A Multidimensional Analysis of Poverty in Rural Regions of Urmia, Iran

The definition of poverty has developed into a multidimensional concept focusing more on socio-economic dimensions than being a mere measure of monetary deprivation. In 2017, this study applied Amartya Sen’s capability approach to analysis of multidimensional poverty in rural districts of Urmia, West Azerbaijan in Iran. The study conducted discussion of poverty theories related to the unidimensional and multidimensional poverty approaches in general and the Alkire-Foster method in particular as this was utilised in the study’s quantitative data analysis. This study adopted a mixed method sequential explanatory approach. First, the survey questionnaire was designed to collect the required data for the present study. Quantitative data were collected from 378 households selected using a multi-stage sampling process from five rural regions in Urmia, West Azerbaijan province in Iran and then analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Second, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 21 participants. The qualitative data were analysed, and the findings then compared with those from quantitative analysis. The poverty was measured and analysed in six identified dimensions, including education, access to basic infrastructure services, housing quality, ownership of assets, health and food security. These six dimensions were constructed from the 13 indicators used to identify deprivation in the households in the study area. The findings show that approximately 83% of the households are deprived in 48.4% of the total dimensions. Also, health is the highest contributor to the breadth of poverty (30.90%), followed by food security (22.65%). The poverty level was positively related to the size of the household. Results indicated that Somay region recorded the highest estimates in terms of the adjusted multidimensional measures (M0=0.461, M1=0.324, M2=0.261) and Anzal the lowest (M0 =0.398, M1=0.263, M2=0.218).