Publications and other documents

• Where the poor are 2006
  An atlas of poverty
  2006 CIESIN/SEDAC
  Since Charles Booth produced his remarkably detailed maps depicting inequality in Victorian London, poverty maps have been used to inform policy. But not until recently have high-resolution maps become available, making it possible to interpret and apply poverty maps in creative new ways to better understand poverty and improve policy making on behalf of the poor. Where the Poor Are: An Atlas of Poverty brings together a diverse collection of maps from different continents and countries, depicting small area estimates of vital development indicators at unprecedented levels of spatial detail.
• Mapping global urban and rural population distributions
  Estimates of future global population distribution to 2015 [PDF]
  2005 Salvatore et al, FAO
  This monograph is part of a series of reports that explain and illustrate methods for applying spatial analysis techniques to investigate poverty and environment links worldwide. Analysing population distribution in relation to poverty and environmental factors is increasingly recognized as a valuable element in decision-making processes related to development issues. Accurately mapping and assessing vulnerable populations can provide a solid basis for recommendations on how best to reduce poverty and improve living conditions in developing countries. In this report, the various definitions of the terms 'urban' and 'rural' are reviewed, along with data from the United Nations and other sources, and various georeferenced sources are assessed for their usefulness to the geospatial analysis of population distribution. The report examines two widely used global georeferenced population datasets, reviews recent methodological developments for distinguishing urban and rural populations spatially and presents a method for creating an urban mask and determining variations in the distribution of urban and rural populations, by pixel. The report concludes with a brief discussion of unresolved issues and future challenges. Finally, the Annex details a method for estimating global population distribution to the year 2015 using data from over 375 000 subnational units.
• Locating the Poor: Spatially Disaggregated Poverty Maps for Sri Lanka
  Research Report 96 [PDF]
  2005 Upali A. Amarasinghe, Madar Samad andMarkandu Anputhas
  This report presents the results of subnational poverty estimation using aggregate poverty statistics and how they can help policy interventions. In particular, they estimate the poverty map across the DS division level in Sri Lanka. The poverty map depicts the proportion of households below the poverty line, which is based on household expenditure for food for obtaining the minimum calorie requirement.
• Inventory of sub-national poverty indicators
  2004 Dan Prager
  Maps and data collected as part of an inventory of existing sub-national poverty mapping indicators for selected countries, in an effort to create a database for comparison between countries and regions within them.
• The application of a spatial regression model to the analysis and mapping of poverty
  [PDF]
  2004 Petrucci A., Salvati N., Seghieri C. University of Florence, FAO
  The mapping of poverty in developing countries has become an increasingly important tool in the search for ways to improve living standards in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner. The methods used to generate poverty maps naturally come under more intense scrutiny as their policy implications become more apparent. Those most commonly used until now have involved the application of econometric models to generate local indicators of poverty. An important issue that has arisen regarding these econometric models is whether or not they take into account the spatial dependence that may exist in human societies with regard to the distribution of income. Poor households are more likely to be close to other poor households than they are to be close to higher income households. However, classic econometric models do not take these kinds of spatial properties of poverty into account. In this report, the authors apply the techniques of spatial regression in order to model more accurately the distribution of poverty across regions in Ecuador. In the case of Ecuador, the difference between results that are adjusted for spatial patterns and the unadjusted results is statistically significant. Although the absolute differences are not dramatic, they do provide policy planners with greater confidence that the results reflect the real situation in that country. Although the geographic focus of the paper is on Ecuador, its main purpose is methodological, mainly the comparison of results obtained from models that apply spatial regression techniques with results obtained from models that do not take spatial dependence into account.
• Poverty Mapping: A Tool to Improve Effectivness of Agricultural Development Activities
  [PDF]
  2003 UNEP/GRID-Arendal
  Leaflet distributed at the CGIAR AGM 2003. A joint effort between GRID-Arendal, CIAT, CIESIN WRI and FAO to show the relevance and potential of poverty mapping to agricultural research, and also raise awareness to the global poverty mapping strategy which is being developed (by the above agencies mainly but with several other partners)
• Poverty Mapping and Economic Geography - Bibliography
  Unknown
  Bibliography of resources dealing with poverty mapping.
• Mapping and Geographic Analysis of Human Welfare and Poverty — Review and Assessment
  1998 Norbert Henninger
  This report, prepared in the framework of the project 'UNEP-CGIAR cooperation on GIS in agricultural research' by WRI , provides a comprehensive overview of activities in the area of spatial analysis of human welfare and poverty.
