Abstract:
This study primarily aimed to examine Determinants of poverty and Extents of income
inequality in Arba Minch town, Gamo Gofa zone using logistic regression model and
Distributive Analysis/Analysis Distributive /DAD/ with the help of data collected from
sample of 260 household heads, from four sub city, and the study area was selected
purposively and from each kebele’s registry-frame, households were selected by random
sampling techniques using systematic random sampling. By using Cost of Basic Need
/CBN/ approach and DAD soft ware the general poverty line of study area was
determined to be birr 679 per adult equivalent per month and, based on this bench mark,
households were identified as poor and non-poor. With this poverty line, 27 % of
populations in the study area were found to be poor with income short fall of 7.8 percent
and poverty severity index of 3.15 percent. Logistic regression result revealed that family
size, access to credit, household expenditure, marital status, education level, age and sex
of household head were major determinants of poverty in the study area. The extent of
income inequality in the study area was measured by Gini coefficient and computed by
DAD soft was to be 0.44 with high inequality recorded. Poverty-income elasticity and
poverty-inequality elasticity in Arba Minch was -2.43 and 0.44, respectively. Therefore,
government promotes family planning; improve infrastructures and creating employment
opportunity. In general, higher income inequality had been registered in Arba Minch, the
poverty-income and poverty-inequality elasticity and the proportion of income and
expenditure among the poor and non poor values had powers to draw attention to design
development interventions aiming at increasing the income of the poor.
