Spatial distribution of poverty in Kelantan

Abstract

Poverty has been a major social problem that is faced by almost every country in this world. Poverty is regarded as a social disease that is very arduous to eradicate. Even in Malaysia, this issue has been a burden for the government to handle and eliminate since poverty has a strong causal effect on society's quality of life and economic factors. Hence, since independence, the key development focus of Malaysia's development agenda has been the elimination of impoverishment. This study assesses the level of poverty risk and identifies factors influencing poverty. The research focuses on socio- demographic characteristics of poor household heads in 66 districts in Kelantan. A Standardised Poverty Ratio (SPR) was measured to determine the level of poverty risk. Spatial poverty mapping was generated using GIS software known as ArcMap. Multiple linear regression was fitted to the data to assess the determinants of poverty. Results indicated that 33 districts in Kelantan are vulnerable to poverty with the SPR values more than 1.0 with the highest was Pengkalan Kubor with SPR value of 3.92. The findings also indicated that the factors that significantly influence poverty were the number of household members, gender, age, and the employment status of the household head. Identifying high-risk areas and determinants of poverty can help other researchers conduct more in-depth studies in the area and increase the effectiveness of poverty reduction strategies.