This paper explores the implications of using two methodological approaches to study poverty dynamics in rural Bangladesh. Using data from a unique longitudinal study, we show how different methods lead to very different assessments of socio-economic mobility. We suggest five ways of reconciling these differences: considering assets in addition to expenditures, proximity to the poverty line, ot...

This article reports on mean consumption, poverty (all three FGT measures) and inequality during 2004 for rural India using National Sample Survey (NSS) data for the 60th Round. Mean consumption at the national level is much higher than the poverty line. However, the Gini coefficient is higher than in recent earlier rounds. The headcount ratio is 22.9 per cent. Mean consumption, all three measu...

Targeted poverty reduction programmes, advocated in contemporary poverty orthodoxy, heighten the importance of poverty information. Two divergent tendencies are discernible: tightened-up targeting through narrowed eligibility criteria; and a new epistemology of poverty based on qualitative and participatory methods. Statistical and qualitative analysis of findings from research in rural Colombi...

The government of Kenya has recently attempted to develop a national budget that gives priority to two pertinent constraints to national development efforts. These are poverty and HIV/AIDS. The poor are those members of society that are unable to afford minimum basic human needs comprising food and non-food items. Slightly over 50% of Kenyans live bellow poverty line. Also, about 700 Kenyans ar...

The plight of rural people has been highlighted by numerous policy studies and considerable public awareness has been created via the media. Whereas 50% of the population of South Africa is rural, the rural areas contain 72% of those members of the total population who are poor. Compared to their urban counterparts, rural people also have vastly inferior access to basic social services and the ...

as an assessment method of the water resources, water poverty index (wpi) has become an available tool in water resources management. in particular, agricultural water poverty index (awpi) is an assessment tool for agricultural water in rural areas. during the past decades, mahidasht basin in kermanshah province has been declared by water policy makers as “forbidden” basin in terms of water exp...

This article is motivated by a concern for the cost-effectiveness of anti-poverty outlays; much of its focus is on the targeting of Rural Public Works (RPW) and the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) over the period 1987±93. It is argued that benefits to the rural poor of larger outlays on these two major anti-poverty programmes are likely to be limited, given their mistargeting. Lar...

REDUCTION THROUGH POLICY CHANGES This chapter deals with various strategies to improve the asset holdings of the rural poor. In most cases, if the poor get a bigger share of asset control or benefits, efficiency and economic growth also improve. For many types of asset, reducing inequality between rural and urban areas slows down outmigration to the cities, and increases rural farm and non-farm...

Previous studies have consistently found that that there is an inverse relationship between householdlevel poverty and health status, and that poor people tend to live in poor communities. However, what is not well understood is whether and how the average economic status at the community level plays a role in the household poverty–health relationship. This study investigates the concentration ...

Recent research has shown how quantifiable aspects of community context affect a wide range of behaviors and outcomes. Due partially to the historical development of this field, currently published work focuses on urban rather than rural areas. We draw upon data from a longitudinal study of families and health in Appalachia—the Great Smoky Mountains Study (GSMS), and an ethnographically based i...