Assessment of the Status and Severity of Multidimensional Poverty in CashCrop Based Rural Settings: The case Khat producing Haramaya District in Ethiopia Assessment of the Status and Severity of Multidimensional Poverty in CashCrop Based Rural Settings

Abstract

Shifting rural areas from subsistence to cash-crop production has got emphasis from different state and non-state development actors as a plausible step to generate better income. However, there is lack of empirical researches showing the facet of multidimensional poverty in the cashcrop producing areas. The objective of the study is to assess multidimensional poverty in the khat and vegetable producing rural settings of Haramaya district in Eastern Ethiopia. The research used cross-sectional household survey data gathered from 381 rural households and applied Alkire-Fosters of Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) to measure household poverty. The research finding shows that the proportion and intensity of multidimensional poverty in the study area is much more profound compared to the national and regional average as well as in most parts of the country. Deprivation in the living standard indicators such as lack of sanitation facilities, lack of energy sources, lack of safe drinking water and lack of electricity are the major contributors for the severe poverty in the study area. The deprivations in those important indicators are dominantly caused by economic, attitudinal and locational factors. Therefore, the government and other development actors are highly recommended to wedge joint efforts on projects such as rural electrification, developing drinking-water and road infrastructures as well as well-being education which can hit multiple targets in curbing poverty.