Reshaping Urbanization in Rwanda
This note analyzes whether and how the country’s rising urbanization levels (measured primarily by population density) are associated with nonfarm job creation and poverty reduction. By focusing on Rwanda’s 416 geographic sectors for the decade from 2002 and 2012, the analysis shows that, overall, a 10 percent increase in population density at the geographic sector level was associated with a 1.2 percent lower multidimensional poverty index and 1.4 point higher share of nonfarm employment. These linkages are estimated to be stronger in the areas with higher population density as of 2002, were closer to Kigali, and/or had better market access. Although increasing population density was profoundly associated with poverty reduction and job creation in secondary cities and areas within a five‐kilometer radius, those linkages are less clear in areas beyond five kilometers from the city cores. The finding highlights the importance of extending economic opportunities to the poor living in the outer areas of secondary cities, which accounts for a third of the country’s poor population. This Note also finds that fewer farmers are poor where fewer nonfarm workers are in poverty in the same areas or surrounding areas, and the latter points to spillover effects.
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| Format: | Report biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2017-12
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| Subjects: | POVERTY REDUCTION, URBANIZATION, JOB CREATION, LABOR MARKET, MARKET ACCESS, SPATIAL ECONOMY, |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/900251513849803189/Reshaping-urbanization-in-Rwanda-economic-and-spatial-trends-and-proposals-note-3-urbanization-job-creation-and-poverty-reduction-in-Rwanda https://hdl.handle.net/10986/29084 |
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| Summary: | This note analyzes whether and how the
country’s rising urbanization levels (measured primarily by
population density) are associated with nonfarm job creation
and poverty reduction. By focusing on Rwanda’s 416
geographic sectors for the decade from 2002 and 2012, the
analysis shows that, overall, a 10 percent increase in
population density at the geographic sector level was
associated with a 1.2 percent lower multidimensional poverty
index and 1.4 point higher share of nonfarm employment.
These linkages are estimated to be stronger in the areas
with higher population density as of 2002, were closer to
Kigali, and/or had better market access. Although increasing
population density was profoundly associated with poverty
reduction and job creation in secondary cities and areas
within a five‐kilometer radius, those linkages are less
clear in areas beyond five kilometers from the city cores.
The finding highlights the importance of extending economic
opportunities to the poor living in the outer areas of
secondary cities, which accounts for a third of the
country’s poor population. This Note also finds that fewer
farmers are poor where fewer nonfarm workers are in poverty
in the same areas or surrounding areas, and the latter
points to spillover effects. |
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