Assignment 1
Task 1: Completing the Table
Keywords:
Gross Domestic Product Per Capita (GDPpc): GDPpc is a metric that breaks down a country’s economic output per person.
Human Development Index (HDI): HDI is a summary measure indicating the average achievement in the key areas of human development.
Human Poverty Index (HPI): Introduced in 1997, the HPI primarily assesses three elements of deprivation in a nation: longevity, knowledge, and standard of life. Consequently, HPI-1 is a metric used in developing countries while HP1-2 is used for assessing developed states.
Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI): MPI assesses the complexities of the life of poor people both at the individual level and collectively for each year.
Table 1: Kenya’s GDPpc, HDI, HPI, and MPI
| Year | GDPpc (USD) | HDI | HPI | MPI |
| 2000 | 414.679 | 0.446 | 31.8 | 0.360 |
| 2010 | 951.688 | 0.533 | 29.1 | 0.229 |
| 2019 | 1816.547 | 0.579 | 19.8 | 0.178 |
Note: Kenya’s GDPpc, HDI, HPI, and MPI from 2000 to 2019. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=KE
Task 2: Comments and Explanation
GDPpc, HDI, HPI, and MPI are key metrics for gauging a country’s economic progress. Kenya has depicted a consistent improvement trend to the four metrics. As indicated in table 1, the country’s GDPpc in 2010 was more than twice as much as that recorded in 2000. However, the nation’s GDPpc in 2019 was less than double that recorded in 2010. Similarly, the HDI, HPI, and MPI showed an exponential improvement from 2000 to 2010 before experiencing a distorted pace between 2010 and 2019 (World Bank, 2020). The slow economic growth in the 2010-2019 fiscal years could be attributed to the ripples sent in the economy during the 2007/2008 post-election violence and the great recession linked to the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Further, the relatively slow improvement in the poverty index between 2010 and 2019 could be associated with the growing structural inequalities in HPI components such as access to health and clean water. However, the status-quo from table 1 indicates that the country’s economic growth was followed by a consecutive improvement in the poverty index and standards of life. The decline in the poverty index in the nation is a result of GDPpc growth which is linked to intensive employment of abundant factors of production such as labor. Additionally, the country’s manufacturing sector has been expanding since 2000. Growth in the manufacturing industry increases the demand for food and materials supplied from the rural sector. Hence, the larger portion of small scale farmers benefit from the demand in rural economies, this explains why the growth in GDPpc has improved standards of life and poverty index.
Task 3: Evaluating Countries With Similar Rankings
Other countries with comparable economic growth as that of Kenya include Bangladesh and Uzbekistan. Currently, the two nations have a GDPpc of $1855.74 and $1724.64 respectively (World Bank, 2020). From the lens of HDI, Bangladesh recorded an index of 0.283 in 2000, 0.412 in 2010, and 0.485 in 2019 and similar growth in GDPpc as that of Kenya. On the other hand, Uzbekistan had 0.387 in 2000, 0.520 in 2010, and 0.587 in 2019 (United Nations, 2020). As such, Uzbekistan experienced faster economic growth and reduced poverty indices at a faster rate than Kenya and Bangladesh. However, in all cases, the growth in the economy had a consecutive poverty reduction. Uzbekistan enjoys better political stability than Kenya and Bangladesh. Notably, the consolidation of the peace process was a key factor for the Uzbekistani government to implement infrastructural and agricultural development while partnering with private sectors in initiating policies that reduce poverty. As such, the findings in the relative comparison reveals that the rate of poverty reduction may not necessarily depend on a country’s GDPpc growth, rather, it is the policies that quicken poverty reduction. Hence, this revelation is relevant for countries seeking to improve their poverty index.
References
World Bank. (2020). GDP per capita (current US$) – Kenya. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=KE.
World Bank. (2020). GDP per capita (current US$) – Bangladesh. Data. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=BD.
United Nations. (2020). Human Development Reports. | Human Development Reports. http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/UZB.