Geographical Targeting for Poverty Alleviation: Methodology and Applications

"..in many developing countries, there are large differences in economic conditions and the standard of living between regions, and even between communities within the same region. In many countries, poverty has a clear geographic dimension, since the poor are often concentrated in pockets of poverty. Therefore, the design of poverty alleviation policies must also have a signficant spatial component."

Although development projects are carefully designed and meticulously evaluated for cost effectiveness and benefits, too many of them are not sufficiently targeted geographically. The growing availability and use of spatial data, organized in a computer system such as a geographical information system (GIS), makes it more feasible to analyze the impact of projects in specific locales and to achieve more effective targeting.

'Geographical Targeting for Poverty Alleviation' introduces the basic concepts of a GIS. It also demonstrates how to organize geographic and nongeographic data. In addition, it presents different methods for using the data of the Household Income and Expenditure Survey, together with other surveys and the population census, to provide estimates for the standard of living and the incidence of poverty incidence in different geographical areas of a country. Ultimately, these estimates should be used to establish guidelines for targeting poverty alleviation projects. This publication illustrates different GIS applications for identifying the project's target population, determining the project's spatial 'sphere of influence' or deciding where to locate public facilities.

This publication is of interest to task managers, economists, development researchers, and geographers.

During the past decade, the need for effective targeted programs that provide significant support to the poor within tightening budget constraints has become more apparent than ever. The design of efficient programs that are tailored to the specific conditions and needs of each country presents a challenge that government agencies and international development institutions must confront. This report is intended to contribute to this challenge by addressing the complex factors that should be considered when designing poverty alleviation programs. This report presents alternative methods of geographical targeting aimed at improving the living standards of the poor, and carefully evaluates their effect on social welfare and their implications for public resource allocation. The report demonstrates that using geographical information systems (GIS) makes possible a detailed mapping of the incidence of poverty in the country that can be used, in turn, for more precise targeting. The incorporation of data from a wide variety of sources through GISs also reveals the multi-dimensional aspects of poverty and helps to more accurately identify factors relevant for designing effective poverty alleviation programs when budgets are tight. Finally, the report also shows that GIS methods can be more broadly applied to support targeted service delivery and access to the poor, for instance, by optimizing the planning and location of health and education centers in poor, under-served areas.