Foster , Greer And Thorbecke Research Articles

Gender disparities in poverty among smallholder livestock farmers in South Africa

ABSTRACT This paper analyses gender disparities in poverty and the determinants of poverty among smallholder communal livestock farmers across five provinces in South Africa. A combination of multi-stage and stratified sampling techniques were used to select 591 farmers across the provinces. The Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) poverty indices were used to determine the extent and severity of poverty among smallholder livestock farmers. The results of the FGT analysis revealed that poverty is prevalent among smallholder livestock farmers but more pronounced among female-headed households. A binary logit regression was used to determine the predictors of poverty among communal livestock owners. Factors such as level of education, gender of household head, access to markets and extension services reduce the probability of a household becoming poor. Conversely, factors such as household size and access to credit had a negative effect on household well-being. These results highlight the importance of strengthening institutions (extension, livestock farmer organisations and markets) to improve smallholder livestock systems. Further, the study recommends that agricultural extension services should integrate gender mainstreaming in interventions that target smallholder communal livestock farmers, and that rural development projects should focus on interventions that aim at diversifying farm income. Keywords: Binary logit, FGT poverty ind

Measuring Poverty in Malaysia: Applications of Distributive-Sensitive Poverty Indices

This paper represents an attempt to seek a better way to measure poverty in Malaysia. Many studies, including government published figures employ the head-count ratio as the index of poverty. However; this measure is a narrow measure of poverty. Specifically, it ignores the distribution of income among the poor, and hence has its limitation. Here, besides the usual simple head-count ratio (H) that was reported in most previous studies as well as in government documents, better poverty measures were employed— the poverty-income gap ratio (I), Sen (S), Clark, Hemming and Ulph Index (P*), and Foster; Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) indices of poverty. These indices introduce a welfare function that is sensitive to the distribution of income among the poor Thus, they provide a richer picture of the nature of poverty and thus could be used for policy design with a greater level of confidence. Furthermore. the FGT index of poverty was decomposed to examine the contribution of different groups to total poverty. These indices were calculated using the Malaysian Family Life Survey (MFLS) data.

WELFARE IMPACT OF ADOPTION OF IMPROVED OIL PALM PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES AMONG RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN SOUTH-WESTERN, NIGERIA

It has been observed that low adoption of agricultural technologies has crippled the productivity level and increased the poverty level of farmers/processors in Nigeria. The study specifically investigated the welfare impact of adoption of improved oil palm processing technologies in South Western Nigeria using poverty as an indicator. Data were collected through a multistage sampling technique from 360 sampled oil palm processors in the study area. Primary data were used for the study with the aid of a well-structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) weighted poverty index and Cragg’s (double-hurdle) model was used to analyzed the data collected. The results of the study showed that based on the poverty line created, majority of the adopters of the improved oil palm processing technologies were above the poverty lines which mean they were non-poor. This showed that the adoption of improved oil palm processing technologies in the study area had impacted the welfare of the adopters in South Western Nigeria. Analysis of the determinants of the adoption and intensity of adoption of the improved oil palm processing technologies using cragg’s double-hurdle model showed that in the first hurdle (probit model), variables such as access to credit, farm ownership status, volume of oil palm fruits processed and extension contacts were found to significantly influenced the decision to adopt the improved oil palm processing technologies while in the second hurdle (truncated regression), variables such as age, processor’s perception and training was found to significantly influenced the intensity of use of the improved oil palm processing technologies. Implementation of policies that will increase the adoption of the improved oil palm processing technologies which will subsequently leads to improved welfare of the oil palm processors should be pursued by the government, agencies and stakeholders in Nigeria.

