Poverty in Togo

Togo faces an uphill struggle in tackling the challenge posed by its commitments to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Determined efforts to assemble reliable human development data during 2006 disclosed sluggish progress in poverty and health indicators whilst figures for primary school enrolment and availability of safe sanitation are moving backwards. Over 60% of the population survive below the poverty line and 14% experience acute malnutrition, about double the rate of neighbouring countries. Municipal authorities in the capital, Lomé, admit that there have been no repairs to the drinking water infrastructure since 1995 forcing most of the residents to use high risk sources. Access to safe water in the country overall is just over 50%. The high annual population growth rate of 2.5% compounds the challenge for poverty reduction.

Togolese in line for 2007 election © Joel Gbagba / United Nations' Integrated Regional Information Network

To a degree these hardships have been self-inflicted. For almost 15 years from 1993 Togo chose to ignore the conditions of its potentially largest donor, the European Union (EU). Under the Lomé IV Convention and Cotonou Convention, preferential trade agreements and aid links with the EU are subject to evidence of good governance, and action against corruption and illegal immigration into the EU. Failure to meet the governance condition in particular isolated Togo from the bulk of international aid opportunities, condemning the country to grapple with human development programmes with one hand tied behind its back, to the great detriment of its long-suffering people.

The dramatic transformation in participatory politics which began in 2006 and culminated in free and fair parliamentary elections in 2007 has uncorked the aid bottle. August 2006 saw the release of an initial tranche of EU funds followed in December 2007 by a formal announcement that normal cooperation has resumed. The wider aid community will respond accordingly although the IMF has already issued a painful assessment that the cost of getting back on track for the MDGs far exceeds any reasonable expectations of foreign aid.

Health and HIV/AIDS in Togo

Unfortunately these positive developments for aid funding have been offset by the decision of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS Tuberculosis and Malaria to suspend at least one of its Togo programmes due to reporting irregularities. This will impact the government's ability to purchase antiretroviral treatment and there are reports of interrupted supplies for patients accustomed to receiving the treatment, themselves a small minority of the 24,000 in need.

Prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Togo is reported to be 3.2% but is believed by experts to be higher, aggravated by increasing volume of international trade through the port of Lomé and the Abidjan-Lagos corridor. Many civil society organisations are very active in the fight against HIV/AIDS and, working alongside people living with HIV, have been successful in lobbying for a bill against discrimination in the workplace to be passed by parliament.

Togolese child © UNICEF

The underfunded health sector suffers from creaking infrastructure and shortage of trained personnel - the number of doctors is reported to be only 4 per 100,000. Child and maternal mortality rates have improved little over the last 10 years. The main health problems include tuberculosis and especially malaria which claims 20-25% of all deaths occurring in the country, more even than AIDS. Due to the high cost of modern healthcare, there is a revival of traditional medicine, but this has been coupled with abuse, leading to a ban on advertisements from traditional healers on television and radio.
The Economy in Togo

Starved of aid, Togo's economy has suffered long term decline. Average income per capita has fallen for the last 25 years, the level of foreign debt is unsustainable, the road system is in decay and electricity capacity meets only about 25% of needs. The Togo economy is essentially based on agriculture - cotton, cocoa and coffee - as well as mineral exports, particularly phosphates which at one time were the country's financial lifeline. 70% of the working population is rural and makes its life out of the soil with only 20%-30% of farm output available for export.

Now back in favour with international financial institutions, the government is engaged in stabilising public finances with a view to qualifying for much-needed debt relief under both the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) and Multilateral Debt Relief Initiatives. Many inefficient state-owned enterprises are likely to be restructured, especially those involved in the phosphate and cotton sectors.

The north of the country is threatened by desertification owing to slash-and-burn agriculture and the extensive use of wood for fuel. Other problems include the increasing levels of water and air pollution in urban areas due in part to the large number of "Zemidjan" or taxi-motos. Waste management has also proved a big problem for municipal authorities, and all efforts made by environmental associations, mainly operated by youth, have not been able to overcome its negative effects on health. Despite work on the water supply system, many households do not have drinking water, and are obliged to buy water at high cost, some of it untreated or polluted during transportation.



The OneWorld Togo Guide was first published in this format in October 2005 with a text written by Volunteer Editor Gisèle Dovi

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