ICIMOD’s Poverty and Vulnerability Assessment (PVA) is a household survey tool designed to capture key elements of poverty, vulnerability, and adaptive capacity in mountain contexts for the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region.

In this report, the determinants of economic poverty in mountain areas are analysed using nationally representative livelihood data at the household level. Economic poverty has a central position, because it is perceived to be at the very core of the poverty definition: the inability to fulfil basic needs.

Mountain poverty is multifaceted and intensified through such factors as remoteness, poor accessibility, the fragility of the ecosystems, and marginalisation. This complex phenomenon cannot be explained using existing definitions of poverty. In general, poverty levels in mountain areas are higher than in other parts of the same country.