the IPCC notes a lack of studies which assess the distribution of potverty at the level of households, critical thresholds and poverty traps, in the context of climatic and non climatic stressors
at large geographical scale there are conceptual and data constraints with the development of practical assessment methods. In many developing countries household surveys are conducted primarily for national accounting purposes and poverty monitoring and there is a paucity of recent detailed large scale household level data. Econometric techniques raise conceptual issues. Indicator systems have been widely used although there are difficulties with the selection of suitable indicators