PEOPLE-CENTRED POLICIES CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

The terms “economic growth” and “economic development” have different meanings, and using them interchangeably can be confusing or outright misleading.

Economic growth is an increase in the production of economic goods and services, compared from one period of time to another. Economic growth is normally measured in terms of gross domestic product (GDP). In effect, when the GDP size expands, then there is economic growth, regardless of the people’s living standards.

On the other hand, economic development refers to tangible improvement in the people’s living standards. One way of measuring economic development is through the Human Development Index (HDI), which takes into account factors like literacy rates and life expectancy. These do affect productivity and, as such, could result in economic growth.

Indeed, economic development is all about people’s quality of life. It also enables the creation of more opportunities in the education, health and employment sectors.

It is under such circumstances then advice offered a few years back by Prof Felipe Jaramillo – who was then the World Bank’s senior director for macroeconomics, trade and investment – becomes crucial.

Making a presentation at the University of Dar es Salaam, Prof Jaramillo advised Tanzania to continue investing heavily in education, health and water provision to ensure that efforts to alleviate poverty have the desired impact.

Doing that could help the country to accelerate economic development even as economic growth is maintained.

National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data shows, for example, that shows that basic needs poverty has declined from 26.4 percent in 2017/18 to 25.7 percent in 2020, while food poverty decreased from 8.0 percent during the same period.

Agriculture employs about three-quarters of Tanzania’s working population. Therefore, one of the best ways to attain sustainable economic development is through agriculture by adopting the right technologies, creating industrialisation linkages and, of course, boosting investment in the sector.

LET’S ACT NOW TO SAVE LIONS

Reports that Tanzania’s lion population has plummeted from 25,000 to 16,000 in just eight years should be cause for grave concern. This represents a staggering 36 per cent fall during that period.

This sharp drop has largely been blamed on poaching and the poisoning of lions by pastoralists. Tanzania is still home to the largest lion population in the world, but these magnificent big cats could be wiped out in less than two decades if the staggering rate at which their numbers are declining is not reversed as a matter of urgency.

Twenty per cent of lions in Tanzania live in unprotected areas, and these are at the highest risk of being killed by poachers or deliberately poisoned after killing livestock.

Another factor behind declining lion numbers that is not often stated is habitat loss, which invariably leads to loss of prey. This makes the long-tern survival of lions that find themselves in such a situation virtually impossible.

Tanzania is one of only a few countries where lions still exist, and we all have a role to play in protecting these regal animals.