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S Asia makes progress in human development: Report
The Daily Star
Thu. August 21, 2003

South Asia has made significant progress in improving its human development indicators during the 1990s, according to a report released yesterday.

The economic performance of the region as a whole during the 90s was encouraging compared with other developing regions. South Asian growth rate was second highest after East Asia and the Pacific region, the report said.

The report titled 'Human Development in South Asia 2002, Agriculture and Rural Development' was published by Pakistan-based Mahbub ul Haq Development Centre.

The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) released the report in Dhaka, with its Chairman Professor Rehman Sobhan in the chair.

Dr. Md Asaduzzaman, research director of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), presented the report. Dr. Asaduzzaman was one of the members of the panel experts who contributed to the preparation of the report.

The report was prepared by compiling data from seven South Asian countries including Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives.

According to the report, income per head grew annually by almost 5 per cent during the 90s.

However, South Asia is still home to the largest number of poor people in the world, which accounted for 515 million.

The report said adult literacy has increased by 8 percentage points during the 90s from 42 per cent in 1990 to 54 per cent in 1999. Female literacy rate had reached 42 per cent by the end of the 90s while 365 million women are still illiterate in South Asia.

Moreover, women on an average earn only 40 per cent of that their male counterparts earn.

Average life expectancy has increased to 63 years in 2000 from 58 years in 1990. However, the life expectancy in South Asia is still among the lowest in the world and second only to Sub-Saharan Africa, the report said.

It said the daily supply of calories has increased by 10 per cent during the 90s while daily calorie supply of 2,379 is still below the average for developing countries at 2,663.

According to the report, 78 per cent of the population of the region has access to health services while the region is hot to the highest proportion of underweight, stunted and wasted children in the entire world.

Within South Asia, all countries saw significant economic growth with the possible exception of Pakistan, the report said.

Pakistan's economic growth rate deteriorated from over 6 per cent in the 80s to 3.8 per cent in 90s. The Indian economy saw a growth rate of 6 per cent during the 90s, the highest in the region.

During the decade of the 1990s, South Asia has achieved much progress in human development as well as in agricultural development. But this progress has neither been adequate nor equitable in lifting the region's half a billion people out of poverty, the report said.

Poverty in South Asia is mostly a rural phenomenon.

South Asian agriculture is facing cultivable land constrains as well as negative consequences of over dependence on chemical inputs, the report said.

It, however, pointed out that despite large land inequalities in South Asia, the scope of land reform efforts has not been ambitious.

Future agricultural productivity increases must come from advancement of agricultural research, technology and extension services, the report suggested, saying that small farms should be the centre of the revival of agriculture and rural development.

Bangladesh's large population has meant that over time the density per square kilometer has increased and that the area available for cultivation has fallen drastically, the report said.

The high-yielding varieties of rice have played an important role in the enhanced production of rice over time, it said, adding that quality of land and soil is likely to fall further eroding the intrinsic productive capacity of land.

The production growth of cereals has only slightly outperformed the growth in population, the report said.

Md. Shafi Uddin, former secretary, Dr. Binayak Sen, a noted economist, Mustofa Mujeri of BIDS, Jahangir Alam, member director of BARC, and Nilufar Begum of Ministry of Agriculture, took part in the discussion.