Tracking Trends of Multidimensional Poverty in Different Mainstream Agro-climatic Regions in India: A Geo-spatial Analysis

The present study uses secondary data collected from National Family Health Survey (NFHS) rounds 4 and 5 to track the progress in the multidimensional poverty status of the Indian population. We use differential methodology to identify poor individuals in both rural and urban areas. Further, the multidimensional poverty index (MPI) and agriculture are closely associated, and this is also reflected in the study. Among the agro-climatic regions, it was found that MPI is relatively higher in the Middle Gangetic Plains Region, while MPI in the West Coast Plains and Hills Region is relatively lower compared with other agro-climatic regions. As we develop a new MPI for different agro-climatic zones (ACZ), it has significant policy relevance. We believe that this new index provides a substantial contribution to the literature on poverty measurement and could be an important tool to track progress towards the achievement of SDG 1.