This report-part of an extensive body of work IFPRI undertook on the state of poverty in Mozambique at the end of a long period of war-zeroes in on the question of what determines living standards and poverty in Mozambique. It aims to identify those public policy interventions that are likely to reduce poverty the most. The authors examine household and community characteristics linked to poverty and develop a microeconometric model to measure the influence of education, employment, demographics, agricultural technology, and infrastructure on consumption. Although the results of this research are directed to policymakers in Mozambique, those concerned with other low-income countries will find the analytical methods and findings useful, especially the message that investment in human development as well as physical capital is essential to reduce poverty.

Kenneth R. Simler, a research fellow in the Food Consumption and Nutrition Division at IFPRI, was based in the Mozambique Ministry of Planning and Finance from 1998 to 2000. He conducts research on poverty measurement and public policies to reduce poverty and undernutrition, with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. He received his Ph.D. in agricultural economics from Cornell University.

Sanjukta Mukherjee was a research analyst in IFPRI's Food Consumption and Nutrition Division when this report was written. She currently works in the regional office of the International Labor Organization in Bangkok, Thailand, as a baseline survey specialist for the International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor. She has a masters degree in agricultural and applied economics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Gabriel L. Dava holds a degree in economics from Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique and is currently studying for an MSc degree at the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies. He has worked at the Ministry of Social Action and the Ministry of Planning and Finance in Mozambique and was a member of the research team that conducted Mozambique's First National Poverty Assessment.

Gaurav Datt is senior economist at the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit in East Asia and the Pacific Region at the World Bank. He has a Ph.D. in economics from the Australian National University. His current research interests are in the general areas of poverty, income distribution, and labor markets.

• Table of Contents, Tables, Figures, Foreword, Acknowledgements, and Summary
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• Chapter 1: Introduction
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• Chapter 2: Modeling the Determinants of Poverty
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• Chapter 3: Data
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• Chapter 4: Poverty Lines
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• Chapter 5: Poverty in Mozambique: Estimates for 1996-97
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• Chapter 6: An Empirical Model of Household Living Standards
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• Chapter 7: Estimation Results
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• Chapter 8: Poverty Reduction Simulations
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• Chapter 9: Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction
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• Chapter 10: Conclusions and Implications for Policy
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• Appendix 1: Constructing Aggregate Household Consumption as a Welfare Measure
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• Appendix 2: Formulae for Simulating Poverty Measures from Regression Models of Household Consumption
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• References
  (PDF 42K)