Urban Agriculture: Determinants and Its Implication on Poverty Reduction: A Case of Bishan Guracha Town, West Arsi Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

The main intention of this study is to analyze the determinants of urban agriculture and its implication on poverty reduction. To this end, convergent parallel mixed design was utilized. All individuals working on the three urban agricultures were comprised of the study population. Specifically, 228 participates were participated on the research of which 118, 53 and 52 households were selected from fishery, milk and animal fattening micro and small enterprises respectively. Study participants were selected via employing stratified random sampling method proportionally. Further, key informants were taken purposefully for the intent of qualitative data. Questionnaire, semi-structured interview and focus group discussion guides were used as tools of data collection method. To categorize the status of poverty as poor and non-poor Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) index was used. Whereas one-way ANOVA was computed to identify whether statistically significant differences among the income generated from the three types of urban agricultures or not. Binary logistic regression was employed to pinpoint the determinants of urban agricultures while qualitative data was analyzed thematically. The finding suggested that about 40% of urban agricultural practitioners are failed blow poverty line. The results revealed that there were statistically significant differences among the three types of urban agricultures by the income earned from it. Inexplicably, modern fish net, access to different credit services, shortage of local boat, conflict of interest and access to saving and sex, education level, market fluctuation, lack of veterinary institution, lack of attention to the sectors, lack of extension services, lack of training and shortage of access to transportation were found to be determinants of fishery. Extension service, access to market linkage, shortage of input and climate changes and lack of market linkage, improved livestock, shortage of land and access to transport were not found to be statistically significant association with the income of households who have been taking part on animal Fattening productions in the study area.

Poverty Status and Dietary Diversity Among Farming Households in Gassol, Taraba State, Nigeria

This study examined the relationship between poverty status and dietary diversity among farming household in Gassol, Taraba State, Nigeria. Simple random sampling technique was employed to select 120 households in the study area from whom data were collected. The data were analyzed using Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS); Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) Index; and Tobit regression model. The result of HDDS showed that 92% of the farming households had low dietary diversity while the FGT result showed that 70% of the farming households were poor. Tobit regression revealed that the coefficients of household size, farm size, household dietary diversity and income from sales of non-agricultural goods were negatively significant; however gender and marital status were positively significant. Based on this, it was established that there is a significant relationship between poverty status and HDDS. This relationship was such that the higher the level of poverty, the lower the dietary diversity of the farming households. This implies that the poorer a farming household is, the lesser their dietary diversity and nutritional intake. This could be attributed to the minimal profit margin obtain by farmers owing to the fact that they mostly sell their farm produce immediately after harvest. Consequent upon this, they remain impoverished and unable to feed well. It is therefore recommended that the shelve lives of these agricultural produce should be enhanced through research. There is also need for the farmers to be educated on the importance of balance diet. Finally, they should be supported with nutritional supplements to improve their health status and consequently their poverty status. Keywords: Poverty, dietary, diversity, farming, households, Gassol DOI : 10.7176/JESD/11-2-12 Publication date: January 31 st 2020

The impact of microfinance programs on monetary poverty reduction

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of microfinance programs sponsored by Sudanese microfinance institutions (SMFIs) on monetary poverty reduction in Sudan where poverty is widely spread.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted the control group approach, where income and expenditure are taken as welfare indicators. The updated World Bank’s international poverty line of 1.90 per person per day was adopted to separate the poor from non-poor. The data were collected by the means of a questionnaire distributed to a random sample of beneficiaries in the institution under study. The study adapted the Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) model to evaluate the role of microfinance programs in poverty reduction. Furthermore, to gain more insight into the impact of the program, a preliminary analysis was conducted using the independent-samples t-test to examine the difference in the welfare indicators for the sample of the control group and treatment group as well as that of the small loan group and micro-loan group.FindingsThe findings show that the microfinance program provided by SMFIs has reduced the monetary poverty among the participants. The results also reveal that beneficiaries who had received a larger volume of loan were noted lesser poverty than those who had received very small loan size. Moreover, the results demonstrate that poverty indices based on expenditure as a welfare indicator are far lower than those based on income for both groups.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the available literature by filling the gaps through including income and expenditure as monetary variables, which included separately in previous studies adopted the FGT model in the area of microfinance, in addition to exploring the role of loan size in the effect of microfinance on poverty reduction.

