Latest NSA Survey Finds Significant Reduction in Poverty Rate

Findings from the Namibia Statistics Agency’s (NSA) Namibia Household Income & Expenditure Survey (NHIES) 2015/16 show a substantial drop in poverty rates over the past 13 years. The latest Economy Watch bulletin from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) states that poverty rates have dropped to 11.0% and 18.0% respectively adding that in 2003/04, 21.9% of the Namibian population was considered as severely poor and 37.7% as poor. IPPR states that the results are not only encouraging in terms of creating a more inclusive society, but they are also supportive of domestic economic growth.
Esther Simasiku Communication Specialist at NSA said their response rate is always around 95% and that they are thankful for the response they receive from the public when conducting surveys. Simasiku said the NHIES survey has always been conducted over a five year period but has been reduced to three years meaning the next NHIES survey will be conducted in 2019.

In Spotlight News this week we sat down with Esther Simasiku Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) Communication Specialist on the latest on:
– The Namibian Poverty rate,
– Access to survey results,
– The importance of cooperation during surveys,
– Factors that contributed to the reduction,
– As well as awareness campaigns….

https://soundcloud.com/99fm/spotlight-news-esther-simasiku-nsa-communication-specialist

-Article and Interview by Maggie Forcelledo