Helpdesk

Question
‘Voices of the Poor’ in Southern Africa: Have there been any recent regional ‘voices of the poor’ type studies for Southern Africa (SADC region)? If not, please review national literature. What are poor people themselves saying about poverty? Are there commonalities across and within the region?

Helpdesk response
Key findings: No recent 'voices of the poor' type studies for the SADC (Southern African Development Community) region have been identified during the research for this query. Additionally, none of the experts who contributed to the research knew of such a report or of similar research projects currently underway. Several Africa-wide studies published by Afrobarometer, which include information on multiple countries from the SADC region, have been included in this report. Additionally, country studies focusing on South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia have also been included. Material focusing on other SADC countries was specifically searched for, but was not found during the research.

It is difficult to draw regional conclusions from the resources identified. There is not enough material, and the research that has been done is not co-ordinated or comprehensive enough to be able to draw out reliable cross-country findings. However, we can tentatively note that the following points are mentioned in multiple resources:

• The poor view poverty as multi-faceted. Poverty is about more than just income. It also incorporates education, social status and access to institutional support.
• The poor feel that there are structural causes of poverty and general institutional obstacles to overcoming poverty.
• Agriculture and land-related concerns feature highly amongst the concerns of the poor.

Full response: http://www.gsdrc.org/docs/open/HD628.pdf