English

Microfinance is proposed to be an efficient and viable means to poverty alleviation in the developing world, but there has been little empirical study on the impacts of microfinance banks. This study examines the impact of Rima Microfinance Bank on beneficiaries’ income and poverty in Goronyo Local Government Area of Sokoto State, Nigeria. A multistage-sampling technique was used to draw the sample and a structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics (means, frequency, and percentages) and Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) poverty index. The result revealed that the beneficiaries had a mean per capita income of N47,489.19 before and N115,678 after using the Rima Microfinance credit facility. The result of the FGT poverty incidence reduces by 6%. This is reflected by the reduction in poverty depth and severity significantly after the Rima microfinance intervention in the form of agricultural input credit facilities. The study recommends a microfinance policy that will ease more access to credit as well as ensuring efficient utilization of acquired inputs through effective monitoring for better productivity, income and poverty reduction among rural dwellers. Key words: Rima-Microfinace, impact, income, poverty, beneficiaries. &nbsp

Foster, Greer and Thorbecke Class of Poverty Measures to Assess the Role of Rural Microenterprises in Poverty Reduction in Bangladesh

Due to diminishing trend of cultivable land and some other realities, microenterprises are increasingly being popular among rural marginalized and impoverished people of Bangladesh as a means of their livelihood and a way to reduce their poverty. In this context, these enterprises require assessment of their economic activities and their contribution to rural economy particularly the assessment of their role in poverty reduction. Therefore, we assess the impact of rural microenterprises in poverty reduction providing quantitative measures of poverty in terms of various indices using Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) class of poverty measures. This study also provides the classification of households according to poverty status. The case-control study design has been employed in the present study. Case and control groups have been respectively defined as rural households that own and don’t own microenterprises as their main sources of income. Some socioeconomic indicators at a certain level have been considered as matching criteria. The households satisfying all these matching criteria are the eligible ones for the study. A sample of 360 households (180 cases and 180 controls) have been selected applying two stage sampling design, where primary sampling units (villages) have been selected following standard systematic probability proportional to size sampling and the secondary sampling units (households within the village) have been selected by systematic random sampling. From the findings, it is evident that, in respect of upper poverty line, the incidence of poverty is over 1.5 times in control than in case households, while the depth and severity of poverty are 2 times more in control than in case households. On the other hand, in respect of lower poverty line, the incidence of poverty is about 2 times in control than in case households, whereas the depth and severity of poverty are nearly 2.5 times more in control as compared to case households. This indicates that much lower poverty remains in the households that own microenterprises as compared to their counterpart. Consequently, it is concluded that rural microenterprises play a considerable role in poverty reduction. Our findings suggest that policies in favour of developing more new microenterprises and enriching the existing ones would help to reduce the poverty in Bangladesh. To promote new micro-entrepreneurs in rural areas, policy makers should take some motivational programs like financial support, technical support, training on entrepreneurship development etc.

Impact of non-farm income on welfare in rural Bangladesh: Multilevel mixed-effects regression approach

This study uses a two-stage econometric framework based on multilevel mixed-effects linear regression model with nationally representative Household Income Expenditure Survey (HIES) data in 2010 to investigate the effects of non-farm income on asset ownership of rural Bangladeshi households. Result reveals that non-farm income has a significant positive effect on household’s asset ownership. This study also uses Horvitz-Thompson (HT) estimator of the Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) indices and Gini, Theil’s and Atkinson income inequality measures to examine the impact of non-farm income on poverty and income distribution. The poverty measures reveal that the inclusion of non-farm income reduces the level, depth and severity of poverty as well as poverty risk at division level and in rural Bangladesh. However, non-farm income increased income inequality among rural households. As the agriculture of Bangladesh is subsistence and semi-commercial in nature, it is essential to encourage non-farm income activities to accelerate well-being among rural agricultural households.