• Synthesis Report on the International Workshop on Poverty Mapping
  [PDF]
  1998 UNEP/GRID-Arendal
  This report documents the workshop on Poverty Mapping which was held in Arendal, Norway in October 1998.
• Issues and concepts for the Norway-funded project "Improving Methods for Poverty and Food Insecurity Mapping and Its Use at Country Level"
  [PDF]
  2001 Benjamin Davis, Raffaella Siano
  The objective of the Issues paper is to provide a framework with which to guide the activities of the Norway-funded project "Improving Methods for Poverty and Food Insecurity Mapping and Its Use at Country Level", which is jointly administered by the FAO, CIAT-CGIAR, and GRID-Arendal.
• Where are the Poor?
  Experiences with the Development and Use of Poverty Maps [PDF]
  2002 Norbert Henninger; Mathilde Snel
  Highlights the successful use of poverty maps in 14 countries throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America and offers advice on the use of this new technology to develop more effective anti-poverty initiatives and policies.
• Choosing a Method for Poverty Mapping
  [PDF]
  2003 Benjamin Davis
  The paper presents and compares a large selection of poverty and food-security mapping methodologies in use. The choice of a poverty-mapping methodology depends on a number of logical and legitimate considerations, such as the objectives of the poverty mapping exercise, philosophical views on poverty, limits on data and analytical capacity, and cost.
• The poverty targeting efficiency of public works programs
  An application of poverty mapping in Malawi [PDF]
  2002 Todd Benson
  The research presented in this paper makes use of the poverty map to assess the targeting efficiency of two public works programs in Malawi since 1999. Specifically, given Malawi's high poverty rates and given the considerable effort required to produce such a small-area poverty map, we examine whether the improvements in program targeting that such a detailed poverty map might offer are significant.
• Correlates of poverty measures in Malawi
  [PDF]
  2002 Todd Benson
  This paper assesses the degree to which welfare and poverty measures derived for subdistrict Traditional Authority (TA) spatial units using a poverty map of Malawi are correlated with a small set of aggregated socio-economic characteristics of households residing in the TA.

• Nature's Benefits in Kenya: An Atlas of Ecosystems and Human Well-Being
  2007 Henniger, N et al, World Resources Institute
  This report provides a new approach to examining the links between ecosystem services (the benefits derived from nature) and the poor. Through a series of maps and analyses, the authors focus on the environmental resources most Kenyans rely on such as soil, water, forest, rangeland, livestock, and wildlife. The atlas overlays georeferenced statistical information on population and household expenditures with spatial data on ecosystems and their services (water availability, wood supply, wildlife populations, and the like) to yield a picture of how land, people, and prosperity are related in Kenya. While the maps and analyses presented here will not provide easy answers to questions concerning the causes of poverty in Kenya and how ecosystems can best be managed to increase economic growth and improve livelihoods, they are a first step toward stimulating more informed dialogue and provoking questions for which answers may be found. The final section of the atlas provides general findings about the use of the introduced maps for sociogeographic analysis. It concludes with four recommendations that are expected to advance a more comprehensive accounting of ecosystem services and to improve the understanding of poverty-environment relationships in Kenya.
• Poverty-conservation mapping : the geography of poverty and biodiversity
  [PDF]
  2005 Katariya, Vineet ; de Sherbinin, Alex ; Oviedo, Gonzalo ; Wagner, Mark, ed.
  Poverty-environment mapping offers a valuable tool to support poverty-focused conservation. Maps of poverty and environmental conditions can pinpoint opportunities for development and are useful to donors and development agencies in allocating investment and targeting activities. Several international institutions have been doing very important work on mapping poverty related indicators and exploring their links with environmental factors. This publication aims to communicate and illustrate the poverty-environment mapping efforts of several of these organizations in order to enhance and improve knowledge of the methodologies and indicators being employed.
• Poverty-Biodiversity Mapping Applications
  2004 Mathilde Snel (main author), with contributions from Hugo Ahlenius, Marianne Fernagut, Otto Simonett
  UNEP/GRID-Arendal was invited to deliver a discussion paper on possible applications of the use of mapping poverty for the IUCN and its members. The paper also features a new set of maps overlaying and integrating poverty and biodiversity on various spatial scales.
