RAWALPINDI, Oct 15: As more than 1.4 billion people around the world live on less than 1.25 dollars a day, the world community commemorates the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on Friday with ‘Human Rights and Dignity of People Living in Poverty’ as its theme.

New figures show that poverty has been more widespread across the developing world over the past 25 years than previously estimated, but also that there has been strong — if regionally uneven — progress toward reducing overall poverty.

The World Bank said improved economic estimates showed there were more poor people around the world than previously thought while also revealing big successes in the fight to overcome extreme poverty.

The average Pakistani spends about 50 per cent of his or her total expenditure on food. Because of the food price increases for the first quarter of 2008, inequality has worsened by 0.71 percentage point in Pakistan, estimates Asian Development Bank (ADB).

According to estimates, a 20 per cent increase in food prices would add 100 million people below the absolute poverty line of one dollar a day around the world. With South Asia being home to 30 per cent of the world’s poor, the economic managers of the government have to face the challenge of protecting the poor from contagion of the recent spike in the food prices around the world, asserts a recent government survey.

The recent research results show that despite income diversification by rural households, households in the lowest expenditure categories still derive a larger share of their total income from agriculture when compared to households in higher income groups. This suggests the need to accord continued attention and increased resource allocation to the agriculture sector over the long-term.

In sum, there can be no doubt about the critical role of agriculture and rural development in the attainment of the MDG goal of halving extreme hunger and poverty by 2015. The most recent session of the Committee on World Food Security called on all parties to “enhance investments in agriculture and rural development and all related institutions”.

Stating that poverty will not be eradicated without due respect for human rights, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon has expressed his concern over the rising food and fuel prices, and the global financial crisis, which are threatening to negate the progress made to reduce poverty and hunger in many parts of the world. An estimated 100 million people are now at risk of falling into poverty.

Sixty years after the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, hundreds of millions of people are still deprived of basic human rights such as food, housing, education and decent working conditions. Those forced to live in poverty often face social exclusion, discrimination and disempowerment. Poverty robs the poor of their human dignity, he said in a message on the Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

The ‘State of Food and Agriculture in Asia and the Pacific Region 2008’ says South Asia has the highest level of underweight prevalence in the world, with almost half of all children under-five being underweight. Three countries in this region drive these high levels — Bangladesh, India and Pakistan — and alone account for half the world’s total number of underweight children.

The report says that it is now widely acknowledged that the role of agriculture and the rural economy is fundamental for securing sustainable gains in the fight against poverty. There is much greater appreciation now for the fact that agriculture has strong links with other sectors. A productivity-induced agricultural expansion can “pull” other sectors with it and increase economic activity and employment opportunities in rural areas.