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Conceptual Clarification
Scholars defined poverty in several ways using different criteria but united in calling it a condition of lack. It is a situation of lacking the basic needs of life such as shelter, food, clothing and good drinking water. This can be extended to the inability to access resources that can enable a person to escape from the trappings of poverty such as employment, education, land, property and skills. It is defined as a situation of deprivation, vulnerability and powerlessness. The lack of respect and dignity, social exclusion, vulnerability to risks, illiteracy, ill health, gender inequality and environmental degradation are all aspect of being poor ([ADB 2004] & WDR 2004 in [Omolara, 2008]). The commonest standpoint of measuring poverty is an income that is below the societal average ([Carnea, 1999]). People live in poverty when their income is not sufficient for their material needs and when these circumstances exclude them from taking part in activities which are an accepted part of daily life in that society ([BBC, 2014]), while an individual is poor if his or her income level falls below some minimum level necessary to meet the basic needs ([World Bank, 2000]). Both definitions of poverty emphasise low-income levels despite the significance of other factors that are not quantifiable in monetary terms such as access to health care and societal stigmatisation BBC ([2014]) concludes:
There are basically three current definitions of poverty in common usage: absolute poverty, relative poverty and social exclusion. Absolute poverty is defined as the lack of sufficient resources with which to keep body and soul together. Relative poverty defines income or resources in relation to the average. It is concerned with the absence of the material needs to participate fully in accepted daily life. Social exclusion is a shorthand label for what can happen when individuals or areas suffer from a combination of linked problems such as unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, high crime environments, bad health and family breakdown.
People's perception of poverty differs from place to place depending on the level of economic and social development of that society. This is because poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon that borders on people's income, habitat, social relations, independence and self-reliance, psychological feelings, social participation or exclusion and...