While the inclusion of extreme poor people is a noble and necessary objective, it is challenging. Attempts to include extreme poor people in development interventions have often been disappointing. ‘The Many Hidden Faces of Extreme Poverty’ addresses the challenge to include the poorest people. It provides deeper understanding of the mechanisms of in- and exclusion of extreme poor people, the structural causes of extreme poverty and the desirability of a univocal definition of extreme poverty. The book contributes to such an understanding through an analysis of extreme poor and marginalised people and their multiple dimensions of wellbeing. Furthermore, this book sheds light on the discourses and practices applied by development agencies in order to draw lessons about how the extreme poor can be sustainably included in development interventions. This is based on original field research carried out in Bangladesh, Benin, and (rural and urban) Ethiopia, using a participatory approach.
This book has appeared as African Studies Collection, issue: 75, 2019.
Dr Anika Altaf has over a decade of experience in the field of international development with a strong focus on Sub-Saharan Africa (Benin, Burkina-Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, South-Africa) and South-Asia (Bangladesh and Pakistan). Her area of expertise is inclusive development and human wellbeing, specifically of the most marginalised people. She has ample experience in conducting participatory research, working with local communities and translating research into practice and policy.