• Towards GIS-based analysis of mountain environments and populations
  [PDF]
  2003 Barbara Huddleston, Ergin Ataman, Luca Fe d'Ostiani
  This report presents the results of work in progress. It applies geographical information system (GIS) techniques and newly available geo-referenced data to understand conditions underlying poverty and hunger in the world, with special reference to mountain environments and populations. Following the system developed by the United Nations Environment Programme - World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) in 2000 for classifying mountain areas, hilly as well as high mountain areas are covered by the analysis. New data about global population density from the LandScan 2000 map have made it possible to estimate population figures for each mountain area class, as well as for other parameters about agricultural land use, farming systems, environmental constraints and yields per person that contribute to the estimation of the number of vulnerable mountain people.
• Mapping Indicators of Poverty in West Africa
  1997 UNEP/GRID-Arendal
  A pilot study to examine the relationship between the location of rural poor population and land use potential in West Africa, based on 'best available data', using Geographic Information Systems technology.
• Poverty and the Environment A Role for UNEP
  [Microsoft Word document]
  2001 Anantha Kumar Duraiappah
  The paper includes: a brief overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the two main initiatives in the field of poverty and the environment; a conceptual framework that UNEP can adopt to address the poverty-environment nexus, building on the strengths of existing frameworks while addressing some key concerns not addressed by current initiatives; a methodology to operationalize the conceptual framework; a road map that provides a step-by-step guide on transforming the conceptual framework into a set of operational guidelines
• Environment and Poverty Times
  2002 UNEP/GRID-Arendal
  The Environment & Poverty Times aims to explain the complex links between poverty and the environment. It shows, through short texts, maps and other illustrations, some of the manifestations of poverty and environmental conditions.
• Rural Poverty and Land Degradation: A Reality Check for the CGIAR
  [PDF]
  1998 Sohail Jehangir Malik
  Understanding of the intricate processes of poverty and land degradation is still extremely limited. Definition, in each process, is driven largely by the perceptions of those analyzing the phenomena. Each group brings its own strong perceptions to bear. The lack of clear conceptualization, the observed heterogeneity and the diverse perceptions of those attempting the exercise complicate attempts at measurement.

• Applications of poverty mapping to World Food Programme activities in Malawi
  Assessing the poverty targeting efficiency of a public works program and vulnerability to food insecurity [PDF]
  2003 Todd Benson
  In this paper, the Malawi poverty map is used with reference to two activities of the World Food Programme (WFP) in Malawi – the Food For Assets and Development (FFASD) public works program and the Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping (VAM) information generation procedure used by WFP.

• Mapping for change: practice, technologies and communication PLA Notes 54
  Participatory Learning and Action - Issue 54 [Printed document]
  2006 Giacomo Rambaldi, Jon Corbett, Mike McCall, Rachel Olson;, Julius Muchemi, Peter Kwaku Kyem, Daniel Wiener with) Robert Chambers
  PGIS is an evolved form of community mapping, the result of a spontaneous merger of Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) methods with Geographic Information Technologies and Systems (GIT&S). PGIS practice is based on using geo-spatial information management tools ranging from sketch maps, participatory 3D models (P3DM), aerial photographs, satellite imagery, readings obtained through Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software as interactive vehicles for discussion, information exchange, analysis and support in decision making. If appropriately utilised, PGIS practice may have profound implications and stimulate innovation and social change. More importantly and unlike traditional GIS applications, PGIS aims at placing control on access and use of culturally sensitive spatial data in the hands of those who generated the data thereby protecting traditional knowledge and wisdom from external exploitation.
• Poverty mapping at the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2004
  2005 UNEP/GRID-Arendal
  IUCN, The World Conservation Union, is an association of NGOs, government agencies and intergovenmental institutions, in the field of conservation of nature. The 3rd IUCN World Conservation Congress was held in Bangkok, Thailand November 17-25 2004 with some 12,000 visiting researchers, practitioners, economists, lawyers, and educators. With the current trend of integrating development and conservation, pushed by the Millennium declaration and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the congress devoted a major track to Health, Poverty and Conservation, on how to integrate aspects of the human dimension into conservation work. Under the Health, Poverty and Conservation headline there were a number of different subjects and views covered, among those tools and decision support systems - such as maps and Geographical Information Systems (GIS).
• Impacts of Poverty Maps: Past Experiences and New Applications
  Report of the Workshop
  2003 UNEP/GRID-Arendal
  21 May 2003, Brussels. The results of a UNEP/GRID-Arendal organised workshop in conjunction with the fourth meeting of the Poverty Environment Partnership (PEP), in May 2003.
