The Status of Poverty in Gebi Resu Pastoralists Area of Afar Region, Ethiopia

Poverty is a complex, interlocked and multidimensional phenomenon in Ethiopia. The country is among the world’s poorest nations in terms of Human Development Index. Poverty in Ethiopia is predominantly a rural phenomenon. The overall poverty situation of Afar region stood higher than the national average. In a modest attempt to fill in the research gap observed in disaggregated poverty studies in Ethiopia, this research was undertaken at Gebi Resu zone of the region, with the objectives of assessing the status of pastoral poverty. To achieve the aim of this study, data collection on household characteristics was conducted through interview schedules, checklists, FGD and key informant interviews. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed. In the first stage, two woredas, namely; Gewane and Awash Fentale were selected purposively, in the second stage, 4 pastoral Kebeles were selected randomly and in the third stage 130 pastoral households were selected randomly probability proportional to size. The data collected were analyzed and discussed using the Cost of Basic Need approach through Foster Greer Thorbecke (FGT) family of indices and descriptive analysis. To this end, identifying poor and non poor households; examining the incidence, depth and severity of poverty in the area; investigation of the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of poor and non poor groups of pastoralists have been made. Accordingly, the research found out that food, non food and total poverty line for the area were 1467, 479 and 1947 ETB per AE per year respectively. The incidence, depth and severity of poverty calculated for the area on the other hand were found to be 44.6 %, 11.9% and 4.14 % respectively, which are higher than the national average. The total poverty line for the area is also lower than the national average calculated for rural areas. The result of descriptive analysis of the study with respect to demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the pastoralist households revealed that there is a significant difference between the poor and non poor group at less than 1% level of probability in terms of age of household heads, mean food consumption expenditure per AE, income from livestock sales per AE, non farm incomes per AE and number of livestock owned in TLU/AE. In the same way, variables like dependency ratio at less than 5% level of probability and Family size at less than 10% level of probability showed significant difference between the poor and non poor households. Keywords: Poverty, Cost of Basic Need, FGT indices, Gebi Res