Poverty assessment of farming community in rice wheat zone of Punjab, Pakistan

Purpose. Poverty in Pakistan mostly exists as a rural poverty rather than urban poverty and presents a desolate vision. Rural poverty shows divergence with respect to area, region or any other administrative division. The tenacious rise of rural poverty in the history of Pakistan with some omissions, it affords plenty of material and remains a lot of questions related to poverty in the mind of researchers. The current study focused on three main poverty measures i.e. incidence, depth and severity of rural poverty in the rice-wheat zone of Punjab, Pakistan (Middle Punjab).
 Methodology / approach. To overcome the existing poverty issues in the area, we utilize secondary datasets at districts, regions, provinces or at national levels collected from Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Islamabad (PBS). Poverty assessment for the year 2011–2012 is analyzed through Foster Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) method. Moreover, the Logit model is also used to find out the empirical values existing in the datasets.
 Results. The fluctuations in rural poverty for the year 2011–12 in the existing zone was analyzed by using logit regression model and data source was Household Integrated Economic Survey (HIES). The incidence of uni-dimensional and multidimensional poverty in middle Punjab (2011–12) were 35.38 and 27.40 percent has been seen after estimations.
 Originality / scientific novelty. The education level, health services, availability of assets, facilities and age of household head are the key factors related to incidence, depth and severity of poverty. All the above mentioned factors have negative relation with poverty measures.
 Practical value / implications. The decline in poverty can be achieved via implementation of sharp economic activities including the dimensions as analyzed in the manuscript. At this point, policy makers did not pay attention on the key factors that influence rural poverty at regional levels. There is a dire need to make development in basic standards of life to alleviate poverty in a long way in the middle Punjab.

Poverty assessment of farming community in rice wheat zone of Punjab, Pakistan

Purpose. Poverty in Pakistan mostly exists as a rural poverty rather than urban poverty and presents a desolate vision. Rural poverty shows divergence with respect to area, region or any other administrative division. The tenacious rise of rural poverty in the history of Pakistan with some omissions, it affords plenty of material and remains a lot of questions related to poverty in the mind of researchers. The current study focused on three main poverty measures i.e. incidence, depth and severity of rural poverty in the rice-wheat zone of Punjab, Pakistan (Middle Punjab). Methodology / approach. To overcome the existing poverty issues in the area, we utilize secondary datasets at districts, regions, provinces or at national levels collected from Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Islamabad (PBS). Poverty assessment for the year 2011–2012 is analyzed through Foster Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) method. Moreover, the Logit model is also used to find out the empirical values existing in the datasets. Results. The fluctuations in rural poverty for the year 2011–12 in the existing zone was analyzed by using logit regression model and data source was Household Integrated Economic Survey (HIES). The incidence of uni-dimensional and multidimensional poverty in middle Punjab (2011–12) were 35.38 and 27.40 percent has been seen after estimations. Originality / scientific novelty. The education level, health services, availability of assets, facilities and age of household head are the key factors related to incidence, depth and severity of poverty. All the above mentioned factors have negative relation with poverty measures. Practical value / implications. The decline in poverty can be achieved via implementation of sharp economic activities including the dimensions as analyzed in the manuscript. At this point, policy makers did not pay attention on the key factors that influence rural poverty at regional levels. There is a dire need to make development in basic standards of life to alleviate poverty in a long way in the middle Punjab.

English

Food security at the household level in the rural areas of Ethiopia has remained a challenging goal until today. The design and implementation of effective measures to reduce household food insecurity needs an in depth understanding of its covariates. As a result, this study was conducted with the specific objectives of estimating the situation, extent and severity of food insecurity, identifying factors influencing food insecurity and the traditional coping mechanisms used by farm households in fighting food shortage in Shalla district of West Arsi zone, Oromia region. In order to achieve these objectives, data were collected from 150 randomly selected households in three randomly selected kebeles of the district. Data was analyzed using both descriptive statistics and econometric method. The results from descriptive statistics showed that of the total surveyed households, 62% were food insecure. In addition, results revealed that there was statistically significant difference between food insecure and food secure households with regard to different demographic, economic and institutional factors. Furthermore, the self-reported months of food shortage of the surveyed households was on average 3.5 months for which they have used different traditional coping strategies. The food insecurity gap and severity of the sampled households computed using Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) indices were 8.5 and 1.4%, respectively. The results of binary logit model showed that family size in Adult equivalent (AE), age and dependency ratio had significant and positive effect on food insecurity, while gender, cultivated land, livestock ownership in Tropical livestock units (TLU), oxen ownership, fertilizer use and income from safety net had a significant and negative effect on food insecurity. Key words: Food insecurity, Logit, Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) indexes, Shalla.

