Three eyes on poverty: comparison of methods of identifying the poor

This book is about poverty analysis and identifying the poor, particularly in Malawi. It presents a comprehensive review of poverty theories and concepts and how poverty conceptualization and analyses have evolved over time. It also traces the origins of poverty analysis in Malawi. The book argues for the equality of poverty measures since each has its merits such that by using them one gets a more comprehensive poverty picture. The book is more about Malawi poverty and its analysis using data collected since mid 1990s like the quantitative Integrated Household surveys (IHS), the qualitative ‘Consultations with the poor’, and the mixed methods ‘Moving out of poverty’ and the IHS Complementary Panel Survey. This book therefore provides a single point where various poverty works are presented. The book also takes advantage of other works to understand the persistence of poverty in Malawi despite poverty reduction rhetoric. This book also demystifies the Malawi poverty analysis. It presents the methodology used and apply it to primary data collected in three communities to come up with community-level poverty rates, poverty profiles and determinants.

Dr Maxton Tsoka is an Associate Research Professor at the University of Malawi. He obtained his Bachelor's degree (Economics and Computer Science) in 1985 at University of Malawi, Master's degree in Economics at Vanderbilt University (USA) and PhD at York University (UK). His research and publications are on social protection and poverty analysis.