A key consideration in planning action to assist poor and hungry households is simply to have a good understanding of where they live and the characteristics of those locations. For the past 10 years, poverty researchers at the World Bank, IFPRI, and other organisations have worked with local analysts to produced detailed poverty maps for more than 30 countries. Such maps provide estimates of the incidence and severity of poverty for relatively small areas — such as at the subdistrict and even community levels — and enable the user to better understand the spatial distribution of the poor and to investigate the relationship between poverty and other geographic factors. Knowledge of where the poor and hungry live and of the manner in which those locations are connected (or not) to other locations can provide key insights for action to address poverty and hunger.
In this brief, the poverty maps developed for Vietnam, Malawi, and Mozambique are used to demonstrate how a better understanding of the spatial distribution of the poor and hungry deepens awareness of how they live and provides a fuller appreciation of the challenges they face in seeking to live healthy and active lives and to realise their full human potential.
