Posted on February, 10, 2022 at 07:12 am
Household income alone doesn’t accurately reflect levels of rural poverty, because measuring economic hardship is much more complex than recording a bank account balance. In a bid to truly capture the unique challenges faced by the rural poor, FAO has developed a new system that it says is a more accurate assessment.
The rural multidimensional poverty index, or R-MPI, includes additional metrics to provide a fuller picture of a family’s status. It measures food security, nutrition quality, education, living standards, agricultural assets, and exposure to environmental and other risks.
The index expands on UNDP’s global multidimensional poverty index, which was launched in 2010, by using survey and geospatial data to quantify climate-related risks. These include potential exposure to floods, drought, or heat waves that could affect agricultural productivity and therefore household income, food security, and nutrition.
FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero tells me his agency realized geospatial data could provide key information about the challenges faced by the rural poor, which differ from those in urban areas.
“To date, we are not aware of rural poverty measures that attempted to capture this particular aspect,” Torero says.
One hurdle for the index, Torero tells me, is the availability of data for more countries and time periods. FAO plans to calculate and release R-MPI findings when possible, but poverty comparisons can only go so far without more standardized information.
“To address this limitation, surveys will have to be promoted that collect more homogeneous information on rural areas,” he says.
FAO says R-MPI could eventually be used as a monitoring tool for projects, with index readings collected before efforts begin and then again after their conclusion to determine the level of impact.
Catch up via Devex Pro: FAO partnered with the European Space Agency to help countries use satellite data to enhance global food security.
What do you think? How important is distinguishing constraints on the rural poor when measuring global poverty? Will this index give the world a better shot at eliminating hunger and poverty by 2030? Write me with your thoughts at dish@devex.com.
During the opening session of last weekend’s African Union summit, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed pointed to COVID-19, as well as “floods, drought, desert locusts, and other climate-related natural disasters,” as the root causes of food insecurity on the continent.
One cause he didn’t mention? Conflict. Abiy said that his country has made significant progress in improving food security — but declined to mention that more than 9 million people in the northern part of his country are currently in need of food aid as armed conflict continues.
“Over the past year, acute food security in Africa has increased by over 60%,” he said. “With 60% of the world's arable land in Africa, it is of utmost importance that we need to use our natural assets to maximize agricultural output and feed our people without reliance on external assistance.”
The index expands on UNDP’s global multidimensional poverty index, which was launched in 2010, by using survey and geospatial data to quantify climate-related risks. These include potential exposure to floods, drought, or heat waves that could affect agricultural productivity and therefore household income, food security, and nutrition.
FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero tells me his agency realized geospatial data could provide key information about the challenges faced by the rural poor, which differ from those in urban areas.
“To date, we are not aware of rural poverty measures that attempted to capture this particular aspect,” Torero says.
One hurdle for the index, Torero tells me, is the availability of data for more countries and time periods. FAO plans to calculate and release R-MPI findings when possible, but poverty comparisons can only go so far without more standardized information.
“To address this limitation, surveys will have to be promoted that collect more homogeneous information on rural areas,” he says.
FAO says R-MPI could eventually be used as a monitoring tool for projects, with index readings collected before efforts begin and then again after their conclusion to determine the level of impact.
Catch up via Devex Pro: FAO partnered with the European Space Agency to help countries use satellite data to enhance global food security.
What do you think? How important is distinguishing constraints on the rural poor when measuring global poverty? Will this index give the world a better shot at eliminating hunger and poverty by 2030? Write me with your thoughts at dish@devex.com.
During the opening session of last weekend’s African Union summit, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed pointed to COVID-19, as well as “floods, drought, desert locusts, and other climate-related natural disasters,” as the root causes of food insecurity on the continent.
One cause he didn’t mention? Conflict. Abiy said that his country has made significant progress in improving food security — but declined to mention that more than 9 million people in the northern part of his country are currently in need of food aid as armed conflict continues.
“Over the past year, acute food security in Africa has increased by over 60%,” he said. “With 60% of the world's arable land in Africa, it is of utmost importance that we need to use our natural assets to maximize agricultural output and feed our people without reliance on external assistance.”
Throughout the civil war in the country’s north, the Ethiopian government has routinely prevented WFP and humanitarian aid convoys from delivering lifesaving supplies to people in the region. The latest situational update from U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs found that “constant” humanitarian food assistance will be needed in 2022 — in addition to conflict, the Horn of Africa region is gripped by drought, facing the driest conditions in 40 years.
Ethiopia: Food security a priority, despite Tigray's famine-like conditions
More on conflict and hunger: The COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, and violent conflicts have formed a “toxic cocktail” reversing progress on eliminating hunger.
Source: Devex