Poverty and Income Distribution of Farmers in the Royal Project Development Centers in 2005

Abstract

The objective of this study is to analyze the poverty and income distribution of farmers in the Royal Project Development Centers (RPDCs) in 2005. Socio-economic data of 2610 sample farm households in  36 RPDCs had been employed to determine the general conditions and income of farmers, and to analyze the poverty and the income distribution using Gini-coefficient. The results showed that 69% of households’ cash income in RPDCs were below the poverty line and Gini-coefficient was 0.48 indicating unequal cash income distribution among households in the RPDCs. A general conclusion was that the farmers in the RPDCs still need further development programs to reduce the poverty and the unequal cash income distribution.