Spatial distribution patterns and determinants of poverty in Kelantan

For many years, poverty has been a major social problem that is faced by almost every country in this world. Poverty is regarded as a social disease that is very arduous to eradicate. Even in Malaysia, this issue has been a burden for the government to handle and eliminate because poverty has a strong causal effect on society's quality of life and economic factors. Hence, since independence, Malaysia's development agenda’s key development focus has been the elimination of poverty. This research aimed to assess the level of poverty risk in 66 districts in Kelantan and identify factors influencing the poverty. The study focuses on socio-demographic determinants of 12,646 poor households namely, the number of household members, the gender of household heads, age, employment status and level of education. Secondary data of the households from 2010 were obtained from e-Kasih database. The data was analysed using SPSS software to obtain the descriptive statistics. Next, a method known as standardised poverty rate (SPR) was used to assess the level of risk poverty and a poverty distribution map in Kelantan was produced using ArcMap software. In addition, multiple linear regression (MLR) was applied to find out the determinants of poverty. As a result, it is found that half of the districts (33 districts) in Kelantan possess no poverty risk while the remaining districts are vulnerable to poverty. 25 districts fall into high poverty risk while 6 districts are in moderate high poverty risk zone. There are 2 districts which are in hard-core poverty risk zone. As for the second aim of the study, the significant factors influencing poverty are the number of household members, the gender of household heads, age and employment status. Educational level of poor household in Kelantan is proved to be insignificant in contributing to poverty. The outcome of this research presents proof and information that would increase readers’ understanding regarding the level and pattern of poverty in Kelantan as well as the significant factors that impact the poverty.