POLICY BrIef Indigenous Peoples 64760 Still among the poorest of the poor A s t h e g l o b a l c o m m u n i t y l o o k s f o r w ay s t o m e et t h e M i l l e n n i u m D eve l o p m e n t G o a l ( M D G) of h a l v i n g t h e s h a r e of p e o p l e i n p ove r t y by 2015 f r o m i t s 19 9 0 l eve l , i t c a n n ot a f f o r d t o ig n o r e t h e p l ig h t of i n d ig e n o u s p e o p l e s . A l t h o u g h t h ey m a ke u p r o u g h l y 4. 5 p e r c e n t of t h e g l o b a l p o p u l at i o n , t h ey a c c o u n t f o r a b o u t 10 p e r c e n t of t h e p o o r — w i t h n e a r l y 8 0 p e r c e n t of t h e m i n A s i a . Tu r n i n g t h e s i t u at i o n a r o u n d w i l l r e q u i r e w i d e s p r e a d a n d s u s t a i n a b l e e c o n o m i c g r ow t h a n d p ove r t y r e d u c t i o n , a l o n g w i t h s t r at e g i e s t o a d d r e s s m u l t i p l e s o u r c e s of d i s a d va n t a g e t o r e a c h t h o s e w h o n e e d a s p e c i a l l i f t . Indigenous peoples are widely believed to be among the worlds’ follow-up study found that while programs have been launched to poorest. Yet there is no global source that draws together the improve access to health care and education, indigenous peoples available evidence to assess the degree to which this holds still consistently account for the highest and “stickiest� poverty across countries and over time. Poverty is a nuanced concept, rates in the region (Hall and Patrinos 2006). and particularly so for indigenous peoples for whom poverty To try to paint a global picture, the World Bank and is a more comprehensive concept than that which standard the United Nations Permanent Focus on Indigenous Issues poverty measures capture. This brief recognizes these impor- (UNPFII) recently requested a study that would assess poverty tant nuances but uses standard national poverty measures to and socioeconomic indicators for a number of African and allow comparison of indigenous poverty rates and national Asian countries for which there were identifiable populations poverty rates and tracking of changes over time. To date, and data. Here, it should be noted that the term “indige- most of the research on the world’s indigenous peoples has nous peoples� needed to be rather loosely defined (see box). concentrated on rich countries (the United States, Australia, The findings confirm the dire state of indigenous peoples Canada, and New Zealand) and more recently, Latin America. globally—still among the poorest of the poor. But they also Not only does that leave out some of the most populous and give hope that widespread and sustainable growth and poverty poorest areas of the world but it also ignores more than half reduction can lift vast segments of the poor. the world’s indigenous peoples. Moreover, what we know from these studies is reason for grave A global snapshot concern. Without exception, they show that indigenous peoples So, how many indigenous peoples are there worldwide? Our are severely disadvantaged, based on a range of socioeconomic estimate is roughly 300 million (table 1), which is very close indicators. In 1994, the first regional analysis of indigenous to that of the International Working Group for Indigenous peoples in Latin America found systematic evidence of pov- Affairs, and thus numbers cited by the UNPFII, among others. erty rates far worse than those of the population on average This figure accounts for roughly 4.5 percent of the world’s (Psacharopoulos and Patrinos 1994). In 2004 a major World Bank population, with almost 80 percent of indigenous peoples This brief is not a formal publication of the World Bank. It is circulated to encourage thought and discussion, and its use and citation should take this into account. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the World Bank. InDIGenous peoples polIcy brIef Still among the pooreSt of the poor those that resolve to maintain and reproduce their ancestral envi- Who are indigenous peoples? ronments and systems as distinctive peoples and communities. There is no widely accepted definition of indigenous peoples. The Moreover, there is growing evidence that the phenomenon World Bank’s official position is that “because of the varied and of joining together under a common identity as indigenous peo- changing contexts in which Indigenous Peoples live and because ples is relatively new and has accompanied a process among there is no universally accepted definition of Indigenous Peoples, some groups of “reclaiming� identity—for example, among this policy does not define the term. Indigenous Peoples may be the Manchu in China. referred to in different countries by such terms as ‘indigenous Against this backdrop, this study does not put forth a rule ethnic minorities,’ ‘aboriginals,’ ‘hill tribes,’ ‘minority nationali- of what does or does not constitute indigenous—that would ties,’ ‘scheduled tribes,’ or ‘tribal groups’ (Operational Directive contribute little and only invite controversy over perceived errors 4.10).