MAPPING AND GEOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF

HUMAN WELFARE AND POVERTY  -  REVIEW AND ASSESSMENT

NORBERT HENNINGER

World Resources Institute

Washington, D.C., USA

April 1998



CONTENTS



1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background 1
1.2 Poverty Maps  -  Applications and Users 2
1.3 Spatially Disaggregated Data  -  At What Scale or Resolution? 4



 
2. HUMAN WELFARE AND POVERTY 4
2.1 Concepts, Definitions, and Measurement 4
2.1.1 Human Well-Being is Multidimensional 4
2.1.2 What Do We Measure? 6
2.2Human Welfare and Poverty Indicators  -	Major Dimensions 7
2.3 Vulnerability 12
2.3.1 Definitions 12
2.3.2 Types of Vulnerability 12
2.3.3 Approaches for Measurement 13
2.3.4Conceptual Frameworks and Indicators for Vulnerability Assessments  13
2.4 Peripheral Areas 17
2.4.1The Geography of Poverty  -  Why Do Poor Areas Exist? 17
2.4.2 Characteristics of Peripheral Areas 18
2.5 Implications for Poverty Mapping 19
2.5.1 The Selection of a Specific Conceptual Approach Matters 19
2.5.2 The Choice of Indicator Matters 19





3. DATA COLLECTION AND SOURCES 20
3.1 Data Collection Methods  21
3.2 Data Sources and Country Coverage  24







4. EXAMPLES OF MAPPING HUMAN WELFARE AND POVERTY 25 
4.1  International Efforts  26

4.2 Activities by CGIAR Centers  26 
4.2.1 Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) 26
4.2.2 Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP) 28
4.2.3 International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) 28
4.2.4 International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) 29
4.2.5  International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) 30
4.3 Country Assessments 30
4.3.1 El Salvador 304.3.2 Nicaragua 31
4.3.3 Peru 31
4.3.4 South Africa 32







5. APPROACHES TO PRODUCE POVERTY MAPS 32
5.1 Mapping Auxiliary Data 33

5.1.1 Access 35
5.1.2 Vulnerability 36
5.1.3 Typology of Economic Activities 39
5.1.4 Other Indicators 43
5.2 Mapping Survey Data 51
5.2.1 Example  -  Child Nutritional Status and Aridity 52
5.2.2Aggregating Cluster Data to New Units of Analysis 54
5.2.3 Results 55
5.3 Mapping Modeled Results 56
5.3.1 Ecuador 58
5.3.2 Burkina Faso 60
5.3.3 Scaling Up From Local Perspectives 62







6. CONCLUSIONS 64 
6.1 Assessment 64
6.1.1 Imprecision of Mapping Auxiliary Data64
6.1.2 Poor Data Quality and Few Worked Examples for Measuring Access 64
 6.1.3 Limited Data Availability of Geo-Referenced Survey Data 64
6.1.4 Mapping Modeled Results	 -  High Costs and Institutional Barriers 65
6.1.5 Correlation versus Causation 65
6.2 Next Steps 66







7.  REFERENCES 69







APPENDIXES



Appendix 1	Terms of Reference  -  Poverty Mapping Assessment 75
Appendix 2  Availability of Survey and Census Data 77
Appendix 3  Household Surveys Completed in Africa since 1985 80
Appendix 4  Types of Poverty and Location of Poor 84
Appendix 5  Bibliography of Country Studies Related to Human Development and Disaggregation of UNDP's Composite Indexes 90
Appendix 6	Bibliography of Poverty Assessments Conducted by the World Bank 95





BOXES

Box 1  Multidimensionality of Human Well-Being 5
Box 2  Poverty, Development, and Equity 6
Box 3  At What Level of Well-Being is a Person Poor? 8
Box 4  How Do We Combine Measurements of Well-Being? 9
Box 5	 Calculating Measures of Accessibility 35
Box 6  Developing a Typology of Economic Activities 43
Box 7	Mapping Causes of Poverty 50
Box 8	Geo-Referencing Survey Data 54





TABLES

Table 1  Indicators of Human Well-Being and Poverty 11
Table 2	FEWS  -	 Vulnerability Assessment for the Sahel 1995 14
Table 3  USAID  -	 Vulnerability Assessment for Kenya 1995 14
Table 4  FAO/University of Arizona  -	 Famine Early Warning Framework for Kenya 1992 15
Table 5	 FEWS  -  Vulnerability Assessment for Zambia 1994 15
Table 6  FEWS - Vulnerability Assessment for Zimbabwe 1994 16
Table 7	 Variables Related to Poverty and Human Welfare	 -  Census, LSMS, and DHS 25
Table 8  Availability of Census, LSMS, and DHS Data	-  Summary 25
Table 9  Nutrition Indicators by Aridity Zones in West Africa55
Table 10  Survey Data Assembled for Selected Villages in Burkina Faso 61
Table 11  Digital Map Data Assembled for all Villages in Burkina Faso62





FIGURES

Figure 1  Poverty Map of Uganda 3
Figure 2  Data Collection Methods for Poverty Assessments 22
Figure 3  Approaches for Poverty Mapping  -  Auxiliary Data 34
Figure 4	Access to Major Urban Centers in West Africa  -	 Dry Season 37
Figure 5	Access to Major Urban Centers in West Africa  -	 Rainy Season 38
Figure 6  FEWS Vulnerability Mapping  -	 Resource Base 40
Figure 7  FEWS Vulnerability Mapping  -  Income Structure 41
Figure 8  FEWS Vulnerability Mapping  -  Current Vulnerability 1994 42
Figure 9  Metro and Non-Metro Areas in West Africa 46
Figure 10  Economic Diversity	-  Single Dominant Sector 47
Figure 11  Economic Diversity	-  Two Dominant Sectors 48
Figure 12  Economic Diversity  -  Three or More Sectors 49
Figure 13	 Food Economy Zones for Sudan 50
Figure 14  Approaches for Poverty Mapping  -  Survey Data 53
Figure 15	 Mapping Survey Data  -	 Stunting and Aridity Zones in West Africa 57
Figure 16	 Approaches for Poverty Mapping	 -  Auxiliary and Survey Data 59

The preparation of this report was moved along by helpful colleagues who provided sources, papers, and other materials. I wish to thank William Bell, Jake Brunner, Chuck Chopak, Uwe Deichmann, Olivier Dupriez, Simeon Ehui, Beth Harvey, Chuck Hutchinson, Henri Josserand, Amir Kassam, Gregoire Leclerc, Renata Lok Dessallien, Mark McGuire, Peter Oram, Tonny Oyana, Mack Ramachandran, Martin Ravallion, Abelardo Rodríguez, Nick Thomas, and Stan Wood.

Useful comments and thoughtful reviews were received from David Bigman, Jake Brunner, Uwe Deichmann, Jan-Peter Groenewold, Claudia Heberlein, Glenn Hyman, Peter Lanjouw, Tonny Oyana, Abelardo Rodríguez, Dan Tunstall, and Paul Winters. I have greatly benefited from discussions with Lauretta Burke, Jake Brunner, Uwe Deichmann, Peter Jones, Otto Simonett, and Dan Tunstall.