Lopez, Louie Emmanuelle N.
BSA 1-1
Food Poverty and Poverty Threshold is recognized as the overarching and ultimate goal
of development policy, particularly in the development framework of the Philippines. Efforts in
reducing poverty involve defining and measuring the extent of food poverty and poverty
threshold, providing a profile of the poor, as well as tracking changes in food poverty and
poverty through time. There are, however, a number of challenges regarding the measurement
and monitoring food poverty and poverty of a household. Coupled with the multi-dimensional
nature of and different manifestations of poverty, there are statistical issues that complicate the
measurement of food poverty and poverty threshold, and such issues may affect policy
solutions and interventions for reducing poverty.
The measurement of food poverty and poverty threshold essentially hinges on choosing
a welfare indicator, and setting a food poverty and poverty level, i.e. a minimum value of the
welfare indicator that households (or persons) must have to fulfill their basic needs. In
measuring, Food Threshold is the minimum income required to meet basic food needs and
satisfy the nutritional requirements set by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) to
ensure that one remains economically and socially productive. Food Poverty Threshold is the
level which determines if a family or household is considered “Food Poor” or does not have
adequate access to the nutritional requirements. It is used to measure extreme or subsistence
poverty.
Poverty threshold is a similar concept, expanded to include basic non-food needs such
as clothing, housing, transportation, health, and education expenses, which are based on a
fixed welfare standard that is merely updated across time by price changes, and whose
differing nominal values across regions merely reflect cost of living differences. The theory
underlying food poverty and poverty levels is grounded in welfare economics and constrained
utility maximization; in this context, the fixed standard of living represented by the food poverty
and poverty level is a level of utility associated with the minimally acceptable standard of living
In principle, being poor means experiencing a low quality of life, deprived of both the
material and non-material requirements that allow an individual to live like a human being. A
poor person has a narrow range capacity necessary to buy a minimum standard of nutrition
and other basic necessities which reflect the cost of participation in the everyday life of society
Nowadays, the effect of rapid rise in food prices has numerous concerns about the
impacts of higher food prices particularly among poor households and those with income
above poverty line. It is also linked with the literature of Ravillion (2011), that changes in food
prices can also affect poverty through consumption and income channels. On the consumer
side as food prices increases, the monetary cost of achieving a fixed consumption basket
increases hence reducing consumer’s welfare. According to Hoyoset. al. (2009) there have
been few formal assessments of the impacts of higher food prices on global poverty using a
large sample of developing countries.
In the Batangas city, there was an attempt to make use of commonly available
indicators in measuring food poverty and poverty threshold.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) releases its latest report on the country’s
official poverty statistics for the first semester of 2015. The PSA report provides the estimates
of poverty incidence using income data from the first visit of the Family Income and
Expenditure Survey (FIES) conducted in July 2015.
Poverty incidence among Filipinos in the first semester of 2015 was estimated at 26.3
percent. During the same period in 2012, poverty incidence among Filipinos was recorded at
27.9 percent. On the other hand, subsistence incidence among Filipinos, or the proportion of
Filipinos whose incomes fall below the food threshold, was estimated at 12.1 percent in the
first semester of 2015. In the first half of 2012, the subsistence incidence among Filipinos is at
13.4 percent. Subsistence incidence among Filipinos is often referred to as the proportion of
Filipinos in extreme or subsistence poverty.
Food Threshold is the minimum income required to meet basic food needs and satisfy
the nutritional requirements set by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) to ensure
that one remains economically and socially productive. In the Philippines, the official food
poverty line is estimated at urban and rural areas of each province by using a one-day food
menu as the artifice. These menus satisfy energy, and other nutrient requirements. Food
Poverty Threshold is the level which determines if a family or household is considered “Food
Poor” or does not have adequate access to the nutritional requirements. It is used to measure
extreme or subsistence poverty. Poverty threshold is a similar concept, expanded to
include basic non-food needs such as clothing, housing, and transportation, health, and
education expenses.
