Looking for a place to find all you need to know about poverty and its intersectionality with a myriad of issues? Curious about the projected world population in 2015? Need to know which countries consume the most energy or lead most carbon dioxide emissions? The Poverty Mapping website (www.povertymap.net) provides resources to answer these and other questions for students, government agencies, non governmental organizations (NGOs) and socially-minded individuals.

For novices on the subject, poverty maps are visual tools that show “linkages between poverty and food insecurity, the environment and development.” Among the sites features are a “Geography of Poverty,” a collection of maps and graphics giving the researcher a quick and understandable picture of poverty and its many correlative factors—internal conflict, emigration, agricultural practices, biodiversity and nutrition. Many national, regional and local maps (and graphics) can be accessed by theme—demographic indicators, economy, education, energy and food security to name a few.

This database began as a project funded by the Norwegian government and is now maintained by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP/GRID-Arendal). It has been compiled from various sources, including the Farm and Agriculture Organization, the International Food Policy Research Institute and Worldwatch Institute. In addition to maps and graphics, the website offers access to a broad array of publications and articles (most available as PDFs).

This review originally appeared in the July/August 2006 issue of World Ark, the magazine of Heifer International. Reviewed by Jaman Matthews, Heifer Staff Writer. Used with permission.

http://www.povertymap.net