How geographically concentrated is poverty in Fiji?

Abstract

In this paper, we present highly disaggregated estimates of expenditure-based poverty in Fiji using data from the 2007 national census and [2008][2009] Household Income and Expenditure Survey. Predicted poverty is estimated at provincial and tikina levels. Poverty in Fiji is marked by considerable spatial heterogeneity that cannot be gauged by the division level household survey estimates revealing pockets of poverty even within relatively well-off regions. Predicted poverty is highest in Cakaudrove province in Northern Division. Most strikingly, we find that 50% of all the poor in Fiji are concentrated in just 6 out of 85 tikinas, namely Suva, Labasa, Ba, Naitasiri, Vuda and Nadi. This finding has important implications for efficiency of targeted poverty alleviation programmes. We also focus on squatter settlements for which poverty headcount estimates using the Household Income and Expenditure Survey are not feasible. We find these settlements have rates of poverty headcount ratio that range from 38-55% depending on the Division the squatter settlement is located in; this range is significantly higher compared with the average urban poverty estimated at 26% and raises important social policy issues for addressing urban poverty.

Decentralized oceans: Sail‐solar shipping for sustainable development in SIDS

“…Unfortunately, regional cities are ill equipped to handle the large influxes (of often unskilled labour), and rapid urbanization leads to growing unemployment problems and slum settlements (United Nations Human Settlements Programme, ). For example, the two largest cities in the Pacific Islands, Suva in Fiji and Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, have already grown to consist of over 45% “informal” (slum) settlements (United Nations Human Settlements Programme, ; Pabon et al ., ).…”

Multi-Scale Features of Regional Poverty and the Impact of Geographic Capital: A Case Study of Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in Jilin Province, China

“…Another study conducted on 415 rural subdistricts in Bangladesh found that families in Dhaka are measurably richer than families in other areas of the country and that communities with a high incidence of poverty have a more consistent spatial distribution pattern showing ecological deterioration areas [8]. Testing how poverty is geographically concentrated in Fiji at provincial and tikina scales (a tikina is a geographical unit in Fiji) revealed that, at the provincial scale, predicted poverty is highest in Cakaudrove province in the Northern Division, while at the tikina scale, 50% of all the poor in Fiji are concentrated in just six out of 85 tikinas [9]. These outcomes have important implications for the efficiency of targeted poverty alleviation programs.…”