This report aims to map poverty and inequality in Sudan and would be representative of the 18
states and 131 localities of Sudan. The poverty mapping technique is based on a small area
estimation (SAE) technique developed by the World Bank to derive estimates of geographic
poverty and inequality. It combines data from the 2014/15 National Household Budget and
Poverty Survey (NHBPS) and the 2008 Population and Housing Census data to build spatially
disaggregated poverty maps.
Although household surveys usually include measures of income and wealth, they are not
representative beyond the state level. Yet, allowing lower levels of disaggregation is important
for policy interventions, particularly for countries like Sudan that have state governments, which
manage the activities of the state while reporting to the federal government. This study uses a
model of household expenditure from a survey data set to estimate household welfare at the
lower levels and apply it to the census data set which does not provide information on household
income or expenditure. These maps illustrate the information gains provided by SAE, show there
is a substantial spatial heterogeneity within the localities, and highlight the small areas most likely
to exhibit the highest risk of poverty.