The study was carried out by the CEDA and PAF over the period of 2007 to 2014 in 3,000 households of six districts where PAF's programs are implemented. Doti, Dailekh, Jumla, Rolpa, Rautahat and Humla were the sample districts covered by the study.
The researchers have compared the changes in the poverty rate in these districts with the overall rate of the country.
Unveiling the preliminary findings of the study at a press meet on Monday, Yogendra Gurung, Associate Professor at CEDA, Tribhuvan University, said that poverty headcount rate of the households participated in the programs of the PAF districts have decreased to 33.1 percent in 2013/14 from 50.5 percent in 2007/2008. The annual drop in poverty rate stood at 2.49 percent, according to the study report.
PAF unveiled its achievements at a time when the institution has been dragged into controversy due to corruption cases pursued by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) against the then chief and other officers of the PAF.
CIAA filed corruption cases against 14 senior officials of PAF, including Executive Director Rajbabu Shrestha at the Special Court on March 12, accusing them of embezzling funds amounting to Rs 27.86 million during fiscal years 2010/11 and 2011/12.
Decline in poverty in PAF program area is three times higher than the overall poverty decline rate of the country, the study report claims.
The study compared data of Nepal Living Standard Survey (NLSS) of 2003/2004 to 2010/2011 and findings of similar studies conducted between 2007/2008 and 2013/14 to measure decline in poverty in 19 districts where PAF programs are implemented.
According to NLSS, poverty rate of the country went down by 5.6 percentage points to 25.2 percent in 2010/2011. The poverty rate of the country was 30.8 percent in 2003/2004.
Likewise, the study also shows that the annual average change in nominal per capita consumption of PAF beneficiaries is higher than average change in national nominal per capita consumption. The per capita consumption of PAF beneficiaries jumped 145 percent over the seven years to Rs 36,440 in 2013/14, compared to overall national per capita consumption surge of 120 percent in 2010/11.
Speaking at the press meet, Associate Professor Gurung claimed that higher rate of decline in poverty in 19 districts in comparison to overall poverty decline across the country was due to the impacts of programs launched by PAF. "PAF programs mainly cover poor communities and the program was selected and implemented in a participatory way. Participatory decision making process at the community level has increased the feeling of community ownership and transparency of the work," added Gurung.
Related story
Importance of education emphasized to alleviate poverty
