A Dollar a Day

What keeps a billion people trapped in the most persistent poverty? Mike Wooldridge travels to Nicaragua, Namibia and Nepal where the poor describe a daily struggle that has been worsened by the global economic crisis.

Namibia

Thrown off nearby farms at the time of Namibia's independence, the squatters of Otjivero lived a hand-to-mouth existence with no job prospects or land to farm.

Last year a scheme was established to give every inhabitant a basic cash grant of about US$10 a month, to spend as they wanted.

Believed to be the first no–conditions cash handout in the world, this small cash injection has made an enormous difference to their lives.

School enrolment has shot up, small businesses are springing up, and the nurse at the local clinic says malnutrition rates amongst the children have dropped.