ABSTRACT
There is significant interest in the development and adaptation of small area problem-solving approaches across some countries in developed regions of the world. However, there is no detailed account of how public policy stakeholders within developing nations might tailor these tools to enhance their decision-making protocols. This chapter fills this important knowledge gap by providing a detailed account that elucidates how small area classifications can offer alternative strategic and operational policy perspectives in developing countries. Discussions cover examples of how these classifications might be used to address complex issues such as detecting underlying trends and policy problems, determining those areas that may require priority interventions, and so on. The chapter exposes the reader to how practitioners and policy makers could deploy small area classifications in the midst of scare resources for place-based budgeting and judicious targeting of resources. Several other useful application areas are covered such as clarifying whether alternative policy responses are required and generating insight into local-level population discrepancies.