Effect of Payments for Disease Specific Care on Poverty Estimates in Nepal

The popular poverty estimation method follows the cost of basic needs approach through estimation of poverty line. Health care is a basic necessity of life, as important as food, shelter, and clothing; however, current practice of estimating poverty indicators in Nepal does not capture the basic health care cost. Not accounted of out of pocket payment for health care into the poverty estimation could give a misleading picture of trends in poverty over time. Ignoring health care costs altogether can result in misclassifying which households or individuals are in the greatest need. Therefore, the paper estimated the revised poverty statistics with explicitly accounting for basic health care needs along with other basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter by utilizing the Nepal living standard surveys(2010/11) data. The paper used the Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) poverty estimation method to estimate hidden or underestimated poverty before and after accounting health care payment. The results show that official poverty statistics are significantly underestimated while incorporating basic health care cost in the estimation of poverty statistics in Nepal. Out of pocket payments for health care of different diseases have different impoverishment impacts in terms of incidence and intensity of poverty. Higher average costs of health care cause higher impoverishment impacts. This paper indicates that incidence of poverty is underestimated by almost 4 percentage point and intensity of poverty is underestimated by 0.29 percent based on official estimation of poverty. Economic Journal of Development Issues Vol. 23 & 24 No. 1-2 (2017) Combined Issue, Page : 18-34

Impact of electronic-wallet system on farmer’s welfare in Oyo State, Nigeria

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of e-wallet on farmer’s welfare in Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachPrimary data were used to collect information on 81 users and 123 non-users of e-wallet system. Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) analysis was used to profile farmer’s poverty status, while propensity score matching (PSM) was used to assess the impact of e-wallet on welfare using per capita expenditure as its proxy.FindingsThe FGT analysis shows that poverty incidence, depth, and severity were found to be higher among non-users of e-wallet than its users. The PSM analysis showed that e-wallet had a positive impact on welfare; Rosenbaum sensitivity analysis revealed that the findings are sensitive to hidden bias due to unobserved characteristics.Research limitations/implicationsThe relevance of matching method depends on data availability for the specific policy problem. Hence, the study is limited to the use of the PSM because of the limitation of household data availability to only a sample of farmers in Oyo State.Originality/valueThis paper examines the impact of the new system of input distribution (e-wallet) on farmer’s welfare.

Adding value through the mechanization of post-harvest cassava processing, and its impact on household poverty in north-eastern Zambia

ABSTRACTThis article investigates the impact of adopting a mechanized cassava processing system on household poverty levels in Zambia. An Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) poverty measure was used to compare poverty levels among households using a mechanized cassava processing system against those households using a nonmechanized process. Based on the FGT poverty measure’s specifications, a significantly lower poverty status of 49% was found among households using the mechanized process when compared to the 58% found among households using the nonmechanized process. The significant factors contributing to these differences in poverty levels include whether households are using a mechanized process or not, the number of years’ schooling among household members, the number of years’ farming experience, household income and membership of associations. The study concludes that the mechanization of cassava processing, particularly if done on the right scale, can transform primary production activities, in turn leading to higher incomes and reduced poverty levels in rural villages. Thus, policies should be introduced aimed at encouraging the promotion of mechanized post-harvest cassava processing technologies among rural households, so as to enhance crop productivity and household income levels, as well as reduce poverty among rural households.

Livelihood Diversification for Food Security by Farmers in Toro Local Government Area, Bauchi State, Nigeria

This study was carried out to analyze the institutional and environmental factors influencing livelihood diversification by rural farmers in Toro local government area of Bauchi State. Data for the study were collected using questionnaires administered to respondents who were selected randomly. Data collected were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics, Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT), Herfindahl index and OrderedProbit regression model. The result showed that the main reason why farmers engage in livelihood diversification activities was to raise household’s income portfolioostensibly to enhance food security. FGT analysis for poverty level of farmers reveal that the poverty line was constructed to be at per capita monthly expenditure equal or higher than (N1,780). The poverty count index (P0) for the entire household was 0.517, this means 52% of the farming household in the study area were poor. The Herfindahl index showed that most of the household heads had more than 2 sources of income. The Ordered Probit regression analysis indicates that credit received and season of the year were significant determinants of livelihood diversification at 1% level while accessibility to market and natural resources available to the farmers were significant at 5% level. As a deliberate strategy to encourage farmers to diversify, it is recommended that soft loans should be made available to the farmers and also they should be educated on how to use natural resources around them sustainably. These will enable them to be food secured and liberate them from the hold of poverty.

