Introduction

Policy makers and donors need baselines and development indicators to monitor the progress and to assess the fulfillment of socio-economic development goals and targets. Indicators are needed to focus decision-makers on sustainable development, and to increase accountability for policies and programs. The choice of indicators reflects societal values and developmental goals. It guides measurement, gets attention from policy makers and society, sets priorities and consequently outcomes of development.

With poverty reduction being the overarching goal of ADB as well as many other development agencies, practical measurable indicators of poverty status are of great importance. A poverty indicator is indispensable for the analysis of problems, the assessment of project implementation, and the improvement of poverty reduction outcomes. In today's environment of declining aid funds, the poverty indicator adopted should be valid and reliable in order to allocate resources toward the poor in the most productive way.

The most commonly used poverty indicator, the financial income level, has limitations both in concept and in practicality of use, particularly in assessing impacts of ADB development interventions in rural areas of developing member countries. In response to the need to consider alternative poverty indicators to assess project interventions, this paper proposes child malnutrition as a candidate for a poverty indicator in ADB agriculture and rural development projects. A review was carried out using Indonesia as a case for investigation.

The sections of this paper review the qualifications of a good indicator, discuss why child malnutrition is considered an appropriate poverty indicator, and describe the child malnutrition indicators. Strengths and weaknesses of three child malnutrition indicators (stunting, wasting, and underweight) are considered in the context of different rural development interventions. The final section presents conclusions and recommendations for ADB operations as well as for development practitioners in general.

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Comment(s)

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1. Choco
   (posted 01 May 2010 / 02:19:03 AM)
   
   is poverty line:
   -less that $1.25/day per adult, or
   -less than $1.25/day per person in the household (including children), or
   -less than $1.25/day per household?
   
   What a loophole in the definition! Clarity required please!
2. naveen
   (posted 17 December 2008 / 08:35:28 PM)
   
   This information explain clearly about the malnutrition and poverty,
   Most poor people who battle hunger deal with chronic undernourishment and vitamin or mineral deficiencies, which result in stunted growth, weakness and heightened susceptibility to illness.
   
   Poor children are the most prone to this and are often the victims to malnutrition, deficiencies, diseases and ultimately deaths caused by hunger.
   
   Today our world is home to 6.6 billion people. The United States is a part of the high-income group of nations which has a population of around 30 crores
3. ms.gilor araneta -tino
   (posted 02 April 2008 / 05:39:12 AM)
   
   Conditions tagged as underweight or underheight has been a problem for a longtime. If we dig further poverty is one cause. I am glad that the schools here in the Province of Albay are recipients of the Food for the School program. In its simple way, this is a BIG solution, RICE ON THE TABLE of every family. I'mm sure that this will help increase the nutritional status of our schoolchildren.