Multidimensional Poverty Profile of Rural Households and its Determinants: Evidence from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Abstract

This study examined multidimensional poverty profile in rural Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan), using Alkire-Foster Method, and a binary logit analysis was conducted to identify its determinants. Data set of 3035 rural households, extracted from Pakistan Social and Living Standard Measurement survey (2018-19), was grouped into three geo-climate zones (Northern, Central and Southern zones). Results from data analysis revealed that 46.6 percent of the sampled rural households were multidimensional poor and the derived Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), at 0.30 cutoff level, was 0.254 for the overall rural Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The decomposition of the household’s average deprivation level revealed that ‘living-standard’ and ‘health’ contributed more than 75 percent to overall poverty collectively. Regression analysis identified head’s age, education, household’s income, and agricultural land ownership as negatively affecting determinants of multidimensional poverty. The incidence of poverty was high in the Northern and Southern divisions, reflecting imbalanced regional development. These findings suggest government intervention in housing and health sectors. The current ‘Naya Pakistan Housing Program (NPHP)’ is well targeted and needs to be extended to the rural areas, where poor people are deprived of standard housing facilities. The ‘Sehat Insaaf Program’ of health insurance is very inspiring; however, its domain for vide range of health treatments and its validity in private hospitals may be authorized