Effects of the European Union Micro Project Programme on the poverty status of food crop farmers in Imo State, Nigeria

The study evaluates the effects of the European Union Micro Project Programme (MPP6) on the poverty status of food crop farmers in Imo State. Primary data were collected with structured and validated questionnaire from one hundred and ninety eight farmers comprising of farmers in the beneficiary and non-beneficiary communities. The analytical tools used for the study include; descriptive statistics and the Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) model. The FGT poverty measure showed that the poverty headcount for households in the beneficiary and non-beneficiary was 52 and 60 respectively; indicating that incidence of poverty was higher among households in the non benefitting communities than households in the benefitting communities. Thus the European Union should establish more infrastructural facilities particularly in the non-benefitting communities as this will bring about the development of the rural communities. Keywords: Micro project programme, Poverty and Small scale farmers

Welfare impact of adoption of improved cassava varieties by rural households in South Western Nigeria

Abstract Low adoption of modern agricultural technologies amongst farmers in Nigeria has been identified as one of the main reasons for the low agricultural productivity and increase in poverty level. The general objective of this study is to examine the welfare impact of farm households adoption of improved cassava varieties in Southwestern (SW) Nigeria using poverty as an indicator. It utilizes cross-sectional farm household level data collected in 2013 from a randomly selected sample of 312 cassava producing households (186 in Ogun State and 126 in Osun State). The data obtained were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistical analysis such as Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) poverty measure and Logit regression model. The results revealed that adoption of improved cassava varieties increases the annual income and the annual consumption expenditure of producing households’ thus increasing welfare in the SW Nigeria. An analysis of the determinants of adoption with logistic regression model showed that access to improved cassava cuttings within the villages, use of radio, farming experience and farming as a major occupation are significant factors influencing adoption of improved cassava varieties in the study area. In order to achieve the much desired poverty reduction and generate an improvement in farming households’ welfare in SW Nigeria, efforts should be intensified in ensuring that farmers have access to adequate improved cassava cuttings at the right time and place. All programs, strategies and policies that would promote farmers’ education on the technology and consequently lead to improved adoption should be pursued.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF POVERTY AMONG ARABLE CROP FARMERS IN PLATEAU STATE

The study analysed the socio economic characteristics and poverty depth among arable crop farmers in Plateau State, Nigeria. Using multi-stage sampling technique, 265 farming households were randomly sampled from 9 communities spread across three Local Government Areas of the three agro ecological zones in the State. Primary data generated from farming household heads were mainly used for this study. The household’s socio economic characteristics, income and expenditure dominated the bulk of the data. The data were analysed using Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) index and Tobit regression. The monthly mean per adult equivalent household expenditure (MPAEHE) was N3,940. A poverty line of N2,627 was estimated, based on this poverty line, the FGT measures show that 42% of the farming households in the study area were poor. The Tobit regression analysis revealed that the number of years spent in school was significant (P<0.01) while farmer’s income and size of farmland were significant (P<0.05). An increase in any of these variables would result to a probability of a decrease in the poverty level of the farmers. Age of the farmers was significant (P<0.10), implying that a unit increase in the age of the farmers, would result to the probability of increasing poverty. From this study, it is recommended that there is the need for policy makers and managers of poverty alleviation programmes to identify the poor at community levels. Any poverty alleviation programme should be targeted at this group.

English

This paper discusses the dimension and intensity of poverty among the agro-pastoral households and development options based on survey data collected in 2011 from 180 randomly selected agro-pastoral households of Aysaita district. The study used the Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) index to examine the incidence of poverty, the poverty gap and severity of poverty. It also employed the Tobit regression model to analyse the determinants of intensity of poverty in the study area. Results show that about 52.8% of the sampled households have been living below poverty line with poverty gap and poverty severity indices of 0.16 and 0.07, respectively. The Gini coefficient is about 0.31. Some of the key determinants of intensity of poverty among agro-pastoral households are found to be diversification of livestock holding, and access to irrigated land, improved forage and market centers. The paper concludes by indicating that development interventions need to engage in diversifying herd per household, improving access to irrigation, regulating credit diversion and promoting off-farm employment to reduce poverty among the agro-pastoral households. Key words: Agro-pastoral, poverty dimension, Gini coefficient, Tobit model, Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) index.