Clustering Poverty Incidence Based on Social Indicators

Abstract

Poverty has been known as one of the main problems in the Philippines for many decades. This study attempted to classify, cluster, and evaluate the common incidence of poverty among the municipalities of Zamboanga del Norte based on social indicators. It used a hierarchical approach to decompose complex problems by reducing them to a smaller set of interrelated problems. Data mining, including secondary data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority, the Department of Health National Nutrition Council, the Provincial Police Office, and the Department of Education, has been conducted to review broad databases and generate new knowledge. The study found that the top poorest municipalities were located in the third district of the province with less access to drinking water, less access to sanitary toilets, high malnutrition, low literacy rates, less access to safe housing, and a lack of land ownership. Similarly, it was observed that the poverty incidence was closely related to the proportion of households without sanitary toilets. Poor health and sanitation of provincial residents could lead to a higher risk of exposure to many diseases. Given the high incidence of poverty in the province top poorest municipalities, it should be noted that provincial and local governments should make concerted efforts to openly improve the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Program Basa Pilipinas Program Provision of Potable Water Program and the Garantisadong Pambata Program programs to address the increasing public concern about poverty. Also, the health and sanitation policy of the national and local governments must be improved and thoroughly monitored to resolve the chronic poverty problem at the municipal and national level in general.