The Prevalence of Poverty and Inequality in South Sudan: The Case of Renk County

In this study we use a comprehensive household income and expenditure survey with a sample of 245 respondents representing urban and rural households in the Renk County of South Sudan to assess the prevalence of poverty and inequality in the study area. We used the cost of basic needs; to establish both food poverty line and Poverty line; estimated poverty incidence, gap and severity; and estimated different equality measures. Major results show that 87% and 73% of the urban and rural households respectively fall below our calculated poverty lines. The estimated Gini coefficient was 18% and 20% for urban and rural households, respectively. Results of other equality measures show higher inequality between the poorest and richest segments of households as the richest quintile among urban households consumes 5 times that of the poorest, while that of the rural households consumes 4 4 folds the poorest quintile.