New Zealand Aid Tools Sectors, Themes and Issues 

Poverty Analysis Guideline

Why use Poverty Analysis?

The over-arching aim of poverty analysis is to identify the poor, understand the causes of poverty and help set priorities for poverty reduction efforts. In essence, poverty analysis helps set the basis for policies, strategies and programmes that have effective, efficient and sustainable poverty reduction impacts.

Poverty analysis can be used at different levels to inform different kinds of interlinking processes.

Level of use

Informs

National

The national policy framework of partner countries, including their national development strategy and/or poverty reduction strategy, macro policies and public expenditure programme

Sector

The sector policies, strategies and programmes of partner countries

Sub-national

The provincial or district development plans and programmes of partner countries

Development programmes 1 and projects

Development programme and project identification, design and assessment

Poverty analysis can be used to assess the distributional and poverty impacts of policies, strategies, programmes and projects that:

  • aim to directly benefit the poor
  • aim to indirectly benefit the poor

don’t directly or indirectly aim to benefit the poor but nevertheless may have major ramifications (positive and/or negative) for them.  


 1 Not to be confused with NZAID country, regional or thematic programmes. See Tools Glossary.