Livelihoods, poverty and targeting in the Indo-Gangetic plains : a spatial mapping approach

The approach specifically incorporates livelihood and poverty considerations. The study draws on secondary data and uses 18 quantitative, spatially-explicit variables, which serve as indicators of poverty levels based on the five livelihood capitals of the sustainable livelihoods approach: natural, social, human, physical, and financial. The livelihood assets approach to measuring poverty complements the more conventional monetary approach. The study details the methodology used to generate spatial poverty maps at the district level for composite indicators for each of the five categories of livelihood assets, as well as an overall livelihood asset index. Each individual asset index shows statistically significant variation between the four sub-regions of the IGP, which cover the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal. The overall livelihood asset index showed a significant and strong negative correlation (R = -0.65) with the more conventional monetary method for assessing poverty. It is the decisions of millions farmers throughout the IGP that ultimately will determine whether the resource-conserving technologies promoted by the RWC are adopted and adapted, impacts registered, poverty reduced, and livelihoods improved. The approach outlined in this report provides a tool for priority-setting and targeting, but does not set priorities as such. This research report needs to be complemented by a better comprehension of previous development and research experiences in order to shed more light on farmers" livelihoods in the IGP and the impact pathways and networks that link research outputs (technology and information) to farm household-level impact. Having mapped the livelihood assets, we now need to better understand the asset-poverty linkages and the trade-offs between alternative investments so as to enhance R&D priority-setting in the IGP. (Author abstract, modified)