More Than a Pretty Picture : Using Poverty Maps to Design Better Policies and Interventions

This publication offers crucial lessons
for policy makers and development experts who may be
considering using small area poverty maps as tools of
economic development and helps add to our array of tools for
dealing with the political economy issues of poverty. It
represents a major contribution to a little understood
aspect of the well-known adage "location, location,
location," demonstrating that the conceptualization of
poverty at the local level represents an important step in
our fight against poverty. Insights from the diverse
experiences of 12 countries are drawn together in the first
two chapters, on key elements in the successful
implementation and utilization of poverty maps and on the
political economy of poverty maps. The case studies in the
volume highlight the wide range of policies and
interventions that have been influenced by poverty maps,
including, but not limited to, the location of investments
and services, the creation of district and municipal
development plans, and the allocation of grants and fiscal
transfers. They show that successfully implemented and
appropriately utilized poverty maps may lead to radical
shifts in the perception of poverty and in strategies
designed to address poverty.