Palms for Life Fund - Priority Countries

ECUADOR

Population: 13 million
Gross National Income per capita: US$2,180
Under 5 mortality rate (per thousand): 26
Infant mortality rate (per thousand): 23
Maternal mortality rate (per 100,000): 130 (400 mothers in 2004)
Adult literacy rate: 91
Male 92
Female 90
Net primary school enrollment/attendance rate: 100

Ecuador

Despite some social progress in the last decade, the country has had poor economic growth in the last decade and monetary poverty in Ecuador has actually increased from 40 to 45 percent between 1990 and 2001 and more so urban poverty. As a result the number of poor people living in urban areas increased from 1.1 million to 3.5 million.

Poverty is still highest in rural areas where the poor of the poor and the less educated reside. Many depend on agricultural work for survival and most do not have access to land or work on low-productivity land. In general, they have less employment opportunities and low access to basic services. As a result, many have migrated to the cities where the poverty has had such a dramatic increase.

Despite considerable progress in the last decade, education levels and enrolment rates in Ecuador are low for the country’s level of development. While primary enrolment shows perfect performance, it hides the problems of differences in access between rural and urban areas and between whites and indigenous and Afro populations. For instance, the illiteracy rate for indigenous and Afro adults is 26 and 13 percent respectively, compared to 10 percent for whites.

The high national enrolment rates also hide poor quality of education and low performance rates coupled with social differences. Enrolment rates among white children are higher; the average indigenous adult has completed 3.7 years of education and the average Afro adult has completed 5.6 years of education, while this number is 6.6 for whites. Bilingual education has low coverage.

In the future, Ecuador will have to be able to sustain increases in productivity in order to maintain positive growth rates and declining poverty rates. Such increases require both, investment in physical and in human capital.

Palms for Life Fund will focus its investment in health and quality of education, rural credit especially for women, agricultural training, technical education and skills development, targeting in particular indigenous and Afro populations and women.

Ecuador News Sources

Sources:
The State of the World’s Children 2006, UNICEF
Ecuador Poverty Assessment April 2004 – The World Bank

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