Sub-Saharan Africa is at the centre of the debate about development and about the relationship between prosperity in the North and poverty in the South. However, the data base for much of the argument is very weak. The purpose of this book is to present an up-to-date picture based on a critical evaluation of several hundred studies. Separate chapters consider food, fuel and water, health and education, and then three cross-cutting issues: urbanisation, women and human rights. The uniqueness of the book is not only in the care with which the data is examined but also in the emphasis upon interpreting data within a framework oriented towards the monitoring of the satisfaction of basic human needs.

Introduction - PART 1: MONITORING SOCIAL CONDITIONS - Growth: the African Disease - Which Social Conditions to Report? - The Real Population Problem - PART 2: A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE STATISTICAL DATA - Food Production and Food Security - Fire and Water - Child Mortality and Nutrition - Adult Health and Health Care - Children's Education - Literacy and Adult Education - Urbanisation - The Impact of State Violence and Warmongering - The Status of Women - PART 3: IMPROVING THE KNOWLEDGE BASE - Monitoring Social Conditions, top-down - Monitoring Basic Needs at the Local Level - Conclusion - Appendix 1: Analysis of Progress towards attaining Basic Needs - Appendix 2: Inequalities in Health and in Access to Health Care - Appendix 3: Equity and Inequalities in Education - Bibliography - Index