Review of Participatory Poverty Analysis (PPA) reports

Participatory Poverty Assessments (PPAs) in which poor and marginalized people describe their perspectives on poverty have become an integral part of the development process. This report is a review of a number of PPAs, undertaken by ActionAid Nepal, Plan International and New ERA, which took place in eleven districts of Nepal. To begin with, the research sites are described. The report then focuses on participant's understandings of the causes of poverty. The most common responses were; landlessness and dependency; inflation; natural disasters; lack of education; cultural customs; gender discrimination; and seasonal changes. There were wide variations between how poor and rich people within a community described poverty, as well as differences between definitions of urban and rural poverty.