� The UN system has chosen not to adopt a definition, but of inclusion or omission. For global data, it includes indicators rather to develop a modern understanding of this term based on for any people whom any government or recognized organization a variety of characteristics—self-identification at the individual (including self-identified indigenous organizations such as the level and accepted by the community as their member; historical International Working Group for Indigenous Affairs) has described continuity with precolonial or presettler societies; a strong link to as indigenous. For the countries studied in Asia and Africa, it uses territories and surrounding natural resources; a distinct social, terminology and population breakdowns typical in those countries. economic, or political system; a distinct language, culture, and Thus, in China, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and Vietnam, beliefs; individuals that form non-dominant groups of society; and it uses “ethnic minority�; in India, “Scheduled Tribes�. located in Asia—and more than one-third in Millennium Development Goal (MDG)–like China alone (figure 1). indicators (under-five mortality, water depri- From past studies, we know that the quality vation, malnutrition, literacy, and net primary of life of indigenous peoples in rich countries school enrollment). 2 is far inferior to that of the general population. In Asia we found that, with some exceptions, Our study asked whether the same held true the MDG-like indicators for indigenous peoples in developing countries. We used a set of five are worse than population averages. In India under-five mortality and male literacy among TABLe 1 Globally, there are roughly 300 FIGURe 1 million indigenous peoples, share of world’s indigenous one-third of them poor peoples, by country or region Indigenous Number of Percent peoples indigenous Country or region (millions) poor (millions) China 106 5 China South Asia 95 42 South Asia Southeast Asia 30 15 Africa 22 17 Southeast Asia Arabia 15 1 Central America and Mexico 12 9 Africa South America 11 9 Arabia Rest of world 9 2 Total 299 100 Mexico and Central America a. Not representative. Source: Own estimates computed from country studies and South America reports using national poverty lines, which are not strictly United States comparable across countries and regions but give a crude and Canada and preliminary overview of relative well-being in the absence 0 10 20 30 40 of more representative data and agreed upon global poverty indicators and definitions. Source: Hall and Patrinos forthcoming. the Scheduled Tribes are uniformly worse than 2006), we now have detailed results for almost the national average. Among the Hill Tribes in 80 percent of the world’s indigenous peoples. Thailand, the Kammu and Leu samples in Lao In each of the seven countries studied, the People’s Democratic Republic, and the Hmong, population of interest ranges from very large Muong, and BaNa peoples in Vietnam, access to very small. China and India alone account for rates to improved water sources are the worst more than two-thirds of the world’s indigenous in the regions. And the lowest female literacy peoples. rates are among the Hmong samples in Vietnam and Lao PDR. Poverty. Our estimates confirm that worldwide, In Latin America indigenous peoples have indigenous peoples are over-represented among uniformly worse outcomes across all five MDG the poor—up to 10 percent of the worlds’ poor, indicators, again with some exceptions. Infant even though they account for only 4 percent of mortality levels are mostly higher than the the world’s total population. Moreover, one-third national averages with the worse being Mam of indigenous peoples are poor (see table 1). In speakers in Guatemala and Quechua in Bolivia. China, the national and indigenous poverty rates Water deprivation rates tend to be evenly dis- are strikingly low. Elsewhere, indigenous poverty persed around the national levels, the worst rates approach or exceed 50 percent. While the being Q’eqchi speakers. Child nutrition depriva- majority of indigenous peoples come from China tion rates are generally higher, especially among and India, the proportion of the indigenous poor Mam speakers in Guatemala and Quechua in is more spread out across regions, given lower Peru. The lowest female literacy rates are among poverty rates in these two countries, particularly the Quechua in Peru. China. In other countries, indigenous peoples In Africa data coverage is far more limited, have disproportionately high poverty rates— making overarching conclusions difficult. In meaning that they deviate from the nonindige- 3 many cases, available data do not cover core nous poverty rate by a great margin (figure 2). groups widely considered to be indigenous The good news is that over time, there is because of their small size (the Ogiek in Kenya), evidence of rapidly declining poverty rates, while covering groups for which there is less even among indigenous peoples, in emerging consistent agreement on status as indigenous Asia (notably, China, India, and Vietnam). But (the Maasai in Kenya and the Fulani in West research from Latin America—and to some Africa). That said, the data that do exist show degree Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and that under-five mortality rates tend to be highest the United States—shows a sticky persistence among West African groups, such as the Fulani of poverty rates for indigenous peoples over time and Tuareg, and lowest among the Maasai and (figure 3). Moreover, a sizeable poverty gap—in Ethiopian groups. However, these latter groups effect, the depth of poverty—remains globally. It also experience the lowest rates of access to an is expressed as the total amount of money that improved water source. Education indicators are would be needed to raise the poor from their uniformly worse, even in countries with higher present