The Multidimensional Poverty Assessment Tool (MPAT)

The Multidimensional Poverty Assessment Tool provides data that can inform all levels of decisionmaking by providing a clearer understanding of rural poverty at the household and village level. As a result, MPAT can significantly strengthen the planning, design, monitoring and evaluation of a project, and thereby contribute to rural poverty reduction.

The Multidimensional Poverty Assessment Tool (MPAT) is the result of a collaborative, international initiative begun in 2008 and led by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The purpose was to develop, test and pilot a new tool for local-level rural poverty assessment. The tool went through extensive field testing in several countries and independent validation and peer-review. MPAT is relatively easy to use, requires few resources to implement, and provides users with a reliable and comprehensive picture of a community’s poverty situation.