Abstract

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.