incomes to the poverty line, as a propor- levels of literacy, such as Namibia. tion of the poverty line, and averaged over the total population. In our study sample not only The indigenous peoples in Asia and do indigenous peoples continue to have a higher Africa poverty gap than nonindigenous peoples but this To get a more in-depth look at socioeconomic gap also has been widening over time—ranging conditions for indigenous peoples in Asia and from slight in China to significant in Vietnam. Africa, our study examined seven countries in these regions—China, India, Lao PDR, Vietnam, Education. Minority groups have increased Central African Republic, Democratic Republic their overall schooling attainment, but so has of the Congo, and Gabon—which together the majority population—meaning that the account for 72 percent of the world’s indigenous schooling gap remains. In India, while almost peoples. Combined with earlier case studies for 60 percent of non–Scheduled Tribes attend sec- five Latin American countries (Hall and Patrinos ondary school, only 40 percent of the Scheduled InDIGenous peoples polIcy brIef Still among the pooreSt of the poor FIGURe 2 FIGURe 3 Indigenous peoples have . . . but poverty rates among disproportionately high indigenous peoples have poverty rates . . . fallen more quickly in Asia Poverty headcount (percent) than in latin America Annual change in poverty headcount rate (percent) 100 Indigenous Nonindigenous Indigenous Bolivia Nonindigenous (1997–2006) 80 Ecuador (1994–2006) Guatemala (1989–2006) 60 Mexico (2002–05) 40 Peru (1994–2005) China (1998–2002) 20 India (1983–2005) Vietnam 0 (1993–2006) China India Lao Vietnam Gabon Congo, 2002 2004 PDR 2006 2003 Dem. Rep. –20 –15 –10 –5 0 2002 2005 4 Source: Hall and Patrinos forthcoming. Source: Hall and Patrinos forthcoming. Tribes do—a gap that has held pretty constant differently, as was the case after economic crises since 1945. Moreover, while there is progress in in Latin America (Hall and Patrinos 2006). schooling attainment overall in Africa, there is a widening gap in the share of indigenous Earnings. Much of the earnings disadvantage of peoples who report ever having attended indigenous peoples stems from lower levels of school—especially females. Even in countries human capital endowments. Yet, the returns to with far higher average schooling rates, there schooling globally are not necessarily lower for are hidden pockets of low schooling for rural indigenous peoples. In Latin America indigenous areas and girls. In rural Lao PDR, 34 percent of peoples face significant labor market disadvan- non-Lao-Tai women have never attended school, tages. The portion of the difference in earn- while only 17 percent of non-Lao-Tai men never ings between indigenous and nonindigenous attended and only 6 percent of Lao-Tai women peoples that is “unexplained� was an average never attended. 42 percent. This means that while about half the There is also evidence of a greater vulner- earnings differential can be influenced by better ability to shocks. In Vietnam, over time, there human capital (education, skills, and abilities), has been a significant increase in schooling another half may result from discrimination or attainment overall for all groups. But there is a other factors over which indigenous peoples have large break in the trend beginning in the 1970s little control. As for earnings, indigenous peo- and coinciding with the Vietnam War, affecting ples receive significantly lower returns—about the ethnic minorities more than the rest of the 40 percent—to a year of education. population—that is, the gap in schooling widens In Asia, however, there is evidence—in China, during the war and is larger after the war. This Lao PDR, and Vietnam—of strong returns to finding adds further evidence that crises and education for indigenous peoples. In China interruptions affect indigenous peoples more or they enjoy even higher returns to schooling than nonindigenous peoples. Even so, earnings in these rates are high, as in India, where overall vaccina- countries are significantly lower for indigenous tions are relatively low (figure 4). peoples, and there is evidence of labor market discrimination. In Vietnam in 2006, unexplained Social. There are significant discrepancies in differences in the wage structure accounted for access to basic infrastructure and services. In 26–34 percent of the wage differential. Vietnam only 5 percent of minorities have access to an improved water source, compared with Health. Despite generally improving conditions 25 percent of the ethnic majority population. in many countries, health deficits among indig- While electricity and Internet connections are enous peoples are severe. Indigenous peoples are fairly evenly available to both groups, ethnic more likely to suffer from health issues, and they minorities are less likely to have trash collec- are less likely to seek or receive medical attention, tion services and more likely to live in temporary even the most basic preventive care. In India and housing. Vietnam, where poverty reduction achievements But ethnic minorities tend to benefit the most have been sizeable, indigenous peoples are less from major social programs. In Vietnam they likely to be covered by health programs or receive receive a higher percent of preferential credit, vital vaccinations. While there is good cover- free health care, tuition exemption and reduc- age against tuberculosis, indigenous peoples tion, and