• Poverty and food insecurity mapping project - workshop report
  [PDF]
  2001 FAO/UNEP-GRID/CGIAR
  The Expert workshop on Poverty Mapping jointly organized by UNEP, FAO and the CGIAR and held at UNEP’s Regional Office in Washingon DC was able to attract 20 experts representing almost as many organizations. The aim of the workshop was to link broader issues - the general research questions poverty mapping can address – to concrete action within the project: country case studies, methodological studies, global datasets and concrete products, such as a website, maps and graphics from the network.
• Poverty and Food Insecurity Mapping Case Studies Workshop
  2002 Various
  Workshop proceedings includes papers on: Improved Mapping and Spatial Analysis of Food Security and Poverty in Ecuador; Geospatial Dimensions of Poverty and Food Security - A Case Study of Mexico; Proposal for Developing Applied Research Partnerships for Reducing Poverty and Food Insecurity; FIVIMS and the Poverty Mapping Project; Poverty and Food Insecurity Mapping; A Multi-scale Integrated Approach to Poverty Mapping in Syria; Poverty Mapping in Nigeria; Proposal - "Use of geospatial predictive drivers for reducing malnutrition levels of children in poor rural households in Nigeria."; The Geographical Distribution of Poverty and Food Security in Bangladesh; Mapping Indicators for Analyzing the Dynamics of Spatial and Temporal Variability of Poverty and Food Insecurity in River Basins: Sri Lanka Case Study; Introduction to Spatial Analysis ; Spatial Analysis of Food Security Using Data from the Demographic and Health Surveys; Point Pattern Analysis; Spatial Filtering.

• Poverty mapping for selected African countries
  Poverty profiles from 11 African countries [PDF]
  2003 Economic and Social Policy Division (ESPD); Mohammed, L.; Woldemariam, E. / UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA / ECA) , 2003
  This document represents a collection of Poverty Maps for eleven African countries, namely, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania. The maps are constructed using the head count index as a tool for measurement and analysis of the incidence of poverty.
• Local Estimation of Poverty and Malnutrition in Bangladesh
  [PDF]
  2004 The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics in collaboration with The United Nations World Food Programme
  Poverty and malnutrition in Bangladesh are characterized by regional variation. Factors such as tendency to natural disasters, distribution and quality of land, access to education and health facilities, level of infrastructure development, employment opportunities, and dietary and hygiene practices provide possible explanations for this. Future efforts by the Government and aid agencies to further reduce poverty and malnutrition will be guided by the Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (I-PRSP) and the full PRSP, currently being prepared, which advocate the use of targeted development programmes directed towards the most deprived and vulnerable areas. This approach should improve the cost-effectiveness of social interventions, but its implementation requires detailed information on poverty and malnutrition at the local level.
• What Can Poverty Maps Tell Us for Food Assistance Programming?
  Linking Research and Action Paper [PDF]
  2003 Tedd Benson
  Poverty maps are easily used, easily understood, and objectively verifiable. Using them for politically sensitive decisions, such as where to locate food assistance projects, is likely more acceptable than basing such decisions on obscure and complex or subjective criteria. Coupled with timely information on the occurrence of events that increase the risk of households facing food shortages, poverty maps can be used to map vulnerability to food insecurity.
• Reducing Poverty through Cutting-edge Science
  CGIAR Workshop report [PDF]
  1999 CGIAR Secretariat
  The Study comprises the Report of the Study on CGIAR Research Priorities for Marginal Lands, the Framework for Prioritizing Land Types in Agricultural Research, the Rural Poverty and Land Degradation: A Reality Check for the CGIAR, and TAC?s Commentary on this study.
• Poverty and Climate Change
  Reducing the Vulnerability of the Poor through Adaptation [PDF]
  2003 Frank Sperling, ed.
  This paper focuses on the impacts of climate change on poverty reduction efforts in the context of sustaining progress towards the Millennium Development Goals and beyond. It discusses ways of mainstreaming and integrating adaptation to climate change into poverty reduction and sustainable development efforts. prepared by: African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, Department for International Development, United Kingdom, Directorate-General for Development,European Commission, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany, Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Development Cooperation, The Netherlands, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Environment Programme, and The World Bank
• Mapping Poverty and Livestock in the Developing World
  2002 P.K.Thornton, R.L.Kruska, N.Henninger, P.M.Kristjanson, R.S.Reid, F.Atieno, A.N.Odero and T.Ndegwa
  This study has produced a set of maps and tables that locate significant populations of poor livestock keepers and has broadly assessed how poor livestock keeping populations are likely to change over the next 3-5 decades.