Abstract

This study aims to assess the primary causes of urban poverty in Goba City, located in the Bale Zone of the Oromia Region in Ethiopia. Data were collected from a representative sample of 384 households selected from specific kebeles in the study area using a combination of multistage and systematic sampling methods. The analysis of the data employed both descriptive statistics and a logit regression model. The binary logit regression model's econometric results showed that sex of the household head, education, access to credit, saving and asset value were found to be negative and statistically significant determinants of households' poverty. However, family size in adult equivalent and health status were found to have positive and statistically significant effects on poverty. Therefore, to effectively combat urban poverty, policy efforts should focus on gender empowerments, promoting education, promoting family planning, offering trainings, and facilitating access to credit services to start a business are some of the essential policy interventions.

Key words: Urban poverty, asset value, access to credit, saving, family size, Goba, Ethiopia.