Integrated Household Survey 2003-2004

The Gambia Government has formulated and is implementing a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) which aims to promote policies, programmes and activities that would equip the poor with skills and means that can be internalized and help to alleviate poverty on a permanent basis. This calls for conducting household surveys to monitor the poverty determinants to portray the poverty status. Information obtained should provide the Gambia Government and other policy makers and planners with necessary socio-economic data for poverty monitoring.

Secondly, following the series of structural developments in the economy, the Central Statistics Department, and indeed many other national and international organizations, has seen the need to review the base of one of the most sensitive socio-economic indicators, the Consumer Price Index (Base: 1974 = 100). It is being seriously argued that this indicator is failing to accurately depict the state of the economy for sound decision-making.

In this regard, taking into account cost consideration and effective use of resources, CSD with other stakeholders have decided to undertake an “Integrated Household Survey - IHS” approach, constituting the household consumption and expenditure and poverty level components. This HIS is funded entirely by the Capacity Building for Economic Management Project. It is recommended that a year round survey be undertaken. The main reason for a year round survey is to monitor seasonal variation of poverty, as well as to ensure a comprehensive representation of consumption patterns and reveal the seasonal nature of the consumption basket of households.

Specifically, the survey data will help to:

1. Further develop, update and maintain a statistical database on the indicators of poverty;
2. Re-strategize policies for poverty alleviation;
3. Design and follow up economic and social policies and poverty alleviation programs and projects; and,
4. Re-construct the weights thus, re-base the CPI.

The primary objectives of the survey are:
a. to provide identification of policy target groups;
b. to provide a mechanism whereby key poverty indicators can be easily and regularly produced in order to describe and monitor the well-being of different categories of households;
c. to provide some key data on how the economic policies affect the availability and quality of social and economic services to households, both as producers and consumers of products;
d. to collect data relating to such topics as health, education, employment, nutrition, agriculture, non-farm enterprises, governance, etc.;
e. to derive consumption patterns of households;
f. to identify individual items which should be included in the consumption basket;
g. to determine the income group(s) for whom the index will be computed. Once the data is collected, CPI could be compiled for different income brackets from the same survey results; and,
h. to derive nationwide CPI as oppose to the current Banjul and environs CPI.