Machine learning study using 2020 SDHS data to determine poverty determinants in Somalia

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Extensive research has been conducted on poverty in developing countries using conventional regression analysis, which has limited prediction capability. This study aims to address this gap by applying advanced machine learning (ML) methods to predict poverty in Somalia. Utilizing data from the first-ever 2020 Somalia Demographic and Health Survey (SDHS), a cross-sectional study design is considered. ML methods, including random forest (RF), decision tree (DT), support vector machine (SVM), and logistic regression, are tested and applied using R software version 4.1.2, while conventional methods are analyzed using STATA version 17. Evaluation metrics, such as confusion matrix, accuracy, precision, sensitivity, specificity, recall, F1 score, and area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC), are employed to assess the performance of predictive models. The prevalence of poverty in Somalia is notable, with approximately seven out of ten Somalis living in poverty, making it one of the highest rates in the region. Among nomadic pastoralists, agro-pastoralists, and internally displaced persons (IDPs), the poverty average stands at 69%, while urban areas have a lower poverty rate of 60%. The accuracy of prediction ranged between 67.21% and 98.36% for the advanced ML methods, with the RF model demonstrating the best performance. The results reveal geographical region, household size, respondent age group, husband employment status, age of household head, and place of residence as the top six predictors of poverty in Somalia. The findings highlight the potential of ML methods to predict poverty and uncover hidden information that traditional statistical methods cannot detect, with the RF model identified as the best classifier for predicting poverty in Somalia.