An Investigation of Poverty during 1973-2004 in the Karkheh River Basin, Iran

Applying a balanced diet approach to define poverty line, the extent of poverty of the families in the rural vs. urban areas of the Karkheh River Basin, Iran is investigated in the present study. The main source of data is from the Household Income and Expenditure Survey figures for years 1983, 1993 and 2004, as provided by the Statistical Centre of Iran. First, a review of different methods of defining monetary poverty line and the choice of various poverty measures are was made. Then, using different poverty measures, incidence and severity of poverty are assessed for the rural and urban areas of the Karkheh River basin. The results indicate that throughout the study period the poverty line in the rural areas has been lower than that in the urban areas of Iran. Meanwhile, the incidence of poverty was found to be greater in the rural areas than in the urban areas. Consistent with the whole country, though with slight differences, the Karkheh River basin incidence of poverty has increased from 1983 to 1994. In contrast, during 2004, poverty declined significantly both at the country level, and within the Karkheh River basin.