Human development and poverty in rural Pakistan
The poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon. Poverty is not only materially deprivation but also emotionally and socially deprivation. It is not only an economic problem but it should be considered as a social issue. Poverty is Institutional, dynamic, location, gender based and a complex phenomenon. It is a theft of opportunity of health, a safe home, education and extensive retirement. The structure of poverty differs due to location, season, social group and country. Therefore, human and social capital may play their role in reduction of poverty.
There exist different patterns of poverty between urban and rural areas of Pakistan. The data uniformly shows that the higher level of poverty in rural areas as compared to urban. Poor people of Pakistan mostly reside in rural areas and depend upon agriculture sector for their living. The country is experiencing an increase in the frequency and severity of climatic events such as droughts, extreme temperatures, severe water shortage, floods in certain regions which further worsen the rural situation. The main focus of previous literature is rural poverty in Pakistan in terms of materially deprivation, paying less attention to unsuitable social and demographic conditions, cultural and socioeconomic inconsistencies and policies. This study will focus on these dimensions of poverty as well.
Hasan Zulfiqar, born in 1988 in Sargodha, Pakistan, Earned his MS/MPhil degree in Economics from Government College University Faisalabad, Pakistan and B.S degree in Economics from University of Sargodha, Pakistan. He has been working as lecturer at University of Agriculture Faisalabad since October 2014. Currently he is on study leave and pursuing his PhD degree at Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany.