He said that though statistics are expected to show a drop in the level of poverty in the country, it is unacceptable that anybody should live below the poverty datum line. Hence, he has committed himself to poverty eradication and economic diversification. He stated that the two are interrelated because poverty eradication is the goal and economic diversification is the primary means to achieving the goal of poverty eradication. "We intend to use the purchasing power of the country, currently estimated to be over P20 billion per annum to support the growth of entrepreneurship and innovation of local enterprises," he said. He asserted that poverty eradication will now be coordinated from the Office of the President. He said poverty is a complex phenomenon and its eradication needs all stakeholders to be involved in the development and implementation of solutions. He said he believes that the current spending on social intervention programmes can be better restructured to effectively aid in the eradication of poverty. He indicated that from now on, all social intervention programmes would have to comply with the principles of poverty eradication by passing the test of viability and sustainability, efficiency and effectiveness. "We have to learn to do more with less and to optimise the usage of our resources. If all our programmes aimed at poverty eradication meet the set stringent conditions we will be able to win the war on poverty," he said. He added that all the current programmes will continue to be reviewed to make them compliant with the new policy framework of poverty eradication.
He said that the Backyard Garden initiative has been developed and is ready for trial and implementation in the next financial year. The initiative gives hope in the fight against poverty. This is because 80 percent of the type of poverty experienced countrywide is that of lack of food. Other packages being developed to augment backyard gardening include chicken farming, small stock, bee-keeping, handicrafts, backyard nurseries, fisheries and food processing.
