Poverty and vulnerability are among the major problems in Eastern and Southern Africa
(ESA). To design appropriate poverty reduction initiatives for the region, it is not only
important to understand the distribution of poverty but also the determinants. Various
reports have documented information on the status, distribution and determinants of
poverty in each of the countries. Nonetheless, not much information has been documented
in a form that is easily accessible to decision makers and planners involved in designing and
implementing programmes for addressing poverty reduction and food insecurity at the
regional level. This paper reviews the existing knowledge on the status, distribution and
determinants of poverty in the ESA region to fill that knowledge gap. It emerges from the
literature that poverty in the region differs across socio-economic groups and across space.
The existing poverty maps suggests that most districts and provinces whose poverty rates
are lower than the national averages are located in rain fed mixed crop–livestock systems
and that the highest proportion of them are in the humid and sub humid systems. High
poverty rates also occur in the livestock only systems. About half of the poor provinces and
districts fall in areas with short growing periods; this affects their agricultural potential. The
areas are also constrained by market access. Investment in irrigation, improved water
management and improved market access would play a vital role in these regions