ABSTRACT
Our current understanding of world poverty and its evolution over time is heavily focused on counting the number of poor people. This counting is based on a narrow conception of ‘absolute’ or ‘extreme’ poverty, closely tied to hunger: people are counted as poor only if they fall short of ‘the income or expenditure level below which a minimum, nutritionally adequate diet plus essential non-food requirements are not affordable’ (UNDP 1995, 223).
