ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the dynamics of poverty and related concepts, considering the multidimensionality of poverty, both in theory and in practice. It argues for the need to examine poverty from a perspective that moves beyond income and incorporates more subjective elements of deprivation reflected in the use of the terms 'vulnerability' and 'social exclusion'. Poverty in the region has also been particularly adversely affected by the recession of the 1980s associated with structural adjustment programmes (SAPs). These involve the reorientation of economies along free-market lines under the direction of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). The nature of vulnerability lies in how the poor develop coping strategies in order to withstand shocks through diversifying and mobilising their asset base. Their asset base may include labour, human capital such as health and education, productive assets such as land and housing, household relations focusing on income pooling and consumption sharing, and social capital.
