Background document

Joint FAO/CGIAR/UNEP Poverty And Food Security Mapping Project

Workshop on the Impacts of Poverty Maps:
Past Experiences and New Applications, Brussels Workshop, May 21st, 2003

Background Document Prepared by Mathilde Snel and Anna Ballance (See full document RTF 1.0 MB, PDF 0.4 MB)

The workshop was designed to take stock of previous experiences in poverty mapping; describe ways in which policymaking and programme development have been influenced by poverty map use; and proposed ways of enhancing the effectiveness of poverty maps, including extending their application in new areas such food security planning and environmental management.

This background document is a summary review of past and current applications of poverty maps to, amongst other activities, the targeting of poverty reduction strategies, planning of health services, assessment of food security programmes, development of early warning systems, and agricultural and livestock development plans. Many of the examples are take from a recent joint publication by the World Resources institute and UNEP/GRID-Arendal (Henninger & Snel 2002); others are more recent or ongoing examples. Although poverty map use in spatial and comparative analyses is still limited, this review indicates that there is an increasing number of recent applications, and presents the recommendations from each of the examples as to how the application and usefulness of poverty maps can be increased.