Poverty and Human Development Report 2009 - UNDP in Tanzania

Chapter
2
An AnAlysis of household inCoMe
And expenditure in tAnzAniA
in Chapter 1 of this report, summary data from the household Budget survey 2007 were reported
on the incidence of household poverty in tanzania. this chapter provides detailed analysis of the
hBs 2007 findings and examines national progress in poverty reduction since 2000/01.
poverty rates are conventionally calculated against a basket of commodities and services
consumed. however, as shown in this chapter, studies that focus on consumption alone and
do not include asset ownership only partially examine household well-being. this is particularly
pertinent to the current national context as tanzanian households have not significantly changed
their consumption of commodities and services since 2000, but their assets have increased.
this chapter, therefore, looks at household well-being from four different perspectives: 93
• household consumption, including levels of consumption inequality
•
•
•
household expenditure patterns, including food share of total consumption and purchases
of goods with high income elasticities
Asset ownership, particularly consumer durables, productive assets and savings
household occupation and place of residence.
evidence from the analysis consistently shows that household income has not changed
significantly between 2000/01 and 2007:
i) income levels are very low and have not changed significantly. the level of income inequality
has also not changed. therefore, poverty incidence has basically remained the same.
ii) poverty remains a rural phenomenon but it is largely concentrated in households heavily
reliant on agriculture, particularly crop-dependent households.
Household Consumption
the hBs data reflect the monetary value of consumption on a monthly basis (expressed per
28 days). Consumption includes purchased items and those produced and consumed by
households. to enable comparisons to be made between the surveys conducted in 2000/01
and 2007, items are valued at constant 2001 market prices. the consumption aggregate
includes food and other items and services routinely consumed by households: linen, household
93 this analysis looks solely at the income-related aspects of household well-being, and does not consider
important non-income aspects, such as health, education and water services.
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