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decreased from 200 deaths per 1,000 births in 1960 to 120 deaths per 1,000 births in 2008–09. Figure 6.5 shows the proportion of the Ghanaian population living on
less than US$2 (US dollars) per day. Poverty is endemic in the three northern regions, where more than 95 percent of the population is living on less than US$2 per day. Poverty generally decreases from the north to the south. Poverty rates in the Volta and Brong Ahafo Regions—areas with mostly transition veg- etation—are higher than for the other southern regions but lower than for the three northern regions. Poverty is relatively more widespread in the northern part of the country
compared to the western part. There are more urban settlements and more economic activities in the west than in the north. Moreover, rainfall is greater in the west, supporting the production of tree crops. The forest sector regions of Ashanti, Central, and Western Regions share a poverty bracket. The Eastern and Greater Accra Regions have the lowest percentage of the population living on less than US$2 a day. The socioeconomic activities associated with the cap- ital city in the Greater Accra Region and with the area around Lake Volta in the Eastern Region could account for the relatively lower poverty rate in those two regions.
FIGURE 6.5 Poverty in Ghana, circa 2005 (percent below US$2 per day)