Today, the majority of the world population of about 7 billion lives under poverty. The greatest majority of the poor people are found in developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Poverty is defined as deprivation, meaning either lack of or shortage of things required to satisfy basic human needs of food, shelter and clothing.
The level of poverty can be measured quantitatively and qualitatively. The quantitative measure depends on the level of income and food consumption.
The income poverty measure can be international as well as national. The international income poverty level was determined by the World Bank and according to this measure, any person who lives on an income below US$1.25 per day is said to live below the poverty line. This amounts to about 25 Birr. So a person who lives on less than 25 Birr daily or below 9,000 Birr annually is said to live under poverty and is poor. However the national poverty line is set at Birr at 3841 annually for Ethiopia. The food poverty is determined on the basis of the daily calorie intake of food by an adult. The rate of income poverty in Ethiopia, is about 29.6% and food poverty is about 33.6% according to MOFED/Ministry of Finance and Economic Development in 2013. Poverty can also be measured qualitatively by considering the quality of life which is measured as low, middle/average and high. The poor lives a low living standard. Some international organizations, like UNDP use the Human Development Index (HDI) to measure poverty. This index consists of life expectancy, education, political participation, good governance and gender equality. Generally, reduction of poverty is both international and national agenda. This is not only from humanistic point of view but because of the fact that poverty is considered as one factor that contributes to global conflicts. .
How can poverty be reduced then?.
To know the solution to the problem of poverty, the cause of poverty should be identified first.