Micro Poverty Data

Despite continuous political instability and poor performance of agriculture and industry, Nepal has significantly reduced its extreme poverty level over the decades. Still, more than 20.27 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line. The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) has declined to 17.4 per cent in 2019 from 30.1 per cent in 2014. With the decrease in poverty, the living standards of people have improved, thanks to the flow of remittances from abroad. The current rate of poverty is based on the annual income of an individual, at Rs. 72,908 required to meet basic needs. These data reveal a macro-level status of poverty in the country. 

However, a micro-level study provides a specific picture of poverty. This is possible when the demographic surveys are conducted through the Small Area Estimates of Poverty (SAEP) method. It fills the gaps left by the household surveys, considered the standard practice of gathering information about people's social, economic, educational, health and cultural status. Under the household surveys, demography is disaggregated by local areas or population subgroups, which may risk losing the quality of the data. The SAEP tools are applied to achieve precision so that the government can frame appropriate policy and allocate resources judiciously. This eventually enables the effective implementation of development projects and finishes them within the given timeframe. 

Although the country has seen poverty going down remarkably, there lie significant disparities in the degree of poverty across Nepal's local units, according to a news report published in this daily on Sunday. The report is based on SAEOP, 2023, made public by the National Statistics Office (NSO) recently. Out of 753 local levels, 309 have poverty rates lower than the national average of 20.27 per cent but they are above the national figure in 444 local units. The NSO has analysed data from the Nepal Living Standards Survey (NLSS) and the national population census based on the SAEP tool. Around 24.66 per cent of people in rural areas are living below the poverty line, while 18.34 per cent live in the urban centres. The Sudurpashchim Province hosts the highest number of poor people and the Gandaki Province the lowest. 

The poverty rates vary widely, from a minimum of 1.18 per cent to a maximum of 77.89 per cent. Junichande Rural Municipality of Jajarkot contains the highest poverty rate (77.89 per cent), while Gharpajhong Rural Municipality of Mustang registers the lowest (1.18 per cent). Both are the municipalities are located in a remote mountainous region but one has better living conditions and the other suffers from scarcities. This challenges the researchers to make a comparative study of these places applying the sociological perspective. Similarly, the findings disclose that the Kathmandu Metropolitan City houses the largest number of people (59,218) living below the poverty line. However, the KMC's poverty rate is below the national average at 6.87 per cent.

Analysing data district-wise, altogether 34 districts have poverty rates below the national average and 43 districts go above the national figure. As the majority of districts have higher-than-average poverty levels, policymakers, experts, political parties and the concerned government agencies should develop a strategy tailored to the specific needs and realities of the poverty-stricken places. The indigenous approach is more effective than the recipe offered by the donors and international financial institutions.  The integrated policy and action plans are essential to root out poverty once and for all.