NSCB Resolution No.4
Series of 2002

COMPUTATION OF PROVINCIAL POVERTY THRESHOLDS AND MEASURES OF THE DEPTH AND SEVERITY OF POVERTY

Whereas, reducing poverty is among the current top priorities of the government;

Whereas, the implementation of the Local Government Code (LGC) of 1991 has magnified the need for more geographically disaggregated statistics including indicators of poverty for the socio-economic planning activities of local government units (LGUs);

Whereas, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Report of the Working Group of Statistical Experts on its Twelfth Session in November 2001 recognizes that small-area poverty statistics are increasingly being required for more directed poverty alleviation targeting at the provincial or village levels such as the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan (KALAHI) Program, the current national strategy in our fight against poverty;

Whereas, provincial poverty estimates are inputs for targeting the poorest provinces, municipalities and barangays under the KALAHI Program;

Whereas, the official poverty methodology measures poverty by determining an individual's/household's ability to meet its basic food and non-food requirements using unique menus for each region and ratio of food expenditures to total expenditures or based on the formula,            

Per Capita Poverty Threshold  =  Food Threshold/(Food Expenditure/Total Basic Expenditure)

Whereas, the NSCB Technical Staff implemented the project, "Strengthening Institutional Mechanisms for the Convergence of Poverty Alleviation Efforts", with financial assistance from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for the development of the methodology for provincial poverty estimation;

Whereas, the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) developed four (4) types of menus for each province from which a particular menu was selected as basis for the estimation of the food threshold taking into consideration the minimum energy, protein, and other nutrient requirements, food commonly eaten and the generally low cost commodities available in each province;

Whereas, such methodology has been validated among planners and decision makers at the regional levels and in the local government units, local nutritionists, and other stakeholders of poverty statistics nationwide in a series of users' fora conducted in Metro Manila, Baguio City, Tacloban City, Iloilo City and Davao City in CY 2000;

Whereas, the same methodology was presented and discussed in the Inter-Agency Committee on Labor, Income and Productivity Statistics (IACLIPS) and its Technical Working Group on Income and Poverty Statistics (TWGIPS);

Whereas, the IACLIPS in its meeting of 1 February 2002 and the NSCB Technical Staff recommended for approval of the Board the proposed methodology and the computation of provincial poverty statistics;

Whereas, there is adequate data support for the computation of provincial poverty statistics based on this methodology;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, AS IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, that the Board approve the recommendation of the IACLIPS and the NSCB Technical Staff for the computation of provincial poverty thresholds and incidence including poverty gaps, income gaps, and the Foster Greer Thorbecke indices in accordance with the poverty estimation methodology developed by the NSCB as specified in Annex 1 (NSCB Provincial Poverty Estimation Methodology).

Approved this 22nd day of February 2002, in Pasig City.