agriculture, forestry, and aquaculture in Vietnam and India are less likely to receive promotion. In India they are more likely (espe- vaccines against diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus, cially the poorest 20 percent) to benefit from measles, and polio. And only about one-third the Integrated Child Development Services of them are vaccinated against all diseases—this program, and they appear well represented as is as true in Vietnam, where overall vaccination beneficiaries of the National Rural Employment 5 FIGURe 4 Indigenous peoples get poorer health care Percent of children ages 12–23 months Vietnam (2002) India (2005–06) 100 100 Ethnic minority Ethnic majority Scheduled Tribes Non–Scheduled Tribes 80 80 60 60 40 40 20 20 0 0 Tuber- Diphtheria- Polio Measles All Tuber- Diphtheria- Polio Measles All culosisa pertussis- culosisa pertussis- tetanus tetanus a. Refers to bacille Calmette-Guérin. Source: Vietnam Demographic and Health Survey 2002; India National Family Health Survey 2005/06. InDIGenous peoples polIcy brIef Still among the pooreSt of the poor Guarantee scheme. In China the Manchu and of broad-based growth and poverty reduction? Hui fare well on social benefits, but only half of Countries that have not focused on delivering the rural Uyghur have medical coverage. In Lao rapid shared growth—such as those in Latin PDR access to pension and life insurance is less America—show limited to nonexistent poverty than 1 percent, with all populations hard hit. reduction among indigenous peoples, even in the face of targeted programs. In Latin America A better future for indigenous peoples we found only poorly performing targeted pro- The most encouraging news from our study grams, and even where programs could help— is that contrary to earlier worries about little such as bilingual education—they were poorly progress in poverty reduction for indigenous implemented. Moreover, the one program that peoples, based on studies in rich countries and as of 2006 had successfully reached indigenous Latin America, we now know that poverty rates peoples—Oportunidades in Mexico—did so as have declined substantially among indigenous a poverty-targeted as opposed to an indige- peoples in Asia. This insight suggests that the nous-targeted program. China, like India, has Asian success at achieving sustained growth and implemented some pro-indigenous policies— poverty reduction has helped its indigenous peo- easing access to political office, looser fertility ples achieve better poverty, health, and educa- restrictions, and affirmative action policies for tion outcomes. matriculations into colleges and universities Even so, a poverty gap persists between indig- along with subsidies—but even here, the ver- enous and nonindigenous peoples, and while the dict is mixed. gap is narrowing in China, it is stable or widening Thus, widespread and sustainable growth and in most other countries. Further, within coun- poverty reduction may be the necessary but insuf- tries, some subgroups are particularly hard hit. ficient condition in eliminating the indigenous 6 The reasons are many: geography, topography, poverty gap. This means that policymakers might and climate; limited access to services and infra- want to focus first on identifying and tackling the structure; low levels of human capital (education binding national country constraints to poverty and health); the lack of a critical “threshold� reduction. This alone should benefit vast seg- level or combination of assets (low human capi- ments of indigenous peoples. After that, strate- tal, poor land, and poor access to credit); and gies to address multiple sources of disadvantage discrimination (ethnic and gender). can be undertaken to reach those who need a In some countries spatial or geographic fac- special lift. But to accomplish all this, policy- tors may be the predominant stumbling block makers around the world will need help from (China, Lao PDR, and to some extent India). Yet, statisticians, economists, and anthropologists— it is not obvious how to address these constraints in the form of better disaggregated data on indig- most effectively. Delivering basic infrastructure enous peoples, more insight into why indigenous to small, dispersed populations in remote areas peoples are poor, a deeper understanding of is not cost effective, and resettlement strate- what has determined the success of some “out- gies, where they have been attempted, are not lier� or successful groups, and better evaluations only contentious but have also largely failed of bilingual education and targeted programs. (Lao PDR). In Latin America indigenous dis- advantage appears to be more complex, driven references by geography, along with low returns on human Hall, G., and H. A. Patrinos, eds. 2006. Indigenous Peoples, capital and other assets. That these differences Poverty and Human Development in Latin America. have endured despite decades of progress in London: Palgrave. reducing human capital gaps may be indicative Hall, G., and H. A. Patrinos, eds. Forthcoming. Indigenous of the lack of complementary investments and Peoples, Poverty and Development. Washington, DC: less than optimal national growth and poverty World Bank. reduction strategies. Psacharopoulos, G. and H.A. Patrinos, eds. 1994. Indig- Will programs aimed specifically at indig- enous People and Poverty in Latin America: An Empirical enous peoples help, especially in the absence Analysis. Washington, DC: World Bank.