OPHI staff visit Ivory Coast to discuss multidimensional poverty measurement in Africa

OPHI researcher Bouba Housseini and co-founder John Hammock were in the Ivory Coast from 16-21 March where they gave presentations on the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) at the African Development Bank and the UNDP Africa Economists Cluster Meeting.

The presentations were followed by discussion on the possible application of an MPI in Africa, and technical aspects of the measure.

An MPI would capture the different types of disadvantage that each poor person experiences at the same time – this could include, for example, poor sanitation, malnutrition, lack of education, poor quality of work, or violence. Countries can select different indicators and cut-offs of poverty according to their contexts, to create their own nationally-relevant MPIs.

As well as providing a headline measure of multidimensional poverty within a population, an MPI can be broken down to reveal how people are poor, where the poorest people live, and the intensity of the deprivations they experience.

During their stay in Abidjan, Bouba Housseini and John Hammock also attended the three day International Conference on the Emergence of Africa.

Further information

Read about local, national and international policy applications of the Alkire Foster method.