Advisor explains Solomon Islands Poverty Maps.

Poverty in Solomon Islands is defined in terms of the minimum expenditure required of a person to meet the 22 calories energy intake based on food and non-food items.

Advisor to the National Statistics Office, William Lahari told SIBC News in an exclusive interview.

Asked about poverty perceptions, Mr Lahari said there were different dimensions to poverty and people may have different definitions.

“Lack of having access to a TV could be poor, you know you could be poor by being classified or you don’t have land then you could be classified, but this is associated to that particular definition and therefore it’s captured through the Household and Income Expenditure Survey,” he said.

“Now this is important for people to understand that this particular definition also indicates or has reference to those perceptions that people have because the behaviour is embedded into this Household Income and Expenditure behaviour.”

He said the 2013 Household and Expenditure Survey also captures people’s behaviour in determining the poverty results.

“Ten percent of the population earning almost a quarter of the country’s income so you see that’s unequal and that’s associated to some perceptions that people have. Some have land, some have healthy lifestyles you know, church living and they are not poor, they are just happy and they classify that their spiritual wellbeing helps them to break down this wall of perception,”he said.

“Now that’s reflected in what you eat everyday so not only in terms of money, the Household Survey captures your behaviour so when people hear the word income or expenditure, income and expenditure is an indicator of that behaviour as associated behaviour.”

An average female needs to eat about 2000 calories per day to maintain, and 1,500 calories to lose one pound of weight per week. An average male needs 2,500 calories to maintain, and 2,000 to lose one pound of weight per week.

A calorie is a unit that measures energy and is usually used to measure the energy content of foods and beverages that we eat.

By: Rickson Bau.