The level and distribution of poverty in Ethiopia are extensive. According to the results obtained from 1995/96 and the 1999/2000 Household Income, Consumption and Expenditure Survey and Welfare Monitoring Survey of the Central Statistical Authority (CSA), about 44 percent of the total populations (45 percent in rural areas and 37 percent in urban areas) are found to be below the poverty line. The country together with development partners, as a result, has put poverty reduction strategies high on the agenda and working firmly on the implementation program since the beginning of this decade. With a firm dedication to reducing poverty, the government has prepared its poverty reduction program entitled “Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Program” in 2002. The strategy has been implemented over the past three years.

In light of the plan to reduce poverty over time, a strong system of monitoring and evaluation has been put in place. Consequently, the issue of welfare monitoring in Ethiopia arose as part of the Economic Reform Program (ERP). The ERP specifically and strongly underlies to see the effects of the reform program on poverty and builds the government's analytical capacity to monitor and evaluate such effects. To this end, the government has established a Welfare Monitoring System in 1995 to oversight the following major activities:

- establish an information system that provides a continuous picture of the poverty scenario in the country;

- indicate the impact of reform programs on the level of household welfare;

- establish follow-up procedures on the various programs and activities targeted towards poverty reduction; and

- conduct regular statistical surveys to assess, in particular, the efficiency of targeted programs.

The CSA and WMU of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED) have been the key actors in the M&E system in place by way of producing, analyzing, and disseminating poverty-related data and results. The program has been supported by the World Bank IDA Credit and the Norwegian Trust Fund. In line with strengthening the government's established M & M&E system of government, the CSA and WMU of MoFED had also submitted a financing requirement proposal (entitled: Strengthening Data Collection, Analysis, and Dissemination on Poverty Monitoring and the MDGs) to the Development Assistant Group (DAG). Following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between MoFED, CSA, and the donors, various implementation activities have also been carried out.

To meet the data needs of the Welfare Monitoring System, the CSA has been conducting two surveys that provide poverty-related data: Household Income, Consumption and Expenditure Survey (HICES) and Welfare Monitoring Survey (WMS) since 1995/96. The HICE and WMS surveys provide crucially useful information for the designing and monitoring and evaluation of the country’s poverty reduction strategy: Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Program (SDPRP), the various socio-economic policies and programs, and hence monitor the progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The two surveys are inseparable and provide basic data that reflect the standard of living of households, individuals, and society. The WMS focuses on a wider range of socioeconomic indicators that reflect the non-income dimensions of poverty. The 2004 survey has been improved to accommodate users’ needs as much as possible. New features in the current survey include shocks and coping mechanisms, HIV/AIDS-related information, estimates of orphan and foster children, major prevailing diseases, plot size, and other additional variables.

Central Statistical Authority of Ethiopia (CSA). Welfare Monitoring Survey (WMS 2004)", URL: http://www.csa.gov.et/survey-report/category/65-wms-2004

The Welfare Monitoring Survey (WMS) of the year 2004 was the fourth round of WMS conducted in Ethiopia. This survey data capture information on major welfare indicators including basic population characteristics variables such as residence (urban vs rural), sex, age groups, and household size, education indicators variables such as literacy and numeracy, educational enrolment and attainment, health and health-related indicators variables such as age groups vs Illness, information related to HIV/AIDS-related Indicators, on access to selected facilities including a food market, schools, post office, health center, transport service, source of drinking water, telephone, milling service and source of firewood, amenities and assets and area identification which are vital inputs in the process of monitoring and evaluation of policies, particularly in poverty reduction strategies. The data were collected using structured questionnaires by trained survey teams from selected households and individuals.

Copy url