| dc.description.abstract | As poverty remains pervasive and multifaceted in post conflict Liberia, it is essential to institute proactive
strategies through a comprehensive research for tackling it. This study, whose objectives were to estimate the
poverty lines and poverty measures, provides information on salient causes and effects of poverty in parts of
Monrovia, and suggests ways for its alleviation. Primary data were used to construct the poverty lines using the
FEI and CBN methods, and to estimate poverty indices for Monrovia. In addition, the determinants of poverty
were analyzed using the binary logit and logistic models. The study was conducted in Bushrod Island-Central
Monrovia to identify factors and conditions contributing to poverty, and subsequently outline relevant information
helpful for policy implementation towards more positive antipoverty policies. The methodology adopted involved
the use of structural questionnaire to gather information on the status of household consumption expenditures and
social characteristics, which are likely to induce poverty. Accordingly, 170 questionnaires were distributed to and
administered by enumerators via a face-to-face interview, but 20 questionnaires were discarded due to incomplete
responses. The study utilized a two stage sampling procedure due to time and financial constraints. The main
findings of the study are that both poverty and inequality are severe in parts of Monrovia and that household size,
age of household head, education of household head, employment status, are the major determinants of poverty.
While the overall FEI poverty rate was estimated at about 58% based on the poverty line of LD230 1 per month,
the overall CBN poverty rate, based on LD2481 per month, was found to be about 63%, and this increases with
household size and declines with employment. Also, findings from the study show high poverty rate among the
educated, which is possibly attributed to neglect for quality education by past regimes, low incentives for educated
workers, high dependency ratio and the collapse of the formal sector. Other findings from the study include
widespread lack of basic social services, such as electricity, piped water, health facilities, schools, and poor
accessibility of public facilities. Generally, the recommendation provided calls for government to implement
priority projects, including sustained peace initiatives and provision of social services to enhance economic growth
and reduce poverty | en |
