Pastoralists' Conceptions of Poverty: An Analysis of Traditional and Conventional Indicators from Borana, Ethiopia

We examine the traditional wealth ranking system of Borana pastoralists in Ethiopia. We investigate the proximity of conventional poverty indicators to the traditional rankings, revealing the relative lack of proximity of income and expenditure indicators. An examination of the poverty rates generated by different indicators and poverty lines reveals that conventional measures produce poverty rates that are significantly higher than traditional rankings and measures based on herd size. Poverty diagnosis among pastoralists such as the Borana, in order to generate appropriate prescriptions, should to a greater extent rely on asset-based indicators; these should ideally be complemented by qualitative approaches.