Pathways out of poverty in South Sudan, the case of Renk County

Abstract

In the present paper the results of poverty prevalence and income inequality; poverty profile; and poverty determinants have been examined to pick out critical factors that highly influence poverty in the South Sudan “ the case of Renk County. Then after, the critical factors were picked up and simulated into a number of scenarios that are useful for designing appropriate pro-poor policies that may help in alleviating poverty status in the south Sudan. The stated scenarios are the government shoulder: (1) 50 percent of the health expenses; (2) 50 percent of the health and education expense; (3) 50 percent for health, education, water and electricity supply expenses; (4) 100 percent of the health costs; (5) 100 percent of the health and education expenses; and (6) 100 percent of the health, education, water and electricity supply expenses. The results of the simulation show gradual reduction in poverty incidence (P0), gap (P1) and severity (P2) for urban and rural households. Simulation results showed that it is imperative to involve the government more closely in providing the social amenities especially supply of drinking water, health, education and electricity services to relieve pressure off the poor in both urban and rural societies in South Sudan.