I came across an interesting article in today’s New York Times. The piece provides an insight on how Africans in ten different countries in the region feel about their current lifestyles. According to the poll, despite the troubles, from deadly illnesses like AIDS and malaria to corrupt politicians, a plurality of Africans say they are better off today than they were five years ago. In addition, according to poll, they are more optimistic about their future and that of the next generation. The poll was conducted this spring. In addition, face-to-face interviews were also conducted in April and May. With this in mind, both the poll and interview were only conducted in Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. Do you think by only surveying ten countries in Africa, the poll provides a clear reflection of all the countries situation in the region? Also, if you take a look at the economic data, you can see that it provides a mixed picture. Do you think it is fair that the poll surveyed urban families rather than rural? Finally, I found the statistics on hunger to be rather interesting. It seems that a majority of respondents said that they had enough money to purchase food for their family. What are your thoughts on this in relation to development in the region?
The Link:
http://www.nytimes.com/ref/world/africa/20070724_AFRICA_GRAPHIC.html?th&emc=th
1 comment:
I read the same article, and I also had mixed feelings about how much of the present situation can be captured in such a poll. I think the poll is right in one way, I do believe that there is a general optimism in the country that where the poll was conducted and that is probably why they were selected. these countries have been recovering from civil wars, economic crises and famines and are seeing hope for the first time in a long while. If the survey had been conducted in Zimbabwe, DRC, Sudan, CAR, Niger... there is no doubt that the results would have been different. So I think there is some value to what the poll results and the countries selected, because Africa is far from being an homogeneous continent and thus these trends show that some countries might be on the right track to having a thriving population.
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