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A team from the Centre for Social Research at the University of Malawi spoke to residents about the indicators of poverty they notice in their community, and the results came as a surprise to the researchers. Photo: Supplied/FAO

New tool finds way to gauge levels of poverty in Malawi

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    The UN’s concept of water security encompasses various needs and conditions. These include: water for drinking, economic activity, ecosystems, governance, financing, and political stability. Water security, therefore, is not just about how much natural water a country has but also how well the resource is managed. Photo: Supplied/Pixabay

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    Technology uptake remains low in upper parts of Africa

    Let’s keep our food local, says farmer and agri trainer

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    The UN’s concept of water security encompasses various needs and conditions. These include: water for drinking, economic activity, ecosystems, governance, financing, and political stability. Water security, therefore, is not just about how much natural water a country has but also how well the resource is managed. Photo: Supplied/Pixabay

    Africa’s water security progress a drop in the ocean

    Nestlé East and Southern Africa (ESAR) has created the Nestlé Needs Youth (NNY) Agri Competition where participants stand the chance of winning mentorship opportunities and a cash prize of US$30 000. Photo: Pixabay

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    Nile co-founder Louis de Kock said the start-up is delighted to have Naspers Foundry support its mission to make fresh produce more accessible to people across the African continent. Photo: Supplied/Ventureburn

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    Five farming projects that enhance food security across Africa

  • Changemakers
    • All
    • Agribusiness
    • Agripreneurs
    • Farmers
    • Innovation
    Technology uptake remains low in upper parts of Africa

    Technology uptake remains low in upper parts of Africa

    Let’s keep our food local, says farmer and agri trainer

    Within the next ten years, AFEX intends to grow beyond Kenya to Benin, Togo, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Zambia. Photo: Supplied/Pixabay

    Kenyan farmers take quantum leap with help from AFEX

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    The course is a 6-week intense program given in three 2-week sessions at IITA in Nairobi, Kenya, hosted by B4A/ILRI hub and World Agroforestry, over the course of a year, with a maximum of 20 participants per course offering. Photo: Supplied/Pixabay

    Crop scientists invited to have a crack at gene editing

    Uganda has a high literacy rate of 76.53% and is one of the world's youngest populations, which bodes well for the AYuTe Africa Challenge's success. Photo: Supplied/Pixabay

    Young Ugandans vie for agritech challenge honours

    World Bank has launched an insurance for Kenyan farmers that starts coverage at KES 50 per month. Photo: Supplied/World Bank

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    Mantombi Madona proudly follows in the footsteps of her father. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

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    Ghana's government is working together with AGRA on its SeedSAT initiative to improve the regulation of the country's informal seed sector. Photo: Supplied/Pixabay

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  • Food Security
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    • Crops
    • Food Trends
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    Kenyan farmers take quantum leap with help from AFEX

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    Ghana's government is working together with AGRA on its SeedSAT initiative to improve the regulation of the country's informal seed sector. Photo: Supplied/Pixabay

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    Zimbabwean government is using a new financial incentive to lock more grain producers and entice them to sell to the country's sole grain purchasing board. Photo: Pixabay/Supplied

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    Tanzania sets sights on being Africa’s top rice producer

  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Food Health
    • Trends
    A picture featuring George Chiwedzerero, who left Zimbabwe for South Africa and was not heard from for two decades.

    Missing migrants project helps families find peace

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    Herbal remedies are commonplace in Uganda; testing these scientifically is a good way to ensure they’re safe and effective. Photo: Supplied/FoodForAfrika.com

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    Researchers believe that Rwanda's soft drink tax can be better used to boost public health by targeting sugar content. Photo: Supplied/FoodForAfrika.com

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    In January 2015, a three-day rain displaced nearly quarter of a million people, devastated 64,000 hectares of land, and killed several hundred people in Malawi. Photo: Ashley Cooper/Getty Images

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New tool finds way to gauge levels of poverty in Malawi

by Lucinda Dordley
10 May 2022
in Changemakers
Reading Time: 3 mins read
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A team from the Centre for Social Research at the University of Malawi spoke to residents about the indicators of poverty they notice in their community, and the results came as a surprise to the researchers. Photo: Supplied/FAO

A team from the Centre for Social Research at the University of Malawi spoke to residents about the indicators of poverty they notice in their community, and the results came as a surprise to the researchers. Photo: Supplied/FAO

When Maxton Tsoka and his team of researchers set out to test a new and innovative approach of assessing poverty in rural Malawi, they believed they had a pretty good idea of what to look for. They did not consider beauty, but physical appearance was consistently noted as an indicator of prosperity by residents in Chambogho and the other 15 villages they visited.

“We initially didn’t think of physical appearance as one of the indicators, but it turns out that they use it to distinguish the status of people in their communities,” said Mtisunge Matope, one of the five researchers on Maxton’s team from the Centre for Social Research at the University of Malawi.

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Donald Chitekwe, another team member, was astounded to learn how important this variable was to the people. It was mentioned in 55 of the 64 discussion groups.

“Those who are well to do often look better,” Chitekwe said. “That’s because they have money, so they are able to buy lotions that nourish their skin; they can buy better clothes; they eat good, healthy food that makes them look better.”

Humans and emotions

While it would be difficult use a subjective indicator like physical appearance, the fact that it was highlighted by so many respondents speaks volumes about the importance of self-perception in relation to poverty: beyond the numbers, there are humans and their emotions.

FAO and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) released a report in December 2021 that provided a novel technique of assessing poverty in rural areas, where the bulk of the world’s poor live but where trustworthy and harmonised data is hard to come by.

The notion is that a better understanding of who the extreme poor are can help policymakers craft more precise measures to combat rural poverty and hunger. The R-MPI (Rural Multidimensional Poverty Index) is based on the commonly held belief that household income alone does not adequately reflect a person’s wellbeing. Food security, living standards, education, and health are all significant indicators of human growth.

Confirmations and surprises

“Overall, the field research confirmed that such a multidimensional approach is more accurate in capturing poverty in all its aspects. In fact, the team found that as much as 14% of the rural poor identified by the R-MPI in Malawi had not been identified as poor by traditional monetary metrics,” Tsoka said.

“That’s because the richest don’t work and employ other people to do almost everything,” Maxton said. “At the other end of the spectrum are people who are always working.”

Simultaneously, they were intrigued to learn that some of the official R-MPI indicators were barely acknowledged by the locals, while others were stated unexpectedly. For example, aside from physical attractiveness, the interviewers placed considerably greater importance on the quantity of work that persons completed than on other indications.

Education missing from list

“Education was not found to be useful in distinguishing between the rich and the poor,” Tsoka said.

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The explanation: “Sometimes, the uneducated are richer than the educated. Because of this, people in Malawi do not see education as an indicator differentiating the poor from the rich.”

Another key indicator that came up during the conversations was one’s mood. Poverty was associated with being sad, whereas the wealthy were considered to be joyful and stress-free. This attitude was attributed to having all they needed in life, including enough food and money to spend on other things.

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Furthermore, the researchers were astounded by how well the people they interviewed could estimate their neighbours’ relative wealth. When it came to housing, respondents went beyond the fundamentals — such as construction materials — and gave a far more detailed assessment, including the home’s amenities, surrounds, and so on.

READ ALSO: How Covid-19 impacted farmers in poorer countries

Tags: East Africafood insecuritypoverty
Lucinda Dordley

Lucinda Dordley

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Agri News

Africa’s water security progress a drop in the ocean

by The Conversation
27 Jun 2022
0

The water security situation on the continent doesn't look good. According to a UN assessment, only 29 African countries have...

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