Job creation crucial in battle against poverty

DECENT employment should be at the heart of the poverty battle in Africa, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in a recent publication ‘Meeting the Challenges of Unemployment and Poverty in Africa’.

The report showed that despite record economic growth in Africa, poverty is actually getting worse. “Central to the poverty problem have been: the slow growth of jobs in the formal sector, the low earnings and low productivity in the informal sector, which employs most of the urban labour force, and stagnation in the agricultural sector, employing most of the rural population,” it said.Meeting the challenges of unemployment and poverty in Africa, policymakers should therefore take steps to improve agricultural productivity through modern farming techniques, small-scale irrigation and improved storage and packaging.They should also strengthen agro-processing and marketing infrastructure to link agriculture with other sectors of the economy.Other measures suggested in the report are promoting labour-intensive techniques, particularly in sectors that employ a disproportionate share of poor people; diversifying exports to minimise the adverse effects of terms of trade instability on households; reducing taxes on producers to ensure that labour benefits from improved terms of trade; bolstering inter-sectoral links to maximise spill-over effects of growth through the design and promotion of integrated development projects; maximising private sector job creation by removing constraints to investments and growth and by minimising bureaucratic constraints.Poverty reduction should be incorporated into national budgets and given priority funding from domestic and external sources, it said.The report focused on four key challenges for Africa in the fight against unemployment and poverty: achieving structural transformation to break away from the under-utilisations of rural labour, addressing widespread youth unemployment, harnessing globalisation to create decent jobs and creating an enabling environment for accelerated expansion of private sector job-creation through increased investments.The average rate of unemployment for 2003 is estimated at 10,9 per cent for sub-Saharan Africa and 10,4 per cent for North Africa, which is higher than most other developing regions.West Africa had the lowest unemployment rate in 2003, at 6,7 per cent, explained mainly by low participation in paid employment and the formal sector.Southern Africa had the highest rate, at 31,6 per cent.Among countries, the unemployment rate was low in Uganda, at 7 per cent, but high in Lesotho, at 39 per cent, in 1997.Young women in sub-Saharan Africa have a lower unemployment rate (18,4 per cent) than men (23,1 per cent), but their labour force participation is lower, according to the report.-Nampa”Central to the poverty problem have been: the slow growth of jobs in the formal sector, the low earnings and low productivity in the informal sector, which employs most of the urban labour force, and stagnation in the agricultural sector, employing most of the rural population,” it said.Meeting the challenges of unemployment and poverty in Africa, policymakers should therefore take steps to improve agricultural productivity through modern farming techniques, small-scale irrigation and improved storage and packaging.They should also strengthen agro-processing and marketing infrastructure to link agriculture with other sectors of the economy.Other measures suggested in the report are promoting labour-intensive techniques, particularly in sectors that employ a disproportionate share of poor people; diversifying exports to minimise the adverse effects of terms of trade instability on households; reducing taxes on producers to ensure that labour benefits from improved terms of trade; bolstering inter-sectoral links to maximise spill-over effects of growth through the design and promotion of integrated development projects; maximising private sector job creation by removing constraints to investments and growth and by minimising bureaucratic constraints.Poverty reduction should be incorporated into national budgets and given priority funding from domestic and external sources, it said.The report focused on four key challenges for Africa in the fight against unemployment and poverty: achieving structural transformation to break away from the under-utilisations of rural labour, addressing widespread youth unemployment, harnessing globalisation to create decent jobs and creating an enabling environment for accelerated expansion of private sector job-creation through increased investments.The average rate of unemployment for 2003 is estimated at 10,9 per cent for sub-Saharan Africa and 10,4 per cent for North Africa, which is higher than most other developing regions.West Africa had the lowest unemployment rate in 2003, at 6,7 per cent, explained mainly by low participation in paid employment and the formal sector.Southern Africa had the highest rate, at 31,6 per cent.Among countries, the unemployment rate was low in Uganda, at 7 per cent, but high in Lesotho, at 39 per cent, in 1997.Young women in sub-Saharan Africa have a lower unemployment rate (18,4 per cent) than men (23,1 per cent), but their labour force participation is lower, according to the report.-Nampa