The proportion of families whose income fall below the poverty threshold in the region, known as poverty incidence among families, significantly dropped to 17.2 percent in 2018 from the poverty incidence of 32.0 percent in 2015. The 17.2 percent poverty incidence translates to 193 thousand poor families in the region.

Four of the five provinces in the region showed significant decreases in poverty incidences as shown in Table 1. These provinces were Bukidnon, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Occidental and Misamis Oriental. The province of Bukidnon posted the biggest drop of poverty incidence, bringing down the poverty incidence to 22.2 percent in 2018 from its recorded poverty incidence of 47.1 percent in 2015.

The proportion of families in the region whose income fall below the food threshold, known as subsistence incidence among families, was estimated at 3.9 percent in 2018, significantly lower by 10.9 percentage points from its recorded subsistence incidence of 14.8 percent in 2015. The 3.9 percent subsistence incidence translates to 43 thousand families in the region who cannot afford to buy their basic food needs.

Four of the provinces posted significant decreases in subsistence incidence in 2018 as shown in Table 2. Bukidnon posted the biggest drop of 21 percentage points, bringing down the subsistence incidence to 5.6 percent in 2018 from 26.6 percent in the same period of 2015. The subsistence incidence among families shows the proportion of families living in extreme poverty.

Poverty and Subsistence Incidence Among Population

The poverty incidence among Region X population in 2018 was estimated at 23.0 percent. During the same period in 2015, poverty incidence among population was recorded at 38.4 percent.

The subsistence incidence among Region X population was 6.0 percent in 2018, significantly lower than the recorded subsistence incidence of the same period in 2015 at 19.4 percent.

Food and Poverty Thresholds

Food threshold is the minimum income required to meet basic food needs and satisfy, the nutritional requirements set by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) to ensure that one remains economically and socially productive. Poverty threshold, on the other hand, is the minimum income required to meet the basic food and non-food needs such as clothing, fuel, light, water, housing, transportation, health, and education expenses.

In 2018, a family of five needed at least PhP 7,227, on average, every month to meet the family's basic food needs and at least PhP 10,333, on average, every month to meet both basic food and non-food needs. These amounts represent the monthly food threshold and monthly poverty threshold, respectively.

(Sgd.) RUBEN D. ABARO, JR., CESE

Regional Director