Role of zakat in poverty reduction and food security

Abstract

Abstract Poverty and income inequality remain serious problem in developing countries, and Indonesia is no exception. The number of poor people in Indonesia was 9.82 percent in 2018. This fact shows that poverty level in Indonesia is still need to reduce. The study deals with the role of zakat in social and economic changes in terms of poverty and food security of poor households after receiving zakat. The research employed qualitative methods. The results show that, pattern of zakat aid distributed by the National Zakat Amil Agency (called, BAZNAS) to the poor households in the form of IDR 300,000 (1USD=14, 000 IDR) in cash and/or rice (non-cash); there are two patterns acts of poor households in utilizing zakat (consumptive patterns and productive patterns). It indicates that, some poor households have been giving production capital, and in turn positively affects poverty reduction and food security situation. It implies that zakat is one possible route to reduce poverty and strengthen household’s food security in the country.

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