Poverty Analysis Guideline
Annex 2 | How to do a Country Poverty Profile
The process and content of a country poverty profile will be highly influenced by the specifics of the country context. This Annex outlines a generic approach to the undertaking of a country poverty profile. For more information about tailoring this approach to a specific country context, or more specifics about each step in the process, contact the relevant NZAID Advisor.
Step 1 | Define Poverty
One of the first steps in developing a country poverty profile is to ascertain the national definitions of poverty. Such definitions frequently are expressed in income terms. Given the broader understanding of poverty and its causes associated with a sustainable human development approach, many countries (and donors) are expanding their national definitions of poverty to take additional facets of poverty into consideration.
This process results in a multidimensional definition, with different units of analysis. For example, a broad definition of poverty might consist of the following complementary components:
- household income/consumption (poverty lines and their associated indices)
- human capabilities (direct measures of human capabilities such as adult literacy, child malnutrition, low birth-weight babies; and indirect measures such as net primary enrolment rates, immunization rates, percentage of births attended by trained health personnel)
- access to public services (percentage of population with access to schools, health services, potable water and sanitation facilities, public transportation, electricity)
- employment and assets (ownership of land, livestock, equipment; access to credit; housing; other consumer durables)
- natural resources (trends in productivity of the resources base, trends in livelihood systems, trends in food security).
Although the introduction of non-income measures of poverty complicates the analysis of poverty - since certain groups would be considered “poor” by some indicators and not by others - it nevertheless provides a more complete assessment of poverty in its different dimensions. It also permits deeper analysis of the causes of poverty. The degree to which different dimensions of poverty are emphasized in a particular poverty profile should depend on the circumstances and characteristics of poverty in that country.
Step 2 | Analyse available information on poverty
Analyse available sources of poverty-related information, with the aim of answering the four questions that should inform poverty profiles:
i) who are the poor?
ii) where do they live?
iii) what are the characteristics of their poverty?
iv) why are they poor?
Answers to these questions should be differentiated, to the extent possible, according to region, gender, age etc.
Existing sources of information could include:
- regional and country MDG reports
- UNDP human development reports
- census data
- household income and expenditure surveys
- macroeconomic policy analyses
- sector studies and information systems
- other poverty analyses, including participatory poverty assessments.
Step 3 | Determine poverty trends
Through analysing available sources of poverty-related information, determine poverty trends over both the short and medium term.
Step 4 | Consider national policy framework
Begin relating the country poverty profile to an assessment of the national policy framework, including the national development strategy and/or poverty reduction strategy, government policies (macroeconomic, structural and sectoral) and the public expenditure programme. A full examination of the national policy framework should be undertaken as part of a country poverty assessment, versus country poverty profile, but there nevertheless will be some cross-fertilisation between the two processes.