Developing an asset threshold using the consensual approach: Results from Mashonaland West, Zimbabwe

Although poverty lines have been constructed on the basis of an income threshold, this article defines a poverty line on the basis of an asset threshold using the consensual approach as postulated by Mack and Lansley. In this article, an asset threshold is defined using this approach, which is a European method in an African rural setting. The determination of the asset threshold—the Minimally Adequate Asset Level, which is context-sensitive, fixed bundle of assets, is the major contribution of this article. This asset poverty line opens up possibilities for calculating asset‐based FGT measures as well as an asset‐gini‐coefficient. The article also shows that location matters in the perception of poverty as a consequence of differing lifestyles. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.