Heterogeneity in target populations and locations: Reflections on the challenges for poverty targeting

Abstract

The author of Chapter 9 draws on in-depth knowledge of a set of recent and active social protection programs implemented in eastern Africa to discuss three challenges inherent to poverty-targeting that constrain the achievement of program objectives. These challenges are the difficulty of identifying the poorest among the poor, heterogeneity in household characteristics within a target population that is assumed to be relatively homogeneous, and provision of “individual/household” transfers in diverse social and cultural contexts.