Bhutan

MDG 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger

Bhutan has experienced significant declines in its poverty rates and is well on track towards achieving the first MDG of halving extreme poverty and hunger by 2015. Bhutan was able to reduce poverty by more than a third from 36.3% in 2000 to 23.2% in 2007. Poverty in Bhutan is a rural phenomenon and 98% of the poor live in rural Bhutan where underdevelopment is widespread mainly due to the limited access to markets and essential social services.

The 10th Five Year Plan (2008-2013) of the Royal Government identifies poverty reduction as the core development theme and objective with poverty being mainstreamed through all development initiatives in addition to highly focused and targeted poverty interventions. The 10th Five Year Plan also has established a clear target of reducing national poverty to below 15% by 2013.  Reducing spatial disparities, raising agricultural production and productivity to help small holder farmers, supporting rural poor through targeted interventions, enhancing access to roads and markets, and promoting off farm employment are among the key interventions on poverty reduction strategies in the country.

The Poverty Analysis Report 2007 estimated that 23.30% of the population lived under the national poverty line of Nu. 730.36 per capita per month and that poverty incidences and depth is much more widespread and severe in rural areas. The report also estimates that 5.9% of people suffer from food poverty or consume less than 2,124 kilocalories per day. This corroborates the perception that there is no evidence of widespread hunger in Bhutan although certain areas are known to experience transient food insecurity and seasonal hunger. Household food security in Bhutan is linked to low food production and weak agricultural productivity, limited access to land and other productive assets, extensive crop destruction by wild life and pests, the lack of alternative rural employment opportunities, poor food utilization and weak access to road and transport infrastructure.

Compared to 2003, the number of those suffering from food poverty has increased significantly which is a cause for concern. However, poverty indicators of these two surveys are not directly comparable as consumption of both food and non-food aggregates from the 2007 survey are much higher than those of the 2003 survey.