Poverty in Ethiopia is widespread and deep-rooted and constitutes the priority development challenge in the country. Whether rural or urban, poverty is multifaceted and widespread in the country. Poverty reduction is one of the most important goals of development efforts. People in the rural areas of Ethiopia are exposed to poverty which needs area focused and context specific researches to examine and investigate factors causing poverty at community and grass root level. Therefore, any strategy or plan that attempts to reduce or alleviate poverty in the district requires an in-depth area-focused research. Accordingly, this study was conducted with the main aim of identifying determinants of poverty in the area. The Woliso district under study has 37 Kebeles and 5 Kebeles were selected using simple random sampling. From the sampled Kebeles, using probability proportional to size sampling method 140 households were selected. Both primary and secondary data were collected for the study. The primary data were collected from households through structured interview schedule. The secondary data were collected on agro climatic conditions, social services, availability of production and marketing facilities and population statistics. The t-test and χ2 - test were employed to test continuous and discrete variables respectively. The binary logistic regression model has been employed to identify the determinants of rural poverty in the study area. Family size and Age were positively related with poverty where as educational status, extension visit, livestock holding and access to credit were found to have negative influence on poverty. Based on the results of the study, the following recommendations were made:expansion of family planning education and improving access to family planning programme supported by demonstration at grass root level are amongst areas deserving prime attention. Training on how to use it and encouraging them to save money deserve prime attention. Development Agents should provide fair and equal service for the poor and non-poor at least through group method and field visit to achieve all inclusive development.
