still the government wants something from that business instead of helping those small businesses to pick up.what does the government do to help alleviate poverty?