Again, Peru is far from being the most impoverished country in South America, and its export capabilities as well as the rural practices of many of the country's citizens suggest higher levels of development than might be accurately measured through statistical means alone. There is still definitely a poverty situation in the country that needs to be addressed, however. The disparity of wealth distribution amongst the country's population and the consistent underemployment faced by many are situations that require attention.

Determining the true poverty threshold for the country of Peru and its citizens is also a somewhat complex task. The World Bank's use of $1.25 per day in 2005 purchasing power parity dollars could be seen as inadequate given the level of activity in rural traditional economies and subsistence practices, which generally increase the standard of living for many of the nation's poor yet which are not taken into account by the purely financial measures of poverty used to establish this figure. The fact that almost half of the country's population lives at or below this level of income also suggests that the true poverty threshold in Peru might be significantly lower. At the same time, the extreme disparity of wealth in...

The use of the world bank's standard measure of poverty is thus deemed relatively successful in its specific estimation of the Peruvian poverty threshold.
The easiest and most efficient manner for the country to tackle its poverty problem is through the redistribution of wealth from the oil, natural gas, and mining industries of the country, either through the nationalization of these industries or through increased export taxes used to fund social welfare programs. Though this would raise the cost of these exports, there is sufficient demand to bear such increases and high enough profit margins to significantly alter the situation of the impoverished. Increased infrastructure development in rural areas is also called for.

References

CIA World Factbook. (2010). "Peru." Accessed 22 March 2010. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pe.html

POVCAL.net (2010). Accessed 22 March 2010. http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/povcalNet.html