"Such GIS-aided mapping will show us the magnitude and dimension of poverty at various geographic locations across the country. The outcome of the poverty mapping exercise will help us address area-specific incidence of poverty such as seasonal Monga," State Minister for Agriculture Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told newsmen on the sideline of a workshop on poverty mapping held at LGED in the city yesterday.

The state minister addressed the workshop as chief guest while Head of the IRRI Social Science Division Dr Mahabub Hossain and GIS Specialist Dr SP Kam presented two keynote papers at the inaugural session.

Dr Mahabub said the two-year poverty mapping exercise, jointly carried out by three government agencies along with the IRRI, would draw a conclusion in June.

The organisers said the project, partly funded by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), would focus on mapping rural poverty to determine target areas for agricultural research and development interventions.

The data could also be used to support other pro-poor interventions, including developing strategies for poverty reduction, they said.

"Rural poverty is of direct concern for policy-makers, planners and implementers of agricultural and rural development programmes. The country has high population density, but the land resources are scarce and dwindling," Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told the workshop.

Noting that the rural poverty is not spread evenly across the countryside, the state minister said there was a need for detailed information on hot spots of poverty so that the government can target the development programmes more precisely.

Presenting his keynote paper on 'Rural Poverty in Bangladesh: Trends and Detriments,' Dr Mahabub Hossain explained how they could capture multifaceted dimensions of poverty incidences and their causes.

Prof. Abdul Bayes and Dr Manik Lal Bose are the co-authors of the paper.

The paper showed the level and changes in poverty in rural Bangladesh, based on a sample survey of households in 62 randomly selected villages.

Dr Mahabub and Dr SP Kam analysed the sample survey and also the data generated from 2001 population census and presented upazila-level maps of poverty and the peculiarities of poverty incidences in different areas.

Dr Mahabub Hossain, also a former DG of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), laid special emphasis on capacity-building by the government institutions so that they could implement the poverty mapping programmes once the project term is over.

IRRI Liaison Scientist in Bangladesh Dr MA Hamid Miah delivered address of welcome while LGED Chief Engineer Shahidul Hassan chaired the opening session.