Despite the abundance of natural resources in Guinea, its population endures high poverty and malnutrition rates. Since 2000, the country has experienced socio-economic adversity. Governance problems, limited economic progress and the overall deterioration of the economy have undermined living conditions.
The poverty rate rose from 40 percent in 1996 to 49 percent in 2004. During the same period, the share of the population living in extreme poverty has grown significantly from 18 percent to 27 percent. Lately, Guinea has shown signs of socio-political instability.
Even though several neighbouring countries (Liberia, Sierra Leone and Côte d'Ivoire) have been ravaged by internal conflicts, Guinea has remained a haven of peace. For this reason, the country's Forest region has long been host to hundreds of thousands of refugees from Liberia and Sierra Leone, and more recently to some 4,000 Ivorian refugees.
The continued presence of refugees has contributed to the widespread decline of the Forest region. According to a recent food security survey, 40 percent of its inhabitants are now food-insecure. The two regions hardest hit by poverty and illiteracy remain Upper and Middle Guinea. These two regions also suffer from chronic food insecurity.
The majority of the population relies on subsistence agriculture without any financial safety net and are especially vulnerable to small-scale natural disasters (floods, late rains, etc)
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