To what extent is targeting the most effective way of alleviating poverty in the context of limited state resources?

To what extent is targeting the most effective way of alleviating poverty in the context of limited state resources

Weiss (2004 ) defines poverty targeting as the use of policy instruments to channel resources to a target group identified below an agreed national poverty line (p . 2 ) The issue of poverty is a matter of definition and as such poverty targeting is invariably encapsulated in what is conceived of , or defined as poverty . According to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR (n .d , normally quantitative benchmarks like living on one or

two dollars a day and certain economic and social factors like infant mortality and literacy rates are used in the definition of poverty . Such statistics based definitions of poverty may however not capture the diversity of issues and conditions that typify the condition of poverty . Employing a more holistic approach , the UNCHR (n .d ) defines poverty as a human condition characterized by the sustained or chronic deprivation of the resources , capabilities choices , security and power necessary for the enjoyment of an adequate standard of living and other civil , cultural , economic , political and social rights (para . 2

Evidently , addressing poverty from a holistic perspective as defined by the UNCHR has the advantage of dealing with the issue of poverty from all its conceivable facets . It would be a universalist way of tackling the issue of poverty . Poverty targeting however allows policy formulators to use specific and convenient definitions or benchmarks in their bid to target specific issues and people who may fall within the general or universalist definition of poverty . The use of benchmarks , a `poverty line , or some form of positive segregation is thus essential in the formulation of policies based on justifications of poverty targeting . HelpAge International and Save the Children Europe Group (2004 ) for instance argue that : Poverty reduction mechanisms are needed that disaggregate data by age as well as by gender , and that clearly target children and older people . This is because children and older people bear the heaviest burdens of poverty and are often powerless to change their situation (p . 5 ) Targeting is thus a needed tool where specific needs of poor people have to be tackled or segregated from a general or universal need

Different forms of poverty targeting can be identified . Weiss (2004 identifies four categories of targeting are discussed beneath

Firstly , poverty targeting can be categorised under activities - targeting by activities . Programmes like primary healthcare and primary education fall under this category . Normally , primary healthcare and primary education are used to target a broad spectrum of poor people and can thus be termed as `broad targeting (Weiss , 2004 ,

.6 ) Broad targeting can be contrasted from forms of targeting that aim at identifying certain specific conditions associated with an identifiable or precise group of poor people

Secondly , targeting can be done through indicators . Indicators like land ownership (e .g . the lack or size of land owned , housing conditions size of family , composition of family , and gender of